Format: The research paper should be 7 – 12 pages in length and include at least 10 bibliographic references in addition to the course texts. The paper must include position statements of your view about the following:
Grades will be based on the following:
– Effective and accurate use of management terminology and principles (40%)
– Appropriate application of management principles and theories (20)
– Quality and sophistication of writing and expression (20%)
– Reflective skills assessment and action plan (20%)
I. Your initial career aspiration. Think about the company you most would like to work for when you graduate. In the past, students have chosen businesses and organizations such as Accenture, Ernst and Young, Target, Nike, Prada, the FBI, the American Ballet Theatre, Goldman Sachs, and Merck. If you really do not know where you might like to work, think about some company that you ve heard about that interests you, or some company that has products you like. If you are considering starting your own business, choose a business that you particularly admire, and that you might use as a model for your own business. Another common aspiration is to be an attorney in a law firm.
Your first task is to study this company during the semester in terms of its management processes–its strategy, mission, goals, structure, and human resources practices. At the end of each chapter are questions designed to guide you in this task. Much of the information is available on-line, but you should feel free to use whatever resource, including in-person interviews and research, to gain as much information that you can about the company. As we go along this semester, we will be highlighting how to think about these issues in terms of career management in class. The first part of your paper is to describe the company using terms and ideas you learn this semester.
II. Skills and abilities likely to be needed at the company. Based on your description of the company, what sort of skills and abilities are required of people in this company? Much of this information can be obtained directly from company websites, but can also be inferred from the strategy and structure of the organization. Given a particular business strategy, what kinds of skills and abilities will be most prized in the company? Based on your research and analysis, describe the skills and abilities likely desired by this company. This will constitute the second major section of your paper.
III. Gap analysis. The next step is to do an honest inventory of your current skills and abilities. This part of the paper is not designed to persuade the company that you are the best possible candidate for the job, but rather is the basis for developing an action plan for becoming the best possible can possible candidate. So, for example, if you find that entry level positions at an accounting firm require a degree in accounting and a 3.0 grade point average, that will not be sufficient. What will distinguish you from the thousands of other students graduating with a degree in accounting with a 3.0 grade point average? How will you separate yourself from the rest? The third part of the paper is thus to define the �gap� between what the company would want from it�s top candidate, and what you currently have in your bundle of skills and abilities.
IV. Develop an action plan. Create a plan outlining what you are going to do between now and when you go out on the job market to acquire the skills and abilities that you will need to become the company�s most attractive recruit. As with your gap analysis, avoid simplistic statements such as �get my degree in accounting.� Think in terms of skills, abilities and competencies rather than majors, courses, or job titles. This section of the paper represents an action plan for obtaining the competencies necessary to be the most attractive candidate applying to your chosen company.
V. Plan the artifacts that will represent your portfolio of skills and abilities. A portfolio contains physical representations, or artifacts, of your skills and abilities. For example, to demonstrate your presentation skills, you might include a copy of a PowerPoint presentation, a photograph of you chairing a meeting of a service club or organization, or even an instructor�s comments about an in-class presentation. If you wish to provide evidence of your ability to analyze financial data, you can include a paper or report you have done in a finance course. To demonstrate your writing skills, you might include a paper from this course. As part of this plan, describe how you will provide evidence of or demonstrate your skills and abilities to the company. For example, what evidence will you use to show that you are capable of teamwork, leadership, or perseverance? That you know how to design a website, audit a tax return or develop a market survey? In this section, you will describe the evidence you will present to the company that you have achieved these competencies.
You can look for career development information and research companies on many web-based sites, but a good source can be found at www.fastcompany.com/online/resources/career.html . Proprietary job placement sites such as www.WetFeet.com and www.monster.com are also rich resources.
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