CAREER RESEARCH PROJECTS

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INT 1010 Career Research Project (120 points)

Career Research Project

 

See the Summary at the end of this document for due dates of each phase and possible points for each. All phases must be submitted on time to earn points for the final phase.

 

Overview: This project will involve creating a presentation that evaluates and compares three careers. You will learn how to use an evaluation matrix to make a better decision about which career to choose. At least one career must be in your program of study. The other two careers could be Information Technology (IT) careers. Of course if IT is your major then all 3 will be in IT.If your major is undecided or general education, choose a career that interests you rather than the career in your program of study.

 

Phase 1 Pick Careers and Criteria:

Step 1:Decide on the 3 careers you will investigate. These should relate to your program of study at PGCC. If you can only think of two careers, pick an Information Technology (IT) career from Chapter 8, The People in Information Systems in our eBook for your third career. No two students in the class may have identical sets of 3 careers, though overlap is allowed. When you decide on the three careers, post a thread to the Canvas discussion board established for this purpose. Before posting, look at the threads already there to make sure your set of 3 is unique. You don’t have to explain anything, just list the 3 careers. A good place to locate career information is the Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov.

 

Step 2:  Determine a set of at least 4 criteria to evaluate the 3 careers. These criteria can include but need not be limited to pay, education, location, benefits, etc. You will need to define your meaning for each of these criteria in your final presentation. You will need to research each of these criteria for each of your careers, so pick criteria for which you can find facts.

 

Step 3: Post your 3 careers and 4 criteria into the M10: Careers for Research Project Discussion Board.

 

Phase 2Research Lab Worksheet and Works Cited:

Step 1:Complete the Research Paper Lab to learn how to evaluate Internet website sources and create your bibliography.

 

Step 2:You are required to use your sources as evidence in this research project. You will need to synthesize what you have read and then use that information in your evaluation matrix and presentation. Your research should give you the facts on each of your criteria for each of your careers.

 

Step 3:  Create a Works Cited page, bibliography (references) using the Word references feature in MS Word and submit it into the Canvas assignment link established for this purpose.

 

Phase 3 Evaluation Matrix:

Step 1: Create an evaluation matrix in Excel that will let you compare the 3 careers side by side on each criterion. Refer to the tutorial about creating an evaluation matrix if needed. What should be in the matrix is the 3 careers, the criteria to be used, how you personally weigh each criterion. See the presentation in Canvas about creating an evaluation matrix. Create your own matrix and name this file EM_ L name replacing L name with your last name.

 

Step 2: Based on your research, rate each career on each criterion (on a scale of 1 to 100). Again refer to the presentation about creating an evaluation matrix if needed. After you have rated all 3 careers, create Excel formulas to calculate weighted scores using a mixed cell reference. This will enable you to see which career scored best with the raw scores and then which career scored best with the weighted scores.

 

Step 3: Format your total raw score and total weighted score in Excel so that are easily identifiable and submit it into the Canvas assignment link established for this purpose.

 

Phase 4PowerPoint Presentation:

In this phase you will create your PowerPoint presentation. The presentation must follow the 10-20-30 rules and include meaningful animation and appropriate sound. You are required to follow Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 rules. You should have no more than 10 slides, you should not talk for more than 20 minutes and you should not use a font size that is less than 30 points. Limit text as much as possible. The 20-minute rule is for real life presentations. These presentations may be much shorter than 20 minutes. The research presentation should be a PowerPoint presentation about your research, no more than 10 slides. Include your evaluation matrix on one slide. Look Guy up and research his background. Check out his web page. He explains the rule nicely in this short video:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCTtVTwPk5E

 

The body of your presentation should include:

 

  • A brief explanation of your choice of careers.
  • A brief explanation of your weighted criteria and why you weighted them the way you did based on your opinion.
  • Then explain any high or low ratings you gave any of the careers on any of the criteria based on your research .Discuss how the careers compared to each other with respect to the criteria. Support these ratings (scores) you assign with details from your research (not your opinion). It is not necessary to explain each score in great detail, but you should help your audience understand how you arrived at your scores by presenting specific facts about the career based on research. Also comment on what you discovered. Did you get the results you were expecting? Why or why not?
  • Include the Excel evaluation matrix table.
  • Include a reflection on this project and/or the course. Talk about the experience and what was learned during the project and this course. The reflection should include the roses, what went well; the buds, what would have gone well if … (there was more time, money, etc.); and the thorns, what did not go well.
  • The criteria by which the PowerPoint presentation will be graded will include but may not be limited to:
    • Introduction is attention-getting
      • Lays out problem well
      • Establishes framework of presentation
    • Technical terms are well-defined
    • Contains accurate information
    • Contains relevant information
    • Logical sequence
    • Appropriate amount of material
    • Follows the 10, 20, 30 rule
    • Pictures are meaningful and effective
    • Sound is effective
    • Obvious conclusion summarizing presentation

 

Phase 5 Final Presentation:

Present your Career Research Project PowerPoint presentation in front of the class. This will usually happen on the last day of physical class. Online and remote students need to check with their instructor for final presentation guidelines. The criteria by which your delivery of the presentation will be graded include but may not be limited to:

  • Speaker(s) maintains good eye contact and body language
  • Speaker enunciates in an audible voice
  • Delivery is poised, controlled, and smooth (professional)
  • Accurate language/grammar skills and pronunciation
  • Visual aids are well prepared, informative, and effective
  • Length of presentation is within time limit

 

Summary:

Phase Graded Item Possible

Points

 Points

Earned

 Due Date

(See Course Schedule)
Phase 1 Pick Careers Post to Discussion Board 10    
Phase 2 Research Lab Worksheet and Word file checked in class or in assignment 10    
  Works Cited Word file of bibliography in final assignment link 25    
Phase 3 Evaluation Matrix Excel file in final assignment link 30    
Phase 4PowerPoint Presentation PowerPoint file in final assignment link 25    
Phase 5 Individual PowerPoint Student Presentation Presented in class 20    
Total   120