The Structure and Content of the Professional Goal and Action Plan
The following describes your professional or curricular goal and demonstrates your knowledge of the theories and theorists, practical considerations, relevant skills, and future concerns of your field. Please address each of the areas below to construct a Professional Goal and Action Plan.
1.	Goals
a.	State your goal.
b.	Explain why this goal is important to you.
c.	Relate your professional goal to the liberal arts (i.e., counseling calls on theories of human behavior; business management requires knowledge of economic systems; diversity in the workplace, etc.)
d.	Based on your research, explain what trends are currently influencing your field or Focus Area.
2.	Learning Objectives
a.	Explain what knowledge you need to succeed in your field.
b.	Discuss current issues, controversies, and challenges in your field.
c.	Describe the skills you need to acquire.
d.	Describe the attributes you need to demonstrate.
3.	Self Assessment
a.	Explain what knowledge you already have.
b.	List the skills you already have.
c.	Describe the attributes you already possess.
4.	Learning Processes and Resources
a.	Describe the steps you will take to learn what you do not know.
b.	List the resources you will use.
c.	List the steps you will take to acquire the skills you need.
d.	Describe the steps you will take to develop the attributes you need.
5.	Target Date: How long will it take you to reach your goal?
6.	Evaluation Standard: How will you know that you have reached your goal? (“I will have succeeded in learning what I need to learn when…”)
7.	Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography includes the bibliographic information that is used to identify a source (author, title, publication name, date, place, page numbers) and a paragraph summarizing the content of the source. Please refer to page 77 of your study guide to see an example of an annotated bibliography.
a.	Include as least eight references
b.	Include your interview notes.

Beginning Your Research for the Professional Goal and Action Plan
If you have already decided on a Focus Area, please begin at Step 4 (Self-Assessment).

If you have not yet decided on a Focus Area, please begin at Step 1.

►	Step 1. Exploring Your Interests
If you have not yet decided upon the Focus Area you will pursue, please use this time in the course to investigate your interests. The process of choosing a career path or Focus Area should start by first exploring what it is you like to do, what activities you do well, and what interests you have. In short, a sound choice of Focus Area results from an awareness of your wants and needs, along with an ability to identify areas where you can best use those skills that are consistent with your interests.

Once you have identified two or three areas you believe you might want to pursue, investigate each of them. For career areas, seek out information concerning job requirements, job activities, working conditions, salaries, and education requirements. Below are some suggestions for pursuing these two steps in selecting a career path or focus area.

DePaul’s Career Center offers various services that can help you explore your interests, strengths and abilities. Visit the Career Center Website at http://careercenter.depaul.edu or call 1-312-362-8437 for more information. Through the Career Center, you can obtain assistance from a career counselor to develop a sense of your own skills and to explore possible career options.

At libraries and bookstores, there are also many books available on career development and job hunting. What Color is your Parachute, by Richard Bolles; Wishcraft, by Barbara Sher; and The Lotus and the Pool: How to Create your Own Career, by Hilda Lee Dail, are excellent choices. Bolles updates his helpful paperback every year. His book is filled with exercises and self-assessment tools designed to help the reader determine a best career fit, goals and skills. Dail offers a holistic approach involving dreams, symbols, person myths, intuitions, and memories as well as analytical skills necessary to set goals and to plan strategies.

Be sure to do some searches using Internet search engines and the DePaul University library databases to discover more resources that are available as you explore your areas of interest. You may also want to visit some job-hunting websites such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com.

If you are looking at a Focus Areas that are not career-oriented, reflect on what aspects of that area most interests you and explore ways that you might develop your knowledge and/or use this focus in your life.

►	Step 2. Investigation
By completing some of the activities listed above, you will have gained a greater understanding of what your strengths are, what skills you possess, and what activities you do well and enjoy. You should also have identified at least two or three interesting career or focus areas to pursue.

The next step in defining a career goal or focus area is to gather the information that you find to be most helpful. In the case of career-oriented professional goals, you should find out information about education and experience requirements for the profession, roles and responsibilities, salaries, working conditions, and expected changes in the field over the coming years.

Talking to other students who are already working in your career or focus area can be helpful. Obtaining information about a variety of fields and related areas can help you make a final decision about a focus area or career goal. You may want to invite conversation about this at the student-run “Satellite Forum” available within the general course options of the Foundations of Adult Learning course website.

►	Step 3. Report on Exploring Focus Area interests
After completing the activities mentioned above, address the following questions thoroughly in a report that you prepare for your own reference:
1.	What have you learned about yourself through this exploration?
2.	What are your strengths, skills, and abilities?
a.	What to you do well and enjoy?
b.	What is important to you?
c.	What specific features do you want to include in your work and life?
d.	What specific features do you want to avoid?
3.	What preliminary decisions have you made concerning career or focus area interests?
List the occupations or areas that meet the features you have listed in question #1. What are the requirements, roles, and responsibilities of each? What type and level of education does each require?
4. List the methods you used to investigate the careers or areas you examined.
5. Make a choice, unless you need to develop your ideas more fully. If so, please show the specific steps you plan to take and when you will be ready to move forward with the rest of your Professional Goal and Action Plan.

Once you have completed your report, you will be ready to begin investigating in greater detail your chosen career or focus area.

►	Step 4. Self Assessment (Begin here once you have decided on your Focus Area.)
The following exercise is a start in the process of analyzing your own abilities, interests, and values with respect to your professional goal. The questions listed below will help you move toward a better understanding of your Focus Area.

Ultimately, you will need to expand your sources for the Professional Goal and Action Plan to include at least eight bibliographic sources. For now, this self-assessment should be used as a tool to find out what you already know and what you do not know. It is likely that you will not be able to answer all of them without further research. A large part of self assessment involves separating our knowledge from our hunches, and then deciding how to get the information we need.

►	Please complete on a separate sheet of paper (note: if your Focus Area is not career-oriented, answer only those questions that are relevant):
1.	What title do you give your Focus Area? (Training and Development, Community Organizing, Business Management, American Literature)
2.	What are the roles and responsibilities of a professional in your focus area?
3.	What theories, information, or models does someone in your focus area need?
4.	What specialized professional skills are necessary?
5.	What liberal learning skills are necessary?
6.	What changes are currently influencing your focus area? (Computers, international markets, literary theory, etc.)
7.	What other professional areas are related to your field? How? (Is training part of Human Resources…?)
8.	What are the possible organizational structures for someone in your field? (Self-employment, team membership, supervisory capacities?)
9.	What are the relevant professional organizations and publications in your field?
10.	What are the current debates or issues important to your focus area?
11.	What kind of education does a professional in the field need? Is there a difference between classroom and experiential learning in your field?
12.	What research skills are important?
13.	Will you need a graduate degree to practice in your field? If so, what sort? What are the available programs? What are their admissions requirements? What prerequisites are necessary for admission?
14.	Note the details of your focus area about which you are unclear:
15.	List strategies for obtaining the information mentioned in question #13.

►	Step 5. Information Gathering
After careful self-assessment, you should have a sense of what kinds of information you need. Many university, college, and city libraries carry books and professional journals related to jobs and careers. Below is a list of some helpful books. You should also conduct interviews with professionals already practicing in your field. The Internet, of course, is a great resource.\

Books on Careers
The Career Advisor Series includes essays written by top professionals in a variety of fields. These essays provide you with an insider’s perspective on careers and include information on what to expect on the job, on typical career paths, and what employers look for in applicants. Books in this series also help you identify professional organizations and publications. The series is published by Bradley J. Morgan, Ed. 1993:
Gale Research, Inc., Detroit, and includes:
Marketing and Sales Career Directory
Environmental Career Directory
Travel and Hospitality Career Directory
Medical Technologists and Technicians Career Directory

The Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance provides information concerning the history of various jobs, the nature of work within given fields as well as requirements of the job. This volume also includes information concerning methods of entering a field, advancement prospects, employment outlook, earnings and work conditions.

Besides encyclopedias and edited volumes on careers, there are many other books that provide detailed information. Below is a list of some of the useful books available at libraries:
On Becoming an Artist Careers in the Outdoors
Opportunities in Sales Careers Careering and Relearning in the 90s
Women in Finance Careers in Veterinary Medicine
Internet Resources

Several Internet resources are available to help you to investigate your area of professional interest. For examples, visit monster.com and careerbuilder.com. Please access “Career Resources on the Internet” in your Course Resources for a listing of relevant sites.

Interviews
Talk to people who are involved in the field or subject you wish to pursue. Also, you could interview people who supervise the kinds of positions you would like to have and/or interview people who work for people in those positions or fields.

Plan to go into the interviews with a prepared list of general topics to discuss, but allowing, as much as possible, your respondent to lead the conversation. If your interviewee starts to discuss issues that you had not considered, but are relevant to your focus area, give her or him time to talk. Do be sure, however, that you leave the interview having covered the major issues and questions you have.

Limit the time of your interview to an hour or less. Interviews that go beyond one hour can be tiring and unproductive for both you and your respondent.

During the interview, take few notes, jot down only key words and phrases. Taking more detailed notes can be disruptive and can result in a poor interview. If you leave time immediately after the interview to sit quietly and elaborate on your notes, you will remember much of what was discussed.

Sample Interview Questions
1.	Describe your field.
2.	Outline what you do in a typical day.
3.	Discuss how you became involved in the field, and how you prepared yourself to do this work.
4.	What specific educational preparation do you deem necessary for entry into and or success in this field?
5.	What specific theoretical information is necessary?
6.	What attitudes or personal style issues are important to success in your field?
7.	What trends do you see developing in the field?
8.	Who are the proponents of these trends?
9.	What other professional or academic areas are influenced by the field?
10.	How long might it take to become comfortable and experienced in the field?
11.	What are the relevant professional organizations, publications, etc., in your field?
12.	What are the next steps in your career?
13.	What advice can you give me?

►	Step 6. The Annotated Bibliography
After completing your research, choose at least eight sources that have been the most helpful to you. Develop reflective annotations—approximately one paragraph each—for each of those sources (books, articles, or interviews). Include a brief summary of the contents, an analysis of the relation of the material to your field, and a comment on the author. The result will constitute your “Annotated Bibliography.” The samples below will give you a sense of the format and content of entries to an annotated bibliography:

Annotated Bibliography Samples
1) Interviews
Doe, Jane. Telecommunications Manager, Magic Cellular Corporation Interviewing Jane gave me insight into the technical requirements of the telecommunications field. Jane Doe has been a Telecommunications manager for one year. She suggests that anyone interested in pursuing a career in Telecommunications gain as much knowledge about new technology as possible. Ms. Doe believes that knowledge in data communications is becoming more important. Therefore, she suggests that one get as much exposure to the data environment as possible. She believes that there is growing opportunity surrounding call center technology.

2) Articles
Jones, Thomas B., Liberal Learning and Business Careers, 1982, Metropolitan State University Press, St. Paul.
In this article, the author discusses the importance of liberal learning as it relates to business. He emphasizes that liberal learning teaches communication skills, analytical techniques, planning, flexibility, appreciation for other cultures, ethics, and independent learning. All of those skills are essential in the business world, especially for managers. Furthermore, the author refers to an article by George O. Klemp, Jr., which states that cognitive skills distinguish an outstanding performer from his or her less effective counterpart. Liberal learning nurtures cognitive skill; therefore, it helps to create outstanding individuals.

3) Books
Golter, Gary D. and Yanuck, Deborah F. Opportunities in High Tech Careers, 1987, National Textbook Co., Chicago.
This book contained job descriptions about various careers, including one for a telecommunications Technical Consultant. The job descriptions included analyzing information, developing designs, and system configuration. The necessity of excellent project coordination skills was emphasized. The authors recommended at least a BA or BS in Business Administration. The skills for technical consultant parallel the responsibilities of a telecommunications analyst position in my current employment.