Report Assignment
Overview
Prepare a short report (of at least 3-4 pages, with an additional title page and reference page) on an available position within the profession you plan to enter, focusing on the position itself, the major that (typically) leads to that profession, and expectations of your field and how they have developed historically.
In addition, you will also use APA headings and subheadings for the parts of your report. See Purdue OWL APA Headings and Seriation for specific details.
Your report will be necessarily partial, as you can only cover some of the elements; however, you must make educated and clear decisions about how you approach the rance of topics and how you structure/present those selections.
This report and its components will be research-based, so I expect you to cite at least TWO sources and explore each topic as fully as you can in the time and space you have.
Each piece will vary in length and depth from student to student, but should in the end be as complete as possible.
Components
Below are some necessary components/topics:
1. Job Description: find a job opening in the field/professional you plan to enter. This should be a job that you could actually apply for once you leave college, and you should be able to document it by providing a link to the online posting. Once you have a job opening to work with, you will need to research/explore the job itself. There are a few main things to try to determine:
Factual: what are the job details (salary, hours, location, who is the primary contact, requirements for employment, unusual factors)?
Contextual: what does the employer say about this position (find out on its hiring/HR page); what are the average statistics for this type of job (check Bureau of Labor Statistics or a page related to your profession for statistics); what are the current hiring trends for this type of job)?
Expectations: what kind of presentation is this employer looking for? What are the things that they will expect in a resume and/or cover letter, in an interview? Are these specific types of questions that often come up in your field that you will need to be able to address?
You may be able to complete all of this material, depending on the position you look at. List any information that seems hard to find and any open questions about the job or further information that would help to know.
2. Educational Trends: What major(s) typically lead to the field or profession in question? Has this always been the case? What kind of education do these majors provide and how does this course-work relate to workplace practices? What kinds of educational experiences are expected or suggested outside of coursework? How prevalent are independent research, internships, or job shadows? Are there historical trends that have effected how these majors are taught? Are there post-undergraduate versions of the field that you plan to enter (graduate school, professional school); are there major academic journals that publish analytic work about your field? How do these relate to your field or profession?
3. Expectations of your field/profession: You will need to research and present relevant trends, events, and changes in your professional (going back to at least through the mid-20th Century). You might want to address the most relevant of the following:
Historical shifts: how does your professional fit with the models of the shifting business world you have seen in your various readings (cite specific trends)?
Events: have there been major events/cases that have affected the direction of your profession—why did they have an impact?
Profession affiliation: how is your profession organized—what are the major organizations and what are their functions (setting standards,holding national conferences,publishing news and analysis)?
Work: how have the following changed—number of workers, salaries, markets, new types of jobs/jobs that have disappeared?
Work environment: how is a typical work environment in your profession structured, work distributed, hierarchy organized, salaries distributed? If there are many types of work environment, is there one type in particular that seems typical or one that will allow you to explain the other topics?
4. Report completion: You should present as much information and analysis about the above topics as you can, but recognize that you will have to be selective from these categories. You must choose some structure that connects these elements and guides your readers through this material, integrating these components in a meaningful way and present a cohesive, coherent report with a logical structure and interesting presentation.
Additional Topics to Address or Consider
* Are there standard topics that your profession discusses (or does not discuss)?
* How does one recognize good writing within your field?
* What are the main professional documents/publications in your field?
* What governs or systematizes your field? Are there tests, education through which you must pass to move forward or advance?
* Does your field have a unified statement of ethics/principles? What is its function?
* Have there been recent news items about your field which would help explain the systems you are trying to describe?
Considerations and Drafts
By the end of this report, you will be at a stage where you should be able to complete a well-formatted business report with a title page, and a reference page, with attention to coherence and a clear structure.
You will submit a draft for an instructor review as a participation grade, and a final draft for the final grade.
You will have to make a number of decisions to tailor this assignment to your professional interest/needs. Remember to stay field-specific, and to find sources for your claims (including professional documents within your field).
The Internet will be your friend here -- look at field-specific websites, try to find specific writing guidelines (from organizations or companies). As this is a report, you can quote, paraphrase, or reference, but it must be clear where your information comes from (use parenthetical citation for sources -- See Purdue OWL APA Guidelines for how to format your sources).
You may have to be creative with the assignment. I believe the information is out there for just about every professional . . . so be diligent about finding what you can, and report honestly about what you find.
Finally, part of the assignment will be making your final report well-structured and well-developed. Choose a structure that allows you to include all the relevant information that you can, and for the final report, remember that a real human (me) will be reading your work.
Use formatting, fonts, visual elements, and white space to help present your work in the best possible form.
Grading Rubric
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Category |
Points |
Comments |
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Job Description (20 pts) Is a concrete position clearly defined and described, with attention to relevant factual, contextual, and rhetorical categories? |
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Educational Trends (20 pts) Is the relationship between education and practice clear? Are there clear descriptions of educational systems and types? |
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Expectations of field (20 pts) Are the expectations of the field—and how they developed—clear? Are there enough connections made between the historical material and developments within the profession? |
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Work Environment (20pts) Is the contemporary work environment made clear? Specifically, are work hierarchies, distribution, and production described? |
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Sources/Connections (10 pts) Is the project well documented? Are there a variety of sources and are they well implemented? |
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Overall Package (20 pts) Is the overall content well presented? Does the structure and presentation fit the material and its context? |
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Total Points |
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Additional Comments: |