Assessment 4 Instructions: Individual Career Plan

 

Write a 5-6 page assessment in which you reflect on the results of self-assessment and self-inventory exercises, articulate your professional goals and career plans, and write an action plan for implementing those goals and plans.

Introduction

This undergraduate psychology program offered you instruction throughout the broad spectrum of the science of psychology. Its content covered approaches to understanding the complexities of human behavior and thought through a framework of knowledge, skills, and values identified by the APA as fundamental in the undergraduate study of psychology.

Overview

Note: The assessments in this course build upon one another, so you are strongly encouraged to complete them in sequence.

Preparation

Each of the following interactive media activities will assist you with this assessment. They provide opportunities to evaluate your skills or values to gain a better understanding of your personal and professional identity. Complete the following media presentations:

• Careers in Psychology.
• Career Skills Inventory.
• Work Values Card Sort.

Instructions

Write a 5–6 page assessment in which you complete the following:

• Create a title page:Give your paper a title that reflects the purpose of your work. It is suggested that you use the APA Paper Template [DOCX] to format your paper according to the APA manual (current edition).
• Write an introduction:For the introduction section of your paper, include the title at the top of the first page. (In APA format, the word Introduction is not used as a heading.) Briefly summarize the key components of your paper.
• Create a heading titled Assessment and Inventory Results:Summarize the results of the required self-assessment and self-inventory exercises. Use critical thinking and your knowledge of psychological theories and concepts to analyze the meaning and significance of the results. This summary can help guide your career direction.
• Create a heading titled Goals and Career Plans:
  • Describe your professional philosophy, including your goals and career plans.
  • Describe how your professional goals and career choices align with your values and life interests.
  • Explain how your values relate to professional behaviors and practices.
• Create a heading titled Motivation:Analyze how psychological principles can be used to motivate you to overcome obstacles to reach your professional goals.
• Create a heading titled Action Plan:Develop a SMART action plan for implementing your career goals. This will serve as a road map to help you take concrete steps to fulfill your goals. For example, describe the steps you are planning to take to apply for a job or apply to graduate school. Discuss realistic ideas about how to implement psychological knowledge and skills in occupational pursuits that meet personal and professional goals. You may wish to review the document SMART Action Plan [PDF], conduct an Internet search to learn what should be included in an action plan, or refer to the Capella Career Center resources.
• Create a heading titled Conclusion:Briefly summarize the key points of your assessment and make a statement about your future career aspirations.

Keep in mind throughout this assessment that while your writing must conform to APA standards, you must explain all information in a manner that can be understood easily by a nonacademic or nonscientific audience.

Refer to the Individual Career Plan Scoring Guide to ensure you meet the grading criteria for this assessment.

Additional Requirements

Your assessment should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication:Written communication is well organized and free from errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA format:Comply with current APA style and formatting.
• Number of resources:A minimum of three academic resources.
• Length:5–6 typed, double-spaced pages, excluding the cover page and references.
• Font and font size:Times New Roman, 12 point.

Portfolio Prompt: You are encouraged to save this learning activity to your ePortfolio.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Apply psychological theory and concepts to individual, organizational, and social issues.
  • Analyze career inventory results based on psychological theories and concepts.
• Competency 4: Solve problems in the field of psychology through critical and scientific analysis, and innovative thinking.
  • Analyze how psychological principles can motivate progress toward professional goals.
• Competency 6: Integrate knowledge of psychology with personal values and goals to guide personal, collaborative, and professional behavior.
  • Describe how professional goals and plans align with values and life interests.
  • Develop an action plan to implement psychological knowledge and skills to pursue professional goals.
• Competency 7: Communicate effectively with diverse recipients in a manner that is consistent with expectations for psychology professionals.
  • Communicate clearly, supporting a central idea with good organization of thought, and correct grammar and sentence structure.
  • Apply APA style and formatting to written work.

 

 

Individual Career Plan Scoring Guide

CRITERIA	NON-PERFORMANCE	BASIC	PROFICIENT	DISTINGUISHED
Describe how professional goals and plans align with values and life interests.	Does not describe professional goals and plans, values, and life interests.	Describes professional goals and plans, values, and life interests, but does not describe how they align.	Describes how professional goals and plans align with values and life interests.	Evaluates how professional goals and plans align with values and life interests.
Analyze career inventory results based on psychological theories and concepts.	Does not describe career inventory results.	Describes career inventory results.	Analyzes career inventory results based on psychological theories and concepts.	Evaluates career inventory results based on psychological theories and concepts.
Analyze how psychological principles can motivate progress toward professional goals.	Does not identify psychological principles that could motivate progress toward professional goals.	Identifies psychological principles that could motivate progress toward professional goals.	Analyzes how psychological principles can motivate progress toward professional goals.	Analyzes how alternative psychological principles can motivate progress toward professional goals, and evaluates which would be most useful.
Develop an action plan to implement psychological knowledge and skills to pursue professional goals.	Does not develop an action plan to pursue professional goals.	Develops an action plan to pursue professional goals, but does not sufficiently discuss implementation of psychological knowledge and skills.	Develops an action plan to implement psychological knowledge and skills to pursue professional goals.	Develops an action plan with a realistic sequence of SMART goals for implementing psychological knowledge and skills to pursue professional goals.
Communicate clearly supporting a central idea with good organization of thought, and correct grammar and sentence structure.	Does not communicate clearly supporting a central idea with good organization of thought, and correct grammar and sentence structure.	Communicates to support a central idea, but there are multiple errors in organization of thought, or grammar and sentence structure that interfere with the communication.	Communicates clearly supporting a central idea with good organization of thought, and correct grammar and sentence structure.	Communicates clearly supporting a central idea with good organization of thought, and correct grammar and sentence structure with few errors.
Apply APA style and formatting to written work.	Does not apply APA style and formatting to written work.	Applies APA style and formatting to written work with errors in attribution to sources through in-text citations or references, or in APA style for formatting documents.	Applies APA style and formatting to written work.	Applies APA style and formatting to written work. Exhibits correct attribution of sources through in-text citations and references with few errors, and adheres to APA style for formatting documents.