Career Planning Worksheet
Complete a two-page Career Planning Worksheet to explore career options and requirements as they relate to your college and career goals.
Though you might have heard somewhere that you need a graduate degree in psychology to find work, there's actually a number of options and professional paths you can pursue once you've completed your bachelor's degree. Some of those paths may require a graduate degree and others may not. That's part of the beauty of a psychology program—there is much versatility in the direction you can go next and where you can apply the skills and knowledge you've learned.
Not all of you will wish to pursue a graduate degree, but for those who think it might be an option, this is a great time to do some research. Your choice of electives and activities during your undergraduate program can set you on the path for acceptance to a graduate program (and success once you're in).
In the fourth and final assessment of the course, you will explore career options and plan for your next steps.
College to Careers
Throughout your program, you will learn skills related to your future career. When you begin looking for jobs, it may be difficult to remember everything you have learned and done. Tip: Start a folder to begin tracking your new knowledge and skills. In that folder, keep your resume, a document to make notes for interviews, and samples of any academic work that you are particularly proud of. Then, at the end of each term, update your resume, put notes for possible interviews, and include a copy of any academic work highlighting a skill you may want to demonstrate to employers. What should you include in resumes? Include mentions of new skills (communication, computers, et cetera), experiences (leadership, teamwork, et cetera), or knowledge related to the career you want. What about interviews? You'll want to take notes on the same items but include more details so that you can tell it like a story in answer to an interview question.
Use the Career Planning Worksheet [DOCX] to help guide your work.
In Assessment 1, we asked you to identify a career goal and, throughout this course, you've been exposed to additional career planning information. Decide on a career that is most interesting to you at this time in your studies and that you would like to make your goal after graduating from Capella. With that career goal in mind, locate a job opening in your state for this career and complete the following:
- Part 1: Preparation.
- Review your resources.
- Identify a career goal.
- Locate a job opening.
- Identify job requirements.
- Find a credible source on the job market.
- Part 2: Career Plan Worksheet.
- Identify your source.
- Explain how critical thinking will be important.
- Discuss a psychology concept that will be useful.
- Identify your career goal and describe the job market.
- Create a development plan to gain education, skills, and experience.
- Describe resources you can use, including finding a mentor.
Refer to the scoring guide to ensure that your work meets the grading criteria for this assessment.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
- Competency 1: Apply information literacy skills.
- Locate a credible source of information on the projected job market.
- Competency 2: Explain foundational psychological principles in psychology.
- Describe a psychological principle that will help in a specific career.
- Competency 3: Describe the role of critical thinking in the field of psychology.
- Describe the role of critical thinking in the field of psychology and for a specific career.
- Competency 5: Explain how the field of psychology relates to career planning.
- Describe a career goal based on awareness of the projected job market.
- Explain a plan to develop the skills and gain the experience needed to reach a career goal.
- Identify resources needed to reach a career goal.
- Competency 6: Use effective oral or written communication skills.
- Address assessment purpose in well-organized paragraphs, incorporating credible sources, accurate paraphrasing, tone, and citations.