INTRODUCTION: While the Inquiry Rational paper was the opportunity for students to begin to critically think about future career and higher education opportunities from a broad perspective, the Project Report is a more in-depth exploration and point of discovery toward a focused plan of action for each student’s future in career and business. The purpose of the Project Report is to address the findings from internet-based research that will help form the basis of your career and education major decisions toward seeking employment (this includes career advancement or a career change) and pursuing advanced business students at the university level. Within the report students will discuss the business knowledge gained from this course and discuss self-reflective discovery as it relates to learning styles and personality assessments. Most importantly, students will discuss results from their focused exploration of employment opportunities.
Within the Project Report students will address the following:
Career and Business Job Search
- Prospective Employers
- Use one of the following sources to conduct an online job search engine to locate three jobs from three different organizations which align with your preferred career/area of focus. Work to make clear connections to the careers/areas of focus you discussed in the Inquiry Rationale paper.
- Indeed.com
- Linkedin.com
- Handshake.com
- A Prospective Employer’s Website
Also use the Browse Programs tool of Career Coach to research potential degrees that will best compliment your intended/future career pursuits. Keep notes of your findings as the information will need to be incorporated as part of the Career and Business Project Report. Watch this video recording to learn how to use the CPCC Career Coach tools.
- Identify the three separate employers with current job vacancies that interest you. Discuss the following information for each employer:
- Name of organization
- Chief products or services offered by the organization
- Ownership structure of the organization (i.e., sole proprietorship, partnership, 501(c)3 non-profit, S corporation, etc.). HINT: Review pages 112 – 124 of the course text to learn more about business ownership structures.
- Three interesting pieces of business related information and data you discovered for each organization during your internet-based research.
- Prospective Career Opportunities
- Discuss the specific roles/employment opportunities you found of interest for each prospective employer. (NOTE: Do not list everything contained within the job descriptions, rather summarize the key components of each.) The information you discuss should include the following:
- Position titles
- Skills and knowledge requirements
- Degree and certification requirements
- Employment preferences
- For each role/employment opportunity, discuss what makes you interested in fulfilling the position.
- Discuss how your current skills, knowledge, and education, as well as the certificate or degree you are currently pursuing through Central Piedmont (CPCC), will prepare or equip you to succeed in each role/employment opportunity.
Learning and Higher Educational Pursuits
- Learning
- Using knowledge gained throughout the course, select two of the following key business functions which resonated with you throughout the semester.
Chapters Business Functions to Choose From (only select two functions)
2 Economics: The U.S. Economic System
3 Global Trade: Licensing, Exporting, and Franchising
4 Business Ethics: Corporate Social Responsibility
5 Business Ownership Structures
6 Entrepreneurship: Job Creation
6 Managing a Small Business
7 Strategic Planning: SWOT Analysis
11 Laws Affecting Human Resources Management
11 Training and Developing Employees for Optimal Performance
13 The Marketing Mix: Four Ps of Marketing (Product, Price, Promotion, and Placement)
13 Marketing Environments: Consumer Market and Business-to-Business Market
15 Market Intermediary Utility Types
15 Wholesale and Retail Intermediaries
19 Stock Exchanges and Stock Market Indicators
20 Control of the Money Supply
20 The U. S. Banking System
Bonus D Personal Financial Planning
Bonus D Planning for Retirement
- Discuss internal and external factors about each of the two business functions you selected that prove important to the successful operation of an organization.
- Higher Educational Pursuits
- Discuss what you learned about the two business functions and how this newfound knowledge relates to your own possible higher educational pursuits and major. Do this regardless of whether you plan to immediately pursue higher education or whether you might pursue higher education at some later point in life. If you believe you will not pursue higher education beyond Central Piedmont (CPCC), then still discuss the former based on the assumption that you will pursue higher education at the Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate level.
- Use the Browse Programs tool of Career Coach to research potential degrees that will best compliment higher education opportunities for you in the future. Discuss potential and relevant degrees pursuits that may prove valuable for your intended/future career pursuits.
Personal Reflections
- Reflect upon those strengths and weaknesses that may impact your performance within the workplace environment, but particularly within the prospective career opportunities you chose to spotlight earlier within this report. Your reflections should include the following.
- Discuss the results of your learning styles assessment and how you see your learning style(s) benefitting you in the future course studies with Central Piedmont (CPCC) and beyond.
- Discuss the results of your personality assessment. Identify those strengths in your personality that will make you an ideal candidate within the roles/job opportunities you intend to pursue in the workplace. Next, identify the weaknesses of your personality type and practical steps you can take to turn the weaknesses into strengths.
- Identify three specific things you can do to improve your viability as a candidate for any employer who will be fortunate to hire you.
