reach for the stars
a career search webquest

 

intro | task | process | resources | evaluation | conclusion


introduction

Selecting a career is one of the most important decisions in your life.
One way to begin the process of career decision making is by understanding
your own interests and your personality type.  Another task to accomplish
when preparing for a career would be to prepare for an interview
and create a  cover letter and a resumé, understanding the difference
between a standard typed resumé and a resumé posted on the internet.
This project has been designed to be used by high school juniors or seniors
and should take a couple of weeks to complete.

task

the first star you will reach for will be to take a personality test

next you will find a few  career assessment tests and take some of them

once you have figured out your type and a career that interests you,
you will research interviewing questions,  interview preparation, and tips on successfully interviewing

your fourth task will be to access websites about resumé writing, making a comparison of the different types, and finally preparing your own

and finally, you will research business letter styles and create
a cover letter, selling you, your skills and abilities

YOUR FINAL PROJECT WILL BE A CAREER PORTFOLIO WHICH YOU SHOULD USE IN YOUR FUTURE
 

intro | task | process | resources | evaluation | conclusion


process

1.  Before you begin, you are to assess your personality type.  This is easy to do, simply go to

Ask Jeeves Answer: Netscape Career Center

Find Decision guides--careers and click on this.
Then click on Q&A and take this test.
Make note of the top five suggested career areas and
What was your reaction to these areas and your personality type?
Include these in a brief paragraph in your CAREER PORTFOLIO.
 

2.  Now you need to take more tests.  These will serve you as career assessment tools. Plus they are fun!
 Go to
Personality Tests

At this site you must take the VALS test plus two others.
Make notes on your findings and
include these in a brief paragraph in your CAREER PORTFOLIO.
 

3.  Interviewing for a job is something one should prepare for.
There is a lot of information out there in cyberspace at your fingertips and listed in Resources.
a. You will need to find information on preparing for the interview
and tips for interviewing.
 Write a paragraph regarding your findings from at least one site.
b. Next find questions you should ask and make a list including at least ten.
c. Interviewers ask questions,too.  Find ten of these and include on a list.
d. Finally, you need to find a job interview simulation, look at this
and write a paragraph describing your reaction to this.
INCLUDE  ALL OF THE ABOVE 3A-D IN YOUR CAREER PORTFOLIO
 

4. Access on-line resources  for acceptable resumé formats.
Study the information accessed.  Compare/contrast the electronic and the traditional resumé.  Include what a "scannable" resumé is.
Write a brief summary of your findings.
NOW...it is time for you to BUILD your own resumé
COMPOSE A TRADITIONAL (one page)  RESUME USING WORD
OR WIZARD IN WORD
INCLUDE THE SUMMARY OF YOUR FINDINGS AND
YOUR RESUME IN YOUR CAREER PORTFOLIO

5. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
you will need to have a COVER LETTER to send with your resumé.
Click on the following and you will be able to write a great cover letter
...Creating a Resume and Cover Letter
which you are to include with your resumé
and all of the above in your CAREER PORTFOLIO--
when if used successfully will bring Green to your Jeans!


 

intro | task | process | resources | evaluation | conclusion




resources
There's no MAGIC TO FINDING GREAT RESOURCES.
The following is a list of potential places to go for retrieving information
and completing this project.
Please let the instructor know if you find more!
 
 
 

Tips for Creating a Scannable Resume
 Planning a Career
FAQ: Applying for Jobs Online
You Just Scanned My Resume!
Common Resume Blunders
How to Take Care of Weaknesses on Your Resume
 Resume Faux Pás
 Action Phrases and Power Verbs
How to Write A Good Job Objective
Resume Style Quiz
WashingtonJobs.com
Resume Update Checklist
 Ten Resume "Don'ts"
 Sales Representative
 Ask Jeeves Answer: Netscape Career Center
 Personality Tests
 The Online Classroom: Chapter 12 --Get a Job!
 Creating a Resume and Cover Letter

There are also online book references.
 The $100,000 Resume
Job-Interview.net: Job Interview Questions and Answers, Interviewing Tips, Mock Interviews
 
 

intro | task | process | resources | evaluation | conclusion


 

evaluation
PRINT OUT THE FOLLOWING EVALUATION INSTRUMENT
AND PLACE IN YOUR CAREER PORTFOLIO
this will be evaluated with 5 as greatest strength and 1 being least or nonevident


PERFORMANCE INDICATORS   5   4   3   2   1  COMMENTS
INTEREST INVENTORIES .  . . . . .
prepared a word processing document to include in career portfolio  .  .  .  .  .  .
summarized quiz results  .  .  .  .  .  .
identified your personality type  .  .  .  .  .  .
compared quiz results--took at least four  .  .  .  .  .  .
career suggestions  .  .  .  .  .  .
produced error-free document    .  .  .  .  .
INTERVIEWS  .  .  .  .  .  .
completed paragraph regarding interviewing  .  .  .  .  .   .
made a list of 10 questions interviewers ask  .  .  .  .  .  .
made a list of 10 questions you ask interviewers   .  .  .  .  .  .
RESUME WRITING  .  .  .  .  .  .
prepared a brief synopsis of different types of 
resumes--both traditional and electronic, including scannable
 .  .  .  .. .  .  .. .  .  .. .  .  .. .  . .
prepared a resume including name, address, phone number    .  .  .  .  .
utilized easily readable font including parts of resume:  . ..  .  .  .  .  .
objective or goal  .  .  .  .  .  .
experience, employment or work history  .  .  .  .  .  .
education  .  .  .  .  .  .
service organizations, honors, activities, interests  .  .  .  .  .  .
references (min.3 non-related)  .  .  .  .  .  .
created an error-free resume document  .  .  .  .  .  .
BUSINESS LETTER/COVER LETTER  .  .  .  .  .  .
composed a business/cover letter including all letter parts
in block style
 .  .  .  .  .  .
effective cover letter to accompany resume for
CAREER PORTFOLIO
 .  .  .  .  .  .
coverletter was completed as error-free document  .  .  .  .  .  .
OVERALL PROGRESSION-work habits observation  .  .  .  .  .  .
remained on task, completed on time  .  .  .  .  .  .
worked independently  .  .  .  .  .  .
remained on appropriate web site(s)  .  .  .  .  .  .
made overall progression using webquest  .  .  .  .  .  .
all  required elements were included in CAREER PORTFOLIO  .  .  .  .  .  .
totals  .  .  .  .  .  .

intro | task | process | resources | evaluation | conclusion

conclusion

a great career portfolio is like having money in the bank!
Here's to hoping you enjoyed your quest.
Maybe you found that those
STARS 
aren't so hard to reach!
And by starting now, maybe the years and money won't just FLY BY!!!

A NOTE FROM KARI ROACH

I wish to extend a big thank you to IDOE --Business Services & Technology Programs for the initial idea for this webquest.
 This project was originally created as an Internet activity in November 1998 by dianne Aderiye, Pike High School and by Marceil Royer, Elkhart Memorial High School as a resume writing activity.  I adapted and added to this resume activity making it a more thorought career project for Marketing, Business or Computer Applications students.  Thank you to IDOE.
 
 

intro | task | process | resources | evaluation | conclusion

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