Incorporating a career planning lab into a managerial communications course.

THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBES how a small business school, as part of a strategic planning initiative to improve career services, added a self-directed career planning lab to an existing managerial communication course. The lab concept and the learning design are innovative because they met a student

need without creating additional time demands on the instructor or requiring additional resources from the school. After providing some background and making a brief case for the importance of career planning in the curriculum, I describe the model we developed for career planning, provide examples of the learning design, share the results of student evaluations, and conclude with some comments on the lessons learned from this curriculum initiative.

BACKGROUND

The mission of the School of Business at Clayton State University (CSU), an undergraduate institution of the University System of Georgia, is to prepare a diverse student body for business and professional careers by providing a quality education. During an extensive strategic planning initiative, the faculty determined that quality career advisement services represented a mission-related core competency that, if improved, would add value to stakeholders and help set the school apart in the marketplace. But as a small business school (18 faculty) on a small campus (6,000 students), we had limited resources. The Counseling and Career Services Department on campus was small and underfunded due to state budget cuts. With support from the director of Counseling and Career Services, the School of Business decided to build internal capability for providing school-specific career advisement services and support. Part of the budget-conscious strategy involved embedding career-related advisement and support into the core curriculum.

One segment of the strategy was to incorporate a career planning module into our managerial communications course, a core requirement at the junior level. The text for the course (Locker, 2003) includes a section on job hunting (resumes, job application letters, etc.), so the addition of a career planning segment to the course was a natural fit. But the challenge was how to fit the material into an already-full course syllabus that included content on business writing, oral presentations, interpersonal skills, and team skills. The solution was to submit a curriculum change and add a lab hour to the course. Then we formed a three-person project team, including myself (as lead instructor), the director of Career and Counseling Services, and the School of Business academic advisor. The team reviewed the career planning literature, interviewed career counseling professionals, and met biweekly over a semester to brainstorm ideas for the learning design and lab content.

A CASE FOR CAREER PLANNING

Few students prepare career plans on their own initiative (Lyon & Kirby, 2000). Gutteridge (1973) noted that without a career plan, business school graduates often become discouraged with their career progress and disillusioned with their job situations. In particular, the threat of personal obsolescence, as documented by Bridges (1994), makes career planning particularly important to business professionals and managers. In a global economy driven by technological change, the average business school graduate can expect to change jobs seven or eight times (Bolles, 2002; Peters, 1999). Clearly, students will be required to take more responsibility for their own career development and to learn the competencies necessary to manage the career planning process successfully (Ball, 1997; Ball & Jordan, 1997).

Empirical field research, studies at the college level, and the popular career development literature all support the importance of systematic career planning as a prelude to successful job searches and long-term career management (Broscio & Paulick, 2003; Folsom & Reardon, 2003). Gould's (1979) study of 277 managers and professionals provides an early example of the empirical literature. He found that individuals with the most successful careers (based on salary and position level) reported more extensive career planning. Orpen (1994) studied the effects of organizational and individual career management on the career success of 120 supervisory managers. He documented significant correlations between systematic career planning and indicators of career success. In a more recent study, Lee (2002) demonstrated that computer professionals who planned their careers advanced faster and experienced greater career satisfaction.

Two studies by Thomas and McDaniel (2004) exemplify research in the academic context. They investigated the effectiveness of a course in career planning for psychology majors and found that students who completed the career planning course, when compared to a control group, increased their knowledge of career options and confidence in their ability to make career decisions as well as took more initiative in career exploration.

In the popular literature, Bolles (2002), author of the perennial best-selling job-hunting book What Color Is Your Parachute? devotes the majority of his book to career planning, a process he calls a "life-changing job hunt" (p. 1), and to "finding your dream job" (p. 125). Likewise, Bridges (1997), a well known consultant on organizational and individual transitions, advocates the systematic application of a career planning model in his newest book, Creating You & Co.

OUR MODEL FOR CAREER PLANNING

Both Bolles (2002) and Bridges (1997) offer process models for career planning. Bolles's "flower exercise," which takes learners through seven areas of consideration, is the most complex. Bridges advocates the D.A.T.A. model, which stands for desires, abilities, temperament, and assets. After a review of these and other models in the career development literature (e.g., Mihal, Sorce, & Comte, 1984; Prediger, 2002) and consultation with CCSU's Counseling and Career Services, the project team chose to create a simple, four-part model to guide the students' work. We used a Venn diagram to help students think of their ideal job in terms of four overlapping circles (see Figure 1). The first circle we labeled "Passions" (Cassidy, 2000; Chang, 2000). We all want to be doing work that we are passionate about and love to do. The second circle represents "Personality" (Tieger & Barron-Tieger, 2001), which relates to personality type and preferences. The third circle focuses on "Skills," which includes natural abilities as well as learned skills. The final circle is called "Value-Add." Here, the word "value" has a double meaning. The first meaning refers to our personal values. The second meaning is what we bring to the organization or profession that helps add value to its economic equation.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

We called the diagram the "sweet spot" model. Our career "sweet spot" is where the four circles overlap: where we will literally be paid to do what we love to do, are wired to do, and can do very well, for an organization that shares our values and to which we can add economic value.

CAREER PLANNING MODULE DESIGN

With the "sweet spot" model as an organizing framework, the team designed a self-directed learning module that guides the students through a series of activities, such as reading assignments, worksheets, Internet site visits, and a visit to Counseling and Career Services. The process results in a summary document and a targeted resume that are reviewed in a one-on-one meeting with the school's academic advisor and graded for course credit.

All information and resources the students require to complete the self-directed learning module are delivered through WebCT. During the first half of the semester, students complete a series of self-directed activities designed to help them think through the various dimensions of the "sweet spot" career model. This includes directed readings, written activities, Internet site visits, and a visit to CSU's Counseling and Career Services, where the students complete the Myers Brigg Type Inventory (MBTI) and the Strong Interest Inventory (SII). The students complete the series of activities on their own schedule and, in keeping with the lab hour concept, are expected to invest about 1 hour a week. Table 1 provides examples of the career planning activities. Figure 2 presents an example of a typical worksheet.

Figure 2a. Example Career Planning Worksheet

MGMT 3120 Managerial Communication
Career Planning: Passions Worksheet

I have learned that those able to overcome the deterrents to
fulfillment derive their energy and initiative from a single
source: passion. That's right, passion. Not the romantic variety,
... but the kind that fills you with energy and excitement, that
gets you up in the morning and keeps you awake at night. When you
experience it, you lose track of time and become absorbed in the
task at hand. This passion creates personal intensity, uplifts you,
and inspires you. It heightens your performance and enables you to
achieve things you may never have dreamed possible. Most important,
it holds the key to your happiness.

Richard Chang
The Passion Plan

How do you discover your passion? Richard Chang suggests four basic
ways we can get in touch with our passion. The four passion stories
you read in the previous activity illustrate the four ways:

Discovery by epiphany         *  A pivotal, life-changing experience,
                                 when you suddenly and intensely
                                 become aware of an underlying passion

Discovery through change      *  Reaction to a major life change, such
                                 as a job loss, divorce, or death of a
                                 loved one

Discovery through intuition   *  An inborn and undeniable awareness of
                                 one's passion

Discovery through experience  *  Gradual awareness of passion through
                                 day-to-day experiences

According to Chang, it also helps to think about two types of passion:
content-based and context-based. A content-based passion centers on a
highly specialized topic or activity, while a context-based passion
centers on a theme that can apply to several topics or activities.
Here are some examples:

Content-Based Passions

* Fishing

* Painting

* Swimming

* Tennis

* Computers

* Cooking

* Woodworking

Context-Based Passions

* Learning

* Organizing

* Developing/Creating

* Performing

* Helping Others

* Leading

* Building Things

2003 Gary L. May, Ph.D.

SOURCE: [c] 2003 Gary L. May, Ph.D.

Figure 2b. Example Career Planning Worksheet

MGMT 3120 Managerial Communication
Career Planning: Passions Worksheet

Are you ready to think deeply about your life passions? The
following questions will help you begin the exploration. This
will be an exercise of working from the heart an intuitive search.
Take a few days to reflect and meditate on the questions, jotting down
your insights. Then discuss your thoughts with your family and one or
two close friends. See if they confirm your feelings.

1. Think back over your life. Can you identify some periods when you
   were truly happy? How were you spending your time?

2. What do you do in your spare time that you would not mind doing
   all day long?

3. What activities do you find so deeply satisfying that you become so
   absorbed, you lose all sense of time?

4. What subjects get you talking in an animated way with friends and
   family?

After you have invested some time in reflection and discussion, place
some words or phrases in the lines below that describe your passion(s):

Choose from these words to complete the following sentence: My passion
is to:

(Here is my personal example: "My passion is to help others learn:
equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to
fulfill their purpose in life.")

2003 Gary L. May, Ph.D.

SOURCE: [c] 2003 Gary L. May, Ph.D.

Shortly after midterm, the students receive their MBTI and SII results, and one class session is devoted to a briefing on how to interpret and use the results (delivered by Counseling and Career Services). Students in the online sections receive the same briefing via WebCT in the form of a streaming audio/PowerPoint lecture created with the software application SoftTV.

During the second half of the semester, the students pull all the information together and create two documents: (a) a summary worksheet that reflects their learning and insights and (b) a resume that represents a persuasive summary of their qualifications for their "sweet spot" job. The summary worksheet is a three-page document that provides recap sections for each of the four circles. For example, in the personality section, students record their MBTI type indicator, list personality characteristics related to their type, rank occupations typically associated with their type, and journal other thoughts about their vocational choices based on their study of the MBTI literature. The concluding section of the worksheet helps the students pull all the information together to list their dream job (or jobs) and potential target companies. The students develop their resume based on a checklist for content, structure, and form adapted from Locker (2003).

After completing the summary document and resume, students then make a 1-hour appointment with the School of Business academic advisor to review and discuss their work. The advisor provides feedback and grades the documents as one of the assignments for the course (100 points), using a criterion-referenced checklist.

STUDENT EVALUATIONS

At the conclusion of each semester, students are asked to complete a WebCT-based evaluation survey about the career planning component of the course. Five bonus points are offered to complete the survey. The survey consists of two parts. The first part asks for an overall evaluation of the module with the question, "Overall, how would you rate this learning experience?" and uses a 4-point scale (not valuable to very valuable). The first part also provides for open-ended comments with the request, "Please share your thoughts about this career planning experience and suggest some ways we can improve this learning module." The second part of the survey requires the students to rate the individual activities on a 3-point scale (dissatisfied to satisfied).

The student response has been very positive. Over a two-semester period, 82 of 90 students completed the survey. More than 85% considered the experience to be valuable (39%) or very valuable (46.3%). The weighted mean on the evaluation of the various 16 learning activities was 2.6 on a 3-point scale, with the lowest score at 2.3 and the highest at 2.8. Based on student ratings, we have dropped a few of the lower rated activities to lighten the workload for the students.

Table 2 provides a representative sampling of student comments. Some students have also provided more extensive comments by e-mail about the impact of the learning experience on their lives. With permission of the student, an example is provided in the appendix.

REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED

Overall, we are satisfied with the career planning module and are planning to continue and expand the program. All the stakeholders seem satisfied too. Beyond the initial design and setup of the course, there has been relatively little additional work required for the instructors (thanks to the academic advisor handling the interviews and grading). Our full-time academic advisor is pleased. He had the available time during the semester (between peak periods of registration), and the program forces every student to see him face to face during their junior year, giving him a chance to also review their academic status at the end of the career planning interview. The Counseling and Career Services department is happy because the program forces every junior student to their office to complete the MBTI and SII. They use the contact time to make sure the students are aware of their other services and resources. And finally, the administration is pleased because we met a student need without requiring additional resources.

In reviewing the student comments, it is clear they want more content related to career development. We are currently working with the students on developing electronic portfolios with examples of their best work across the curriculum. We are also planning to incorporate another career lab into one of our senior-level courses, focusing on job interviewing, networking skills, and developing a personal marketing package. Given the strategic priority, we have recently been funded for a full-time career development advisor, which will enable a whole new level of student support, including coordination of internships and experiential learning.

The biggest challenge is that many of the students have indicated they would like the career planning material earlier in their college career, before they are deep into their major studies. The problem is that a majority of our students are transfers into the junior year, so incorporating the career planning module into a junior-level course is the only way we can be assured that all students receive the content. We are still working on ways to address this issue.

The students also indicate a desire to have more classroom discussion and activities related to career planning. This too is a challenge due to the many other learning objectives for the class. We are currently looking at ways to adjust the course syllabus to free at least one class session for discussion and possibly a guest speaker.

Another concern for some online students is the requirement to come to campus for the testing session in Counseling and Career Services and the face-to-face interview with the advisor. This issue applies to nontraditional students with jobs and family who have no on-campus classes that particular semester. Our only answer, at this point, is to make the requirements very clear before registration. We are also considering allowing Web-based completion of the instruments and a telephone interview but are reluctant to forgo the value of face-to-face interaction.

Procrastination can also be a problem with student-initiated learning. However, we have had relatively few problems with students trying to cram all the work into the last few frantic weeks of the semester. One reason is that the course syllabus provides a week-by-week checklist that spreads the work over the semester in manageable segments. In addition, the program has several built-in deadlines. For example, the MBTI and SII have to be completed by a certain date for the reports to be ready for the scheduled classroom briefing. The Counseling Center provides a weekly update so missing students can be prompted. Of course, it does not hurt that the final interview and deliverables have a deadline with high point value (10% of the course grade) and penalty deductions for late submission.

Finally, we acknowledge that larger universities may confront a number of logistical issues caused by a much bigger student population. For example, there is a limit to the number of students a school advisor could process within the semester. In addition, the time required for administering the MBTI and SII and subsequent explanations and classroom visits may exceed the capacity of the Counseling and Career Services unit. However, we believe that if the need for improving career-planning support is deemed a strategic issue, most universities can devise creative ways to overcome the obstacles. For example, to supplement the school advisor, instructors could recruit local business managers to meet with the students on a scheduled basis to review and grade their career planning summaries and resumes. Web-based audio-PowerPoint lectures that provide interpretation of the MBTI and SII could be made available to campus-based classes as well as online classes to reduce the workload for Counseling and Career Services.

In summary, we believe the Career Planning Lab has made a difference in the lives of our students. We have helped them reflect deeply about their career choices, identify their "sweet spot" job, and produce an effective resume that is a persuasive summary of their qualifications for their ideal career. Both the process of developing the program and working with the students to help meet their needs represent the best parts of teaching, providing a deeply satisfying experience for all of us involved in the project.

APPENDIX

Sample Student E-Mail

When I first began this class, I was somewhat skeptical about the career-planning module of this course. I had the attitude that I was already working towards my career objectives at BellSouth. I knew that I was desirous of a management position, and that was all I knew. I assumed that management would be the obvious choice because I am miserable in my current craft job.

After taking the Myers-Briggs test and the Strong Interest Inventory, I discovered a whole new area that I had overlooked. I have always been a strong leader with high self-confidence. However, I just could not get extremely excited about simply a management position. I love to work with and help people, but I got frustrated because I did not know how to incorporate this into my "sweet-spot. "The tests revealed that I am very well suited for a teaching position. At first, I disregarded these results, and then I sat down and really thought about it. My mother has been a teacher for 32 years, and I have always been very excited to help her when I could, but l just did not think of myself as a Mr. Walton, the third-grade teacher. But the tests suggested a position called corporate trainer.

I initially had no idea what this job involved until I researched it. This position would enable me to be a teacher, but I could teach my peers. This is so exciting to me because I never knew that there were jobs like this. Corporate trainers conduct on-site classes and workshops on topics such as sexual harassment, leadership, team building, and other human resources related issues.

I have talked with our Human Resources Department and have decided that I want to pursue this career path at BellSouth. I am very excited about it. To be honest, I began these activities with a very doubtful mind-set, but in the end I have filled a void in my future career planning.

Thank you for putting this program together.

REFERENCES

Ball, B. (1997). Career management competencies: The individual perspective. Career Development International, 2, 74-79.

Ball, B., & Jordan, M. (1997). A open-learning approach to career management and guidance. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 25, 507-517.

Bolles, R. N. (2002). What color is your parachute? Berkeley CA: Ten Speed Press.

Bridges, W. (1994). JobShift: How to prosper in a workplace without jobs. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Bridges, W. (1997). Creating you & co. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.

Broscio, M., & Paulick, S. (2003). Creating and implementing a reality-based career plan. Journal of Healthcare Management, 48(2), 76-82.

Cassidy, G. A. (2000). Discover your passion: An intuitive search to find your purpose in life. Westfield, NJ: Tomlyn.

Chang, R. (2000). The passion plan: A step-by-step guide to discovering, developing, and living your passion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Folsom, B., & Reardon, R. (2003). College career courses: Design and accountability. Journal of Career Assessment, 11, 421-450.

Gould, S. (1979). Characteristics of career planners in upwardly mobile occupations. Academy of Management Journal, 22, 539-550.

Gutteridge, T. (1973). Predicting career success of graduate business school alumni. Academy of Management Journal, 16, 129-137.

Lee, P. C. B. (2002). Career goals and career management strategy among information technology professionals. Career Development International, 7(1), 6-13.

Locket, K. O. (2003). Business and administrative communication. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lyon, D. W., & Kirby, E. G. (2000). The career planning essay. Journal of Management Education, 24, 276-287.

Mihal, W. L., Sorce, E A., & Comte, T. E. (1984). A process model of individual career decision making. Academy of Management Review, 9, 95-103.

Orpen, C. (1994). The effects of organizational and individual career management on career success. International Journal of Manpower, 15(1), 27-38.

Peters, T. (1999). The brand you 50: Fifty ways to transform yourself from an "employee" into a brand that shouts distinction, commitment, and passion. New York: Knopf.

Prediger, D. J. (2002). Abilities, interests, and values: Their assessment and their integration via the World-of-Work map. Journal of Career Assessment, 10, 209-233.

Thomas, J. H., & McDaniel, C. R. (2004). Effectiveness of a required course in career planning for psychology majors. Teaching in Psychology, 31(1), 22-28.

Tieger, P. D., & Barron-Tieger, B. (2001). Do what you are: Discover the perfect career for you through the secrets of personality type (3rd ed.). Boston: Little, Brown.

Author's Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the ABC 69th Annual Convention in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 29, 2004, and published in the conference proceedings.

Gary L. May

Clayton State University

Address correspondence to Gary L. May, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Management, School of Business, Clayton State University, Morrow GA 30260; e-mail: garymay@mail.clayton .edu.

Table 1. Examples of Career Planning Activities

Passions

*  Read the article "Four Passion Stories" (WebCT: Career
   Planning/Articles).

*  Complete the Passion Worksheet (WebCT: Career Planning/Worksheets).

Transferable Skills

*  Complete the Transferable Skills Worksheet (WebCT: Career Planning
   Worksheets).
*  O*NET OnLine is an application designed to help you think through
   another
   view of transferable skills and link the skills to those needed by
   various occupations.
   Use this link to access the O*NET Online welcome page: http://
   online.onetcenter.org/help/welcome. Alter you read the introductory
   information,
   click on Skills Search. Select the skills that you feel are your
   strong suits,
   click on Go, and review the resulting occupational list. Print the
   page.

Values and Value-Add

*  Complete the Internal/External Values Worksheet (WebCT: Career
   Planning/
   Worksheets).

*  Using the Web, identify at least five companies that appear to
   match your value
   system AND have the type of positions that would enable you to
   add value to their
   business. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

   * http://www.fortune.com. This is Fortune Magazine's Web site. Look
     on the
     left column of the home page for links to its special "ranking
     issues," e.g.,
     100 Best Companies to Work For, America's Most Admired, Small
     Business
     100, and 50 Best for Minorities. Explore these links and review
     the company
     profiles to determine their values and type of positions.

   * Return to the School of Business Student Advisement and Placement
     Web
     page (http://business.clayton.edu/placement/default.html) and
     explore the following links:

     [check] Job Opportunities/Job Descriptions (if off campus:
     GCIS ID = ccsu, Password = gcis595)

     [check] Critical Skills/Knowledge Employers Want

Table 2. Example Student Comments

The career planning experience was very helpful. It was something
different and unique. I suggest having sessions where employers
(executives or managers of firms) that are responsible for hiring
come to the class and do presentations and/or one-on-one
resume/interviews with the students.

At first, I thought reading the articles and filling out the
worksheets were very time-consuming. It wasn't until I filled out
the summary worksheet that I was able to see that some of the
articles made me think/have an approach to answer the questions.
Of the career planning experience, the part that I enjoyed the most
was using my internal/external values to find places of employment.

I found the Career Development Program interesting, but it would
probably be best if taken my freshmen year instead of my junior
semester.

This experience was a valuable learning experience for me. I
learned my interests and what jobs I might be interested in. The
career planning can be improved by taking a few days in class to
talk about the importance of career planning; maybe some guest
speakers (managers) to tell what they look for in resumes and
interviews.

This was a valuable exercise for me. Initially, I didn't think
this was going to add much value to me, but it did. It forced me
to think a little harder about what I want to do
with the rest of my life!

This module is very good for traditional students, but it needs
to cater to nontraditional students. Many of us work 40+ hours
a week, which made it very hard to return to campus for interviews
and meetings. I had to leave work early just to meet for an
interview. I wish there was a better way for nontraditional
students. Maybe phone interviews would be
appropriate. [Online student]