Reflection Paper

Although I don’t know which career path to take yet, I am glad to have an action plan to follow. In reviewing the NACE pyramid from Lesson 2, I realized that I am still in the area of researching resources. I am interested in one to three different fields and feel that, even after this course, I need more information about these fields and possible career paths in each one in order to make the right decision.

At the beginning of this class, my goal was to have chosen a career by the end of this semester. Now that the time has come and I still don’t know, I am somewhat frustrated with myself. I’m not sure if my indecisiveness is to blame, or perhaps it is my fear of committing to one career forever that is holding me back.

Learning about myself has been highly beneficial in this course. The assessments we took helped me realize what my strengths/weaknesses are and what why certain career fields interest me more than others. I have taken personality tests before so I wasn’t surprised by the results. What did surprise me, however, was just how accurate the Myer-Briggs assessment was. The characteristics that were outlined for my personality were spot-on and helped me to know why I do certain things and what I am subconsciously looking for in a career.

My action plan is structured to not only help me decide on a career, but to prepare myself to work in that career field further down the road. Career preparation does not end with a college education, in fact, it could be said that earning a degree is only the beginning. My plan will help me to gain experience in my field of choice and acquire the skills necessary for employment.

I was excited to learn about and include things like internships and job shadowing in my plan. I have always worked during college (summers included), so I never really considered doing an internship. I am getting married, however, and my fiance is very supportive of me doing internships, even if it means I won’t work during the Summer. If I do this, finances may be tight for a few months, but the knowledge and skills I will gain will be priceless.

I plan to decide a major by Fall 2011. With a definite major in mind, I will be able to apply to a program and begin taking the pre-requisite classes for that major. This summer I will continue to research careers and narrow down my options, using the information I have learned from this course.

My fiance will graduate with his Master’s in August and is currently applying for jobs. He wants to do military land preservation, so his work could take us anywhere. While I am excited for the changes, it has been frustrating from an education stand point. I am hesitant to set my heart on a specific major because it may not be offered wherever we relocate. I have considered choosing two majors in case one is not available at my future school, but decided against it. Because I am indecisive, I need to keep things as simple as possible.

I do feel that, thanks to this course, I am much better prepared to make career decisions now than I was previously. Learning about all of the available tools, both online and on-campus, was the most valuable information I gained from this course. I can now build a career portfolio, find/apply for internships, and research careers in order to find the career path that’s right for me.

I would recommend this course to any college student, even if they had already chosen a major. The information covered in the course material gives a clear understanding of what can be done to choose/prepare for a career, and would be beneficial for all college students!