Work/Life Action Plan Assignment

ARTS 299 Assignment 3 – Work/Life Action Plan Assignment (25%)

Adapted from CERIC Career Work in Action: Post-Secondary Students (https://ceric.ca/guiding-principles-of-career-development/)

HINT: Use your LEAN Career Design Canvas from Assignment 1!

Part 1: Skills Identification Exercise

Step 1: Choose three of the following questions and write out your answers (i.e. stories) in paragraphs (up to 200 words each). Draw on the course materials on the Work/Life Readiness and Individual Action Planning Modules. Include as much detail as possible, thinking about the specific tasks that you carried out and the skills that you demonstrated in each case. You will use the “stories” you write to identify some of your skills.

• Describe an experience that makes you feel proud
• Describe a job (paid or volunteer) that you enjoyed
• Describe a leisure activity that you enjoy
• Describe a significant accomplishment in your life
• Describe an important learning experience in your life (may or may not be related to formal education)

Step 2: For each story, review the Live Career List of Transferable Skill Sets (https://www.livecareer.com/resources/resumes/basics/transferable-skills-set) and assign a colour to each of the Skill Sets (e.g., Organization, Management and Leadership Skills = Green). Then, re-read your “stories” and circle/highlight all of the skills that you used as part of the activity/experience in question.

Step 3: Write a reflection (up to 500 words) about this experience of identifying your skills. Questions to reflect on should include:

• How many skill sets did you identify in your stories?
• How did this make you feel?
• What transferable skill sets did you excel in?
• What transferable skills do you need to improve on or develop? What can you do IN THIS CLASS to improve or develop these skills? Give at least two examples.
• How will these skills prepare you for happenstance?

Part 2: Professional Skills & Focused Career Research

Step 1: Conduct Research

1. Choose a career opportunity you are interested in, or that you would like to do more research into (e.g., a professional job or a graduate school program).

2. Read about the career opportunity on Labour Market websites OR school program websites. Some labour market resource examples (and you are welcomed to find others):
   • Government of Canada Trend Analysis – https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis
   • O*Net Online – https://www.onetonline.org/
   • BC Labour Market Outlook Reports – https://www.workbc.ca/labour-market-industry/b-c-s-economy/forecasting-the-labour-market.aspx

3. Research the professional practices around this career opportunity. List or write about the identified professional standards (Don’t forget to include the source of information!)
   • Is there a professional association or governing body for this career (e.g., Canadian Professional Counselors Association)?
   • Does a Standard of Practice exist for this career?
   • Find job postings/descriptions (in Canada) and look at skills/duties required.

Step 2: Written Reflection (up to 500 words)

• Why did you choose to explore this occupation or graduate school opportunity?
• Having conducted this research (labour market and professional practices), has your interest in this opportunity change? Why or why not?
• How does this career opportunity align with your identified values?
• What did you learn about the labour market outlook for your career opportunity? What did you learn about its professional practice?
• What would the next steps be for transitioning into this field? What other career fields came up for you throughout this activity?

Grading

Refer to the Workplace Readiness Grading scale in the course syllabus. Your assignment will be evaluated on the following:

1. Your ability to follow each of the steps and respond to the instructions
   1. Part 1 is complete
   2. Part 2 is complete
2. Quality of Career Research
   1. Is the occupation/graduate school program described thoroughly?
   2. Is the labour market information current?
   3. Were professional organizations researched or were professional practices identified?
   4. Were job postings provided and an inventory of skills/duties provided?
3. Quality of Reflections
   1. Part 1 and Part 2 reflections were included and met the word count
   2. Part 1 reflection uses a narrative (first person) writing style and demonstrated alignment to personal learning and career thinking
   3. Part 2 reflection is explicit and provide examples to address a personal connection to the application of the research
   4. Both reflections were insightful and demonstrated engagement with the course materials and career thinking
4. Quality of Writing
   1. The assignment is proof read and free of technical writing errors
   2. The assignment is organized and uses active voice to address the reader