Assignment: CAREER RESEARCH PROJECT

OBJECTIVES

Each student will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Research the career of his/her choice, using the (electronic) resources available in the library.
2. Document your answers with information gathered in your research and credit your sources in the answer to each question.
3. Prepare a reference page in the APA style introduced in the library orientation and other handouts.

INSTRUCTIONS

Your career research project should cover the following two parts:

I. A written report (at least 1000 words, excluding the title page and the reference page)
II. A PowerPoint (11 slides ONLY) highlighting the findings of your research

I. WRITTEN REPORT:

A. Title page

Example:

PHYSICAL THERAPIST

Student Name
EDUC 1300
Summer 2013

B. Write an introduction and label this section "Introduction". Be sure that you italicize your thesis statement and only italicize the thesis statement in your introduction. In this introduction, you are supposed to create interest in your reader.

C. In this section, address the six questions below one by one. Do NOT use the Q & A format. Instead, you are required to use the headings provided to organize your responses and your responses should be in complete paragraphs. Reference any statistics or quoted information used. If you are uncertain of how to reference a source, ask a librarian.*Questions 3, 4, 5, and 6 require that you reference material from your research while the others are more personal answers.

1. Career Choice

Why did you choose this particular career?

2. Strengths and Weaknesses

a) What skills do you currently possess that will be helpful in this career? b) Which skills do you have to further develop to enhance your career development?

Address Q2a and Q2b in two separate paragraphs.

3. *Personality Type

a) Based on the personality assessment from TypeFocus, what are the four letters representing your Myers Briggs personality type (e.g. ISTJ)? c) Discuss one by one how EACH of your four letters matches / clashes with this career?

Address Q3a and discuss your first letter in one paragraph. Then, start a new paragraph to address EACH of the remaining three letters. Four paragraphs are expected in total.

4. * Educational Requirements and My Plan

a) Based on a HCC Careers Database of your choice hccs edu home -> click on the yellow tab labelled ‘Careers,' which is located in the middle of the page), what education/training is required for this career (do NOT use Occupational Outlook Handbook as your source)? b) What are your timeline and specific plan for achieving the education/training?

Address Q4a and Q4b in two separate paragraphs.

5. * Salary and Cost of Living

a) Based on Texas Reality Check, calculate the amount that you will need to maintain a standard of living you desire in Houston. b) Based on the Occupational Outlook Handbook, what is the outlook for your career in terms of median salary? c) Based on the Occupational Outlook Handbook, what is the outlook for this career in terms of positions availability / employment growth? d) Explain in details whether or not you can live a comfortable lifestyle you aspire in Houston with the median salary proposed. e) Based on CNN Money Cost of Living Calculator, analyze in details how Houston compares to the cost of living in other cities.

Address Q5a, Q5b, and Q5c in one paragraph. Start a new paragraph to address Q5d and start another new paragraph to address Q5e.

6. * Voluntary Opportunities

Based on the information from Volunteermatch, which two volunteer organizations or charities in Houston are you planning to join and how can you use the skills acquired in your educational training to serve the community?

Start a new paragraph for EACH voluntary job. In EACH paragraph, indicate the name of the organization and the job title. Also, explain how you can use your skills acquired at HCC to facilitate the job. There should be two paragraphs in total.

* You are required to reference material from your research when addressing #3, #4, #5, and #6.

D. Write a conclusion, and label this section "Conclusion". There are different ways to conclude your paper, but a coherent conclusion should reflect your paper's purpose.

E. Include references on a separate page. Title the page as References and refer to the APA (American Psychological Association) handout when listing sources.

The Career Research Project is a research project and information included in the report should come from valid, legitimate, and reputable sources. A minimum of 6 sources are required and information obtained through Googling will NOT be graded.

Mandatory: The in-text citations and reference entries of the following 6 sources have to be included in the written report submitted.

• TypeFocus

• One different electronic source from the online HCC Databases for question 4. Occupational Outlook Handbook should NOT be used again for question 4 as it has been used to address question 5 already.

• Texas Reality Check

• Occupational Outlook Handbook

• CNN Money Cost of Living Calculator

• Volunteer Match

II. POWERPOINT

Your Career Research PowerPoint will include the following information and utilize the format described below. The PowerPoint must have 11 slides including your title slide.