HON 110-302: Honors Freshman Seminar

Individual Project: Your Dream Career

This project is designed to get you to think about your long-range future, and to consider what you should be doing now to prepare for it.  You will investigate a career you would consider your "dream job."  It should be in your likely major area of study.  If you don't know yet what your major will be, this will give you a chance to explore careers in one of the majors you are considering.  Many students change majors before graduation, and this gives you a chance to critically examine a career you are considering.  You aren't signing up "for life" in this project.  But, use this opportunity to DREAM BIG!  

You will produce a presentation for the class, and will TURN IN a copy of your powerpoint, plus a reaction to your sources and the project.  The paper should be about 3 pages long (double-spaced, 10-12 point font).  PowerPoint and Internet access will be available for your presentation.  

Format:

• Three page paper in which you summarize your findings with sources cited.  

• Five minute Oral Presentation of your project in which you should use visual aids (PowerPoint is recommended.)

Method and Content:

1.  Select your dream job.  For assistance, consider completing the "Assessment of Career Interests" surveys available through UNCW Career Services http://www.uncw.edu/stuaff/career/students/assessments.htm or at MyCoolCareer.com.  What did you learn about your career interests from the Career Key you completed for the Career Services workshop? 

2.  Interview at least one faculty member or student at UNCW about the career or the major you are considering to prepare for this career.  Consider a student studying for that career or a faculty member who teaches a course to prepare students for the career.  Ask me for help on this!!  Some questions to ask: 

• What are college graduates expected to know about this dream job?
• What skills are important?
• How did you get where you are?
• Why did you choose this career/major?
• What would you do differently?
• How do you balance your work, service and personal life?

3.  Check resources (workshops with Career Services and Randall Library will be very useful!)  You should use (and properly cite) at least three sources: use both internet and print sources.   See the Randall Library Resource Guide for Career Information at http://library.uncw.edu/web/research/topic/careers.html .  Specifically, try to answer these questions:

• What education is needed?
• What skills do job ads require/prefer?
• What are the starting salaries?

· Where are the job ads published?

You may use any standard citation style, e.g., APA, MLA.  For guidance, you will find style manuals at the Randall Library Reference Desk.  Basic information is available at:  http://library.uncw.edu/web/research/citation/citingsources.html

4.  Make a plan that would prepare you for your dream job and describe it in your paper:

• What courses should you take?
• What volunteer and/or extra-curricular activities would enhance your resume?
• What other experiences or training would be of benefit?
• If grad school is required, which one(s) would you prefer and why?
• Try to talk with a junior or senior who is also interested in that dream job about their plan...

5. RESUME:  Develop a resume that you would use to apply for a job next summer to help you prepare for this career.  Be sure to indicate in your paper why you pick this (hypothetical or real) summer job and attach the resume to the paper as an appendix.  You must be honest in your resume- it's real!  The only exception to this is that you can indicate your likely activities for the spring.  Then think about whether you'd hire you based on the resume.