Career Planning Paper

ITSS 4395 Assignment 2

Assignment 2 – Personal Gap Analysis 60 points

1. Project Objective

One of the qualities of successful people is that they think about the future and have a plan of action to achieve their career goals. Those who have a well-developed plan for their future are more optimistic and positive. And those with a plan are more likely to make their vision a reality. Your task is to conduct a gap analysis, this time you are the subject. The goal is to do a personal assessment to see where you are currently and where you want to be. Look at the difference between where you are today and where you would like to be in the future. Where is the gap? What is needed to get you to where you want to be? Would you hire yourself? Why or why not?

2. Process and Requirements Step 1: Think about where you are currently and where you want to be. For some of you this may be short term (3-6 months), for others it may be long term (2-5 years). If you are graduating and seeking a job, your goal would be to secure a position in the field – this is a short term goal. If you are graduating and have a job, your goals would be more long term.

Step 2: Make a list of your existing skills, knowledge, and your level of competence. This should include soft skills and technical skills. Step 3: Identify the skills needed in your goal state. This should come from multiple sources - 1) external sources– minimum of 2 – such as a job description or career plan. 2) your team members - You must also get feedback from at least 3 of your team members about you as an individual – they should provide a list of the things you do well, and the areas you could improve upon. Step 4: Identify the areas where there is a gap. Step 5: Show the actions required to reduce the gaps.

ITSS 4395 Assignment 2

3. Deliverable

Your submission can be in any format of your liking. It should include the following:

• A title of the document along with your name.

• Goal statement - Briefly describe your goal. It should be specific and measurable.

• List your current skills/knowledge and competence level.

• List the required skills/knowledge for your goal state.

• A minimum of 2 resources for your skills and knowledge.

• List the gaps.

• List at least 5 actionable tasks with timelines to help you close one or more gaps. These tasks must be actionable. For example, “Improve communication skills” is not actionable, but saying, attend a communication class to develop conversational skills – this is actionable. Make sure it is clear which tasks will close which gaps (you should be able to map it back).

• Add at least 1 visual to highlight your plan. This may be a quadrant, matrix, timeline, etc.

• An Appendix with feedback from 3 team members. List their name and their feedback. The feedback needs to be constructive feedback about you, regarding your skills.

You will be graded on the following:

1. Completeness of the deliverable – did you include all the items listed? (title, name, skills for current state, skills for goal state, multiple sources, gaps, actionable tasks, team member feedback) (20 pts)

2. Depth of analysis – did you do a critical analysis of where you are and where you want to be? (10 pts)

3. Measurable skills/tasks – did you list skills and tasks in a way that is clear and measurable. For example, saying you have project management skills is very broad, but saying that you can plan a project and lead a project team are more specific. Are your goals specific and measurable? Do your tasks have specific timelines? (10 pts)

4. Effectiveness of the visual – how effective is the visual to your goal/plan? (10 pts)

5. Professionalism of the deliverable – is the deliverable high quality, something that could be shared with a future employer? Was the chosen format effective in presenting the requirements of the assignment? There are no spelling or grammar errors. (10 pts)

ITSS 4395 Assignment 2

You are not required to use the following format, but it could be modified slightly and would be a good way to document your gap analysis.

Submit the document as a word document or pdf file in eLearning.

ITSS 4395 Assignment 2

Acceptable Not Acceptable

Completeness (20)

Included a title Included Name Listed skills/competence for current state Listed skills for goal state Included at least 2 sources Identified the gaps Listed 5 actionable tasks A minimum of 1 visual An appendix with feedback from 3 team members

Points deducted for missing 1 or more of the required elements.

Depth of Analysis

(10)

Performed a critical analysis of where you are and where you want to be.

The gap between current state and desired state is clear.

Actions required to reduce the gaps are clear and relevant.

Feedback from team members shows depth and is actionable.

Points deducted for lacking depth in one or more of the following areas:

Critical analysis

The gap between current state and desired state is clear.

The tasks are actionable and have timelines

Feedback from team members shows depth and is actionable

Measurable goals, skills,

tasks (10)

The goal is specific, actionable, and

measurable. The skills are specific and attainable.

The tasks/action plans are measurable and have timelines.

Missing one or more of the following:

The goal is measurable.

The skills are specific and attainable.

The tasks/action plans are measurable.

Effective Visual (10)

The visual is helpful and provides a good representation of your plan.

The visual is not relevant to your plan and/or does not provide a good

representation of your plan.

Professionalism

(6)

The chosen format was effective in presenting the requirements of the

assignment.

The chosen format is not effective in presenting the requirements of the

assignment

Spelling, Grammar, and Word Choice

(4)

There are no spelling errors.

Accurate, specific, powerful words are used.

There are several spelling errors. Inadequate use of word choice.

ITSS 4395 Assignment 2