Luciana Sabillon

December 2, 2015

CNS 220 Final Project

Part 1: Personal Action Plan
If you have a dream, you can spend a lifetime studying, planning, and
getting ready for it. What you should be doing is getting started.
-Drew Houston, Founder/CEO of Dropbox
The purpose of this project is to integrate and mobilize your new skills, resources,
experiences and knowledge into a plan you can use to create meaningful action
toward your personal and career-related goals. This final project, your Action Plan,
along with your Meta-Reflection, will allow you to consolidate your new competencies
and understanding of yourself, as well as options in the world of work that are relevant
to you.
Checklist to complete this project:
Answer the following prompts and complete the action plan on the following pages.
Please complete this electronically by filling out this document.
Complete a career coaching appointment with a career coach in the OPCD to review
your action plan for feedback.
Write your meta-reflection based on the prompts provided after this action plan
worksheet.
Please follow the prompts listed here and integrate 8-10 resources from our course as
supporting material, evidence for your plan, or new information that informs your
future actions. You will start by reviewing your progress and citing the experiences that
have created impact and opportunity.
This project is a template you can use now and as your goals unfold, or shift in the
future. Ive provided this blank template for your Action Plan on Sakai and our
ePortfolio website. Keep it and feel free to use it in the future.

1.

2.

First, begin by answering these questions for yourself. Be as complete as you can,
using a sentences or two for each prompt:
I enrolled in this course for this primary purpose or because:
When I started this class, I was considering this/these options in the world of work:
At the beginning of our course, these were my initial assumptions/thoughts about
myself and the world of work as it related to me
I enrolled in this course because I was unsure about how to approach the career I
wanted to pursue and if it was the most suitable for me. Also, I felt I hadnt done any
networking, or even set up a LinkedIn account and I hoped that this class helped me
put me on my feet.
When I started this class, I was considering doing marketing, but really didnt know
anything about the job or the industry.

3. At the beginning of the course I thought that to work in a marketing career I absolutely
needed to study marketing, however, I learned that there is a broader field of options
and in fact marketing is just a concentration within that field.

1.

2.

3.
4.

Next, continue by considering the results of your self-assessment undertaken through

our course. You may wish to review the Self-Assessment section of your ePortfolio.
Write a sentence or two to answer these prompts:
What are the key points you have learned about yourself as it relates to your current
ideas related to career goals? Which projects, experiences or readings provided this
learning? List 3-5 key learnings and the rationale/or sources for class that help clarify
this self-assessment.
I learned that that I am an Open-Ended Explorer. I am not a Random Walker because I
wont just take any job and see where I land at the end of my career. I know my
interests (which is the world of marketing and advertising and working with people in a
social aspect) but am open to different jobs within that field.
I learned that my interests have been influenced by my family history. Most of my
family members have studied business or are entrepreneurs. Also, my godmother, who
I have a very close relationship with studied marketing and now works in a marketing
job.
I learned from my Strong Interest Inventory Test that my highest score was in the
Enterprising thing and Social theme. This means that I am interested in business and
jobs that have to do with a lot of communication with clients and colleagues.
I learned the most from my informational interviews. It really solidified my interest in
marketing and I lived the insight I was provided in a typical day of work from someone
in that field. When conducting the interview, I felt I could relate to them.

What has been the most valuable piece of information you have learned about
yourself as it relates to opportunities of value to you? How did you learn this as part of
our course?
The most valuable thing I have learned is that I like jobs that involve caring about
other people. In the tests and research I have done, I am more interested and excited
to learn about jobs that include public relationships, advertisement, marketing, nonprofits, etc. In summary, I am a people person and very caring about making other
happy. I learned it when choosing which careers to research about for the group
project and also during the career map after the first guest speaker came to our class.
This learning allowed me to be more open to other careers such as communications,
which is similar to marketing but hadnt considered it.
Now, think about the exploration and research you have conducted and write a
sentence or two to answer the following for yourself. Again, you may wish to look at
your Career Research and Exploration section of your ePortfolio.
How did you explore and research career-related opportunities and options? How
would you summarize the resources/experiences that have been most helpful?
After taking the Strong Interest Inventory, I researched some of the career
opportunities related to my strongest theme. One of them was Marketing Manager, so
I looked into that. The resources that helped me understand the career the most were
the description on the OPCD website, then ONet, and lastly, the informational

interviews. The informational interviews is the most raw research I did and I am very
happy I got that opportunity to really understand the job.
What do you need to be doing now based on your class year at Wake Forest and the
options you are currently exploring? hint: take a look at the OPCD site (it lists activities
by year and the explore careers tab here: http://career.opcd.wfu.edu/explore-careers
gives a timeline for specific career fields)
Now, I should be doing networking, which I did throughout this course. One thing I am
missing is join the Marketing Club. I have thought about it but never put myself out
there. Probably I will be joining it next semester.
My list of key points and valuable personal learning is the following:
Open-Ended explorer
Marketing is a job position not an industry
People/social person
My plans for growth are:
Join marketing club
Build a stronger network
Gain more experience in the marketing field

Options in the World of Work: Career Action Plan

[December 2015]
Please type your action plan goals below and provide the rationale (the reason you
plan to do this) and course-related source for this goal. Excellent action plans will draw
on 8-10 different sources from class (e.g. projects, experiences, readings, lectures,
resources). It is important to anticipate barriers to reaching your goals. This may be as
simple as time limitations during finals week. If we can identify barriers or obstacles,
we can also identify resources that will help us overcome these obstacles so out
momentum on reaching the goals is not diminished.
Step 1: Self-Assessment
Based on what you have learned about yourself, the world of work, values and career
related interests, list your most important information about yourself (column 1). I also
expect you to describe the rationale and source of this learning (e.g., Strong Interest
Inventory, Career Genogram, Values Lecture, journal entry, etc.).
Self-Assessment/Career Related
Knowledge
Open-Ended Explorer

Course Citation/Experiential Source

Reading (Finding Ones Calling): Know the type
of career I like but am open to different job
opportunities within the field

Interested in the Advertising, Sales, and Andy Chan Lecture and Strong Interest
Public Relations Industry
Inventory Test

 Captivated by the marketing job

My interests aligned with the ones from the

people I interviewed for my informational
interviews.

Step 2: Short-Term Goals for the Next Thirty (30) Days

In Step 2, Im going to ask you to set some short-term goals based on what youve
learned about yourself above. These goals may be based on information you received
in an informational interview, from your job shadow, perspective gained at an OPCD
workshop, data you explored on particular career-related web sites or from our
readings or experiences. Example short-term goals might look like:
Apply for 10 different marketing related internships before April 30 th. Rationale: I need
to build professional experience on my resume before junior year (source:
informational interview with alumni contacted through LinkedIn as part of
Informational Interview Projects).
Arrange 2 Job Shadows in hometown for June. Rationale: increasing my network gives
me more access to hidden job market (source: Job Shadow Preparation Presentation).
In this table, list two (2) short-term goals for next thirty (30) days and action steps to
reach them. Include a date to complete the goals and action steps (column 1). You
should support your goal with an appropriate rationale/source from the course or your
exploration that explains your reason or motivation for the short-term goals (column
2).
Short-Term Goals for the Next Thirty Rationale/Source from Course or
(30) Days
Exploration
Goal 1: Research and apply for summer
internships related to media/event
marketing by December 31st

1. Timeline suggests to do an internship during

summer

Action Step a. investigate corporations

online

1a. Vault guide

Action Step b. search for job openings

on indeed and handshake

1b. Career Coach

Goal 2: Improve my networking skills by

the time I get back for Spring semester
Action Step a. Reach out to people in
my hometown who work in marketing
who I can find on LinkedIn
Action Step b. Ask my aunt who works
in the marketing department of a
company to share things about her job

2. Informational interviews taught me the

importance of it

2a. LinkedIn
2b. OPCD appointment

with me.

Now that youve spent some time identifying your short-term goals for the next thirty
(30) days, I want you to think about any potential obstacles you may encounter in the
process of reaching these goals and completing your action steps. Additionally, please
identify resources you may use to overcome these obstacles (e.g., identify the tools,
information, planning and/or people who can help you).
Potential Obstacles to Completing
Resources to Overcome Potential
Short-Term Goals
Obstacles
1. Not enough skills relevant to the
internship

1. Join activities that highlight those skills

2. Spending time with family and friends

2. Planning my day and leaving time for

research

3. Spending short amount of time at

home

3. Get in contact and keep up through email

Step 3: Long-Term Goals for the Next Three (3) Months

Now, in Step 3, I want you to set two (2) long-term goals and actions steps to help you
reach them. Example long-term goals might look like:
Join the Executive Committee of Wake and Shake. Rationale: recruiters like to see
leadership on a resume (source: Internship Presentation in Class & OPCD Job Search
Workshop)
Conduct informational interview with attorneys in my county by end of August.
Rationale: explore law schools that may network or offer recruiting options within my
home state/region to determine top choices for law school applications (Source:
Graduate/Professional School Panel information)
Take Computer Science course next semester. Rationale: basic programming
important skill for one of my industries of choice (Source: informational interview #2
with alumnus at Red Ventures)
Long-Term Goals for the Next Three
(3) Months

Rationale/Source from Course or

Exploration

Goal 1: Join the Marketing Club

1. Employers look for experience in the field

Action Step a. Reach out to the

president of the club

1a. OPCD website

Action Step b. Attend meetings

1b. OPCD website

Goal 2: Explore Vault guide

2. Research and know the industry well before

getting involved in it

Action Step a. Sign up for vault

2a. Internship speaker

Action Step b. Research marketing

options

2b. Career coach

Just as you did with your short-term goals, I want you to think about any potential
obstacles you may encounter in the process of reaching your long-term goals and
completing your action steps. Additionally, please identify resources you may use to
overcome these obstacles (e.g., identify the tools, information, planning and/or people
who can help you).
Potential Obstacles to Completing
Resources to Overcome Potential
Long-Term Goals
Obstacles
1. Time constraints to join marketing club

1. Planning

2. Not matching any jobs

2. Sign up for indeed email results

3.

3.

Accountability Partner (with whom will you

share this plan):

My parents

After you have completed the Action Plan and had it reviewed by a career coach in the
OPCD, take some time to write up your meta-reflection for the course using the
prompts on the next page.

Part 2: Meta-Reflection
Now that you have a clear action plan developed for yourself, the second part of your
final project involves taking a step back and thinking about all that youve learned, in
class, as well as through your career research, exploration and experiences.
Before coming in to this course, I thought business was the only answer and the
only path. Now, as the semester is ending, I have done so much research and am open
to so many opportunities that I realize that business is not everything. For example, I
came the course thinking that because I liked marketing, that is what I needed to
major in. As I researched the marketing field, I confirmed my interest in it, but also I
concluded that other majors such as communications and public relations also help
towards a career in marketing. The amount of research I have done on the career field
has changed my perspective on the industry. The most insightful research I did was for
the Career Exploration Presentation, where I really understood what the marketing
career was all about. In fact, before I didnt even now that marketing was not the
industry, it is advertising. I feel that now I know where to search for things and make
educated decisions and steps throughout choosing a future career or job. In the rest of
my Wake Forest Career, I know that I can always reach out and take advantage of the
resources offered in the OPCD. I have learned that to apply for jobs I need to be
involved in things where I practice skills needed for the job. This has inspired me to
join more clubs such as the marketing club. Most importantly, I have learned to
network and my fear to talk to absolute strangers has now been overcome. I have
learned that there is always someone out there willing to help us and that people love
talking about themselves and telling their story. In my future here at Wake Forest I will
learn to take advantage of every opportunity that highlights my skills (academically
and socially) towards being a more relevant candidate in the advertising industry.
After taking a look at the ePortfolio all I can think about is the amount of
research I have done. I have researched online, with my family and with strangers and
they have all helped me grow and mature into what I want to do with my future. My
familys history has made me reflect about my interests in the field but has also
inspired me to do my own thing to later give back to them when I get back to
Honduras. Also, making the informational interviews is something that has really made
me grow and mature. I have never done something similar where I just talk or meet
with a stranger. However, it felt great doing it because I really made a difference in my
life and in my college career.
This course helped me evaluate all my options in the world of work. It really
made me research and dig deep into all the opportunities out there in the career I am
interested in. After all the research I have done, now it is my turn to take it all with me
and put it into practice. My main goal right now is land an internship during the
summer. Ideally I hope it can be in New York City or in Miami, where the advertising
industry is very predominant and I hope I can land it in a big company like Hearst
Corporation (group of mazines like Oprah, Cosmopolitan, Food Network, etc.). This
course is so beneficial for all undergraduates because it gives them resources that
make finding jobs and applying for jobs much more easily. We are all capable of having
amazing careers and this course secures it by teaching us all the steps and sites to
look at to achieve it. I would not have known how to start otherwise.