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.

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:
I enrolled in this course because I felt unprepared, behind, and in need of advice for figuring out what and how I
was going to utilize my education at Wake Forest. I also wanted to learn and be knowledgeable in professional
manners and the to-dos in order to find the job right for me. This meant figuring out what resources I had at my
discretion to help me ultimately answer this question of what I was going to do.
When I started this class, I was considering this/these options in the world of work:
When I started this class I was mostly considering commercial banking or investment banking. I only had these two
jobs in mind because thats what my grandfather and father did and that's all I ever talked about with them.
At the beginning of our course, these were my initial assumptions/thoughts about myself and the world of work as it
related to me
1. I was already behind on networking
2. I should have already had a professional plan in mind
3. I had to go to graduate school to get the job I wanted

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.
1. I have a strong theme in the Conventional job descriptions of the Strong Interest Survey. This includes jobs like data
management, investing, and information systems. Resource: Strong Interest Survey
2. I have a strong theme in the Enterprising job descriptions. This includes jobs in business, politics, leadership, and
entrepreneurship. Resource: Strong Interest Survey
3. I have a strong theme in Realistic job descriptions. This includes jobs working with machines, computer networks,
athletics, and working outdoors. Resource: Strong Interest Survey
4. Working in business and analyzing financial data runs in my family. My grandfather and father both worked with
money through investing and wealth management according to my family genogram.
 5. Being creative and artistically minded also runs in my family. My grandmother and mom both are very creative and
innovative according to my family genogram.
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?
By far the most valuable piece of information Ive learned about myself as it relates to opportunities of value to me
is that I am a very likeable person and if I remain proactive, organized, and committed to the work I do then I will no doubt
continue to network successfully and stay motivated to continue to do well and strive for the job that ultimately interest me
the most. Ive learned this information through informational interviews, talking with professor Robinson after class, and
also through the lectures like Andy Chans who reveal the realities of entering the working world.

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?
Through career fields research, informational interviews, and a job shadow within a marketing firm I have thoroughly seen
the spectrum of all the different types of industries and job functions and the various titles across each industry that mean
the same thing. I will absolutely utilize this research method for future career exploration.

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)
I am currently exploring marketing and sales as a rising junior. I should join the marketing club here on campus to get
involved in extracurricular activities involving my career interests. I should also attend information sessions when
companies come to Wake via job fairs. Throughout the winter months I should network as much as possible and in april I
will interview for full time marketing internships for the summer. In may I will interview if I get offered an interview for the
internship I will interview again in May for the spot. June and July will be my internship months.

My list of key points and valuable personal learning is the following:

Never stop learning
Your first job isnt your last
Be proactive in reaching out to connections
Use the various resources Wake offers (Careershift, Linkedin groups, O-Net, and OPCD website) to help understand
and connect to an industry, company, or individual
Prepare for interviews and expect any potential questions

My plans for growth are:

Keeping connections warm
Always researching leadership within a company on Careershift and Linked-In
Networking with relevant contacts in the industry of my interests.

Options in the World of Work: Career Action Plan

[Insert Date Here]
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 Course Citation/Experiential Source
 Marketing and Sales theme I like business but also enjoy interacting with other people on
the work I do. (Strong Interest Survey)
Investing/ Finance I know a lot of logic behind investing as a result of being raised
by financially minded family members and taking business
related courses. (Strong Interest Survey/ Genogram)
Interest in social sciences I always find myself enjoying work environments that involve
collaboration. I also find interest in jobs that involve thinking
about human psychology and sociology (Values lecture,
Strong Interest Survey, and Journal entries)

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:
C
Connect with and email at least 12 new contacts in either Investment banking, Marketing, sales, or consulting by
September 10th. Rationale: I need to expand my network of professionals in different industries to gain more
knowledge about each industry and to send my internship application in order to gain the professional experience I
need on my resume before senior year. Every person I interviewed told me to keep networking and find connections
with the people I meet, so thats exactly what I plan on doing. I also talked with professor Robinson one day after class
for a while as I emailed professional contacts to get my informational interviews and she emphasized how important
reaching out for help through advice and tips is because it not only helps me learn more, but also pleases the contact I
want to learn more from.
Find a job shadow back in philadelphia to start my network professionally in my hometown and to also gain more
experience from being on the job for day. Rationale: I found that the job shadow was not at all as bad or menacing as I
thought it would be. In fact, I really enjoyed my job shadow as I saw it relevant, productive, fun, and also important in
learning more about my areas of interest. (Job Shadow Experience, Class Discussion)

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 (30) Days Rationale/Source from Course or Exploration
1. I need to expand my network of professionals in different
industries to gain more knowledge about each industry
Goal 1: Send out all 12 emails by september 10th (Interviews)
1a. Sending out a few emails at a time is less time consuming and
Action Step a. Send out 4 emails by July 10th more genuine (Class Discussion)
Action Step b. Send out 8 emails by August 10th 1b. ^*

Goal 2: Experience Another Job Shadow But At home by
August 18th
Action Step a. Research alumni in the philadelphia area
by May 21st
Action Step b. Have the job shadow set up by July 21st
2. Gain more experience from being on the job for day in a different
industry (Job Shadow, Class reflection)
2a. Doing research on the company and its employees is critical
in successfully partaking in a relevant useful job shadow (Journal
Entries)
2b. Provide the host of the job shadow ample time to fit me into
their schedule (Job Shadow)

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 Short-Term Goals Resources to Overcome Potential Obstacles

1. Not all people Ill contact will respond
2. Not being able to find ample research on a company or
person
3. Im not sure what the next step is
1. Always continue to reach out to people (Use CareerShift
and linkedIn groups to get in touch with alumni)
2. Use O-net and careershift and email professor Robinson for
advice
3. Schedule an OPCD appointment!

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 Dow Jones Club. Rationale: To join extra curricular activities that reflect my career interests. (OPCD Job Search
Workshop)
Conduct informational interview with consultants in my area by end of August. Rationale: Explore consulting in the
financial more in a more personal manner that may also network or offer me recruiting options within my home
state/region to give me more opportunities (Source: Graduate/Professional School Panel information)
Take Entrepreneurship course next semester. Rationale: basic leadership skills I need that are important for one of my
industries of choice (Source: informational interview #3 with CEO and Owner at The Sentinel Consulting Group)

Long-Term Goals for the Next Three (3) Months
Goal 1: Join the Dow Joins Club
Action Step a. Talk to my friends already in the club, how
to join.
Action Step b. Attend first meeting and learn more about
the organization
Rationale/Source from Course or Exploration
1.OPCD Job Search Workshop
1a. My friends will know how to get involved because they are
already involved (Class Discussion)
1b. First impressions matter. Taking the club seriously and
contributing to it will allow me to talk about what I did on my
resum (Graduate School Panel)

Goal 2: Declare Entrepreneurship minor as soon as
possible
Action Step a. Register for an Entrepreneurship class in
first round of registration
Action Step b. Engage with professor of class
2. To start working towards the minor as soon as possible
(Informational Interviews)
2a. To ensure one of my courses next semester is an
entrepreneurship course
2b. To potentially network and further explore the
entrepreneurship approach to business (Roadtrip Nation)

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 Long-Term Goals Resources to Overcome Potential Obstacles
1.I can contact the president of the club to get a summary of what
happened and also talk to my friends in the club to have a
conversation about what was talked about or debated during the
1.Not being able to make every DJC meeting meeting.
2.Go to LinkedIn and search under the career connectors group
and also the alumni group of WFU and search regionally where
2.Not being able to find alumni in my area these folks currently work and live.
3.Email professors concerning interest in the ESE minor but more
specifically the course theyre offering. I can also reach out to Betsy
3.Not being able to register for an ESE course Chapman and ask for registration advice.

Accountability Partner (with whom will you share this plan): Gabi Brandt

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

Coming into this course I had a lot of assumptions and beliefs about the world of work

and my place in it. I thought that gap years were a bad thing to do; I just assumed no matter

what job I was going to have, that graduate school was something I would have to do, and I also

thought that grades were always more important than having soft-skills for things like

interviews and networking, just to name a few. However, because of this course I was

encouraged to explore many perspectives, gain real experience, and learn new information

from alumni currently in the fields that interest me most. My ePortfolio has documented my

progress in gained skills and information acquired, which I will use to more accurately reflect on

this course as whole.

One of the first assignments in this class was a journal entry and completion of the

Strong Interest Inventory. The journal entry asked to reflect on personal stories told in Road

Trip Nation and the advice they gave to the reader. The strong interest inventory results

provided me with a detailed report based on specific patterns and skills I selected during the

survey. In combination, these two assignments set the precedent for changing our assumptions

on the world of work. I originally wanted to make my accounts and rsum appear as

professional and accurate as possible, but I did so much more than that through the duration of

this course. Looking at my ePortfolio, I can physically look at the information alumni in those

industries of interest provided me through the informational interviews. I decided who I

wanted to interview based of the similarities I found between myself and the potential alumni

through Wakes alumni LinkedIn group. I looked for people who had the same or similar majors
and then of those people I looked for the ones who work in the industries I am interested most

in. After conducting all three of my interviews, I am now interested in further exploring

marketing/advertising, human resources involving data analytics, and consulting.

I can also look at my journal entries to review the literature we used to open our

perspectives on career paths and maneuvering the world of work in general. Road Trip Nation

provides us with exemplar cases of certain career paths that individuals can end up taking,

detailing the certain traits or characteristics these individuals have when approaching their

professional life. Path Finding specifically gave us a model that most people generally end up

experiencing through their journey of their professional careers, giving us a better idea of what

to expect including the low points of our career. Luck Is No Accident is more of a motivational

book that emphasizes proactiveness and offers a new perspective on how to view obstacles and

challenges in the world of work. Instead of feeling defeated or stuck, simply always be

searching for new opportunities and not wasting any time complaining about them.

Additionally, I can look at my Applied Research assignment to remind myself of exactly

how to compare my options and on what basis to negotiate with my potential employer. Lastly,

I can look at my mystery career field presentation to review how I should research certain job

functions and generally industries that I find interesting. This is especially useful moving

forward in understanding what a certain job entails. The way I think about information, and the

ways in which I can acquire it, have greatly evolved. I notice in my ePortfolio that I had a very

rudimentary understanding of how pre-professionals get insight into the real world of work. In
fact, I thought I knew everything and that I was already behind. The reality is that there is no

better time to start than now.

I committed myself to the course and truly came away with so much more than I

anticipated. I learned the small nuances needed to make me that much better of a job

candidate or potential intern. I learned how to approach a daunting task like understanding

what a job entails responsibility wise, but also practicality wise as well, which may include rent,

type of work environment, hours a week, salary, etc. I now know what resources I have at my

discretion and when to use each one. This not only includes websites and social media, but also

means making frequent appointments in the OPCD for guidance when I get stuck or confused

trying to figure out what my next step is.

I walk away from this class understanding more clearly what my strengths and

weaknesses are through informational interviews, networking, exploring resources and

evaluating where I stood in all of this. Knowing what I need to do next is most valuable to me in

reaching my goals. Today, I understand that I need to network in my area, get another job

shadow and information interview, and keep exploring field relevant to my interests and

strengths. This process will 100% always be helpful to any and all undergraduates as most of

these people are struggling to find out where in the world of work they will fit in, but also be

successful. I would like to thank Professor Robinson for being a mentor and role model for

personal advocacy and constant commitment to self-growth. I had a wonderful time in this

course and would recommend it to all my friends.

 Rubric
Personal Action Plan
25 points total Sophisticated Competent Not Yet Competent

Action plan has two both Action plan has both

Action plan academic or career-related
demonstrates goals listed for next 1-3
short-term career goals months (short and long term)
and rationale and includes, action steps,
(7 points) rationale/source from
coursework
academic and career-related
Action plan has only
goals listed for next 1 or 3
academic or career goals but
months and has rationale for
not both; rationale missing or
some but not all or rationale
incomplete
unrelated to coursework

Action plan has 2 goals,

Action plan has 2-3 action
Action plan time-bound action steps Action plan has 1-2 goals or
steps that created and citing
demonstrates use of created and cites more than action steps but does not
6-8 references from projects,
long-term goals and three references from have both; or, does not cite
experiences or information
rationale projects, experiences or learning from course as
gained as part of course
(7 points) information gained as part of rationale for action steps
objectives
course objectives

Action plan includes

name of accountability Name of accountability
partner, potential partner is listed, Not located in ePortfolio
obstacles and resources obstacles/barriers and and/or does not have
to overcome resources to overcome accountability partner listed
barriers/obstacles obstacles/barriers are listed.
(3.5 points)

Action plan answers

Action plan includes answers Action plan includes a few Action plan does not include
prompts demonstrating
to prompts to questions but not all answers to answers to
growth or perspective
listed for pre-planning for prompts/questions listed for prompts/questions listed for
from start of course
document pre-planning for document pre-planning for document
(3 points)

Student completes
career coaching Student attends coaching
appointment to review session with career coach to N/A N/A
plan review action plan
(3 points)

Action plan added to

Action plan added to
ePortfolio and printed
ePortfolio and turned into N/A N/A
copy turned in on time
class on time
(1.5 points)

 Rubric
Meta-Reflection
25 points total Sophisticated
Reflection on overall Reflection includes 4-6
experience of specific references of, and
ePortfolio creation reflections on, aspects of
(5 points) ePortfolio creation
Reflection includes 3
references to actual process
Reflection on process of selecting artifacts, creating
(5 points) ePortfolio and editing
portfolio for a targeted
audience
Reflection includes 3-5
examples of students
Reflection on growth
specific learning and growth
and progress
achieved during class
(5 points)
through specific experiences
and activities
Overall reflection indicates
Quality of reflection
consideration of topic and
(5 points)
planning
Reflection meets writing
Writing conventions conventions; virtually zero
(2.5 points) punctuation, grammar,
formatting errors
Timeliness Meta-reflection added to
(2.5 points) ePortfolio and turned into
class on time
Competent
Reflection includes 3-4
references of, and reflections
on, aspects of ePortfolio
creation; lacks specificity in
terms of examples or
experiences
Reflection includes 2
references to actual process
of selecting artifacts, creating
ePortfolio and editing
portfolio for a targeted
audience
Reflection includes 2-3
examples of students
specific personal learning and
growth achieved during class
through experiences and
activities, not specific
Reflection indicates some
consideration of topic; feels
rushed
Reflection meets some
writing conventions; contains
2-4 punctuation, grammar,
formatting errors
N/A
Not Yet Competent
Reflection includes 1-2
references of, and reflections
on, aspects of ePortfolio
creation; lacks specificity in
terms of examples or
reflection
Reflection includes 1
reference to actual process
of selecting artifacts, creating
ePortfolio and editing
portfolio for a targeted
audience
Reflection includes 1-2
examples of students
specific personal learning and
growth achieved during class
through experiences and
activities, not specific or tied
to projects, experiences or
activities
Reflection indicates
inadequate consideration of
topic and no planning;
rushed quality to writing and
thought
Reflection does not meet
writing conventions; 5 or
more punctuation, grammar,
formatting errors
N/A