Professional Development for Sociology Majors - SYA 4930
Mon. 6/16 - F. 6/20 - Portfolio Presentations
Wed. 6/18 - Portfolios Due in class
Personal Professional Portfolios
Students will develop a Personal Professional Portfolio which serves the purpose of synthesizing the information you have learned about yourself in this course concerning your interests, abilities, values, personality, aspirations, and plans regarding your personal-professional paths.
Each student must turn in 3 sections: the Core Section, either an Employment Section OR a Graduate School Section (depending on your post-baccalaureate plans), and the Conclusion section. Using headings for each part of each section is expected and appreciated. Written work within the Portfolio should be formatted as specified (and when in doubt, single-space using a 10-12 point arial/helevetica/times new roman font and 1" margins).
The Core Section (required of all students) will contain the following:
1. Proof of an existing email account with a "professional" username, preferably your first & last names or your initials at a reliable server (for example kristinjoos@ufl.edu or stacimoss@gmail.com)
2. a one-page or longer Personal Statement describing your immediate and long-term career and life goals, including an explanation of why these goals are appropriate in terms of your knowledge, skills, characteristics, values, and experiences.
3. a current, accurate, and professional-appearing Resume or CV
4. results from Personal Profiles/Career Inventories/Self Assessments
a. Life Values Inventory: http://www.lifevaluesinventory.com/pdf/LVI%20Sample.pdf
b. Interest Profile: Which careers fit your interests?
c. Work Values Sorter: Connect your work values with careers.
d. Basic Skills Survey: Find out which careers require your basic skills.
e. Cluster Finder: Find the Florida Career Clusters that match you best.
f. Workplace Skills Checklist: Which careers match your workplace skills?
g. Transferable Skills Checklist: See how the skills you've learned can lead to new opportunities.
(Items b - g are available on E-Choices, create an account then click on the "Work" tab, then look under the right bar titled "Connect Yourself to Careers")
h. (Optional, note: some of these are not free) LiveCareer, Keirsey Temperament Sorter, Discover, or Kuder Career Search
5. a print out of your ISIS Degree Audit and a semester-by-semester plan for how you plan to complete your BA in Sociology (for your remaining semesters, if any)
6. a Profile of a Graduate of UF's department of Sociology
(Use your contacts, Facebook, or the Gator Nation Network to find Sociology Graduates).
7. a Profile of a Famous Person who earned a degree in Sociology
(Lists of famous people with sociology degrees can be found at http://www.asanet.org/cs/root/topnav/students/famous_sociology_majors & http://www.sociosite.net/topics/sociologists.php, you're also welcome and encouraged to choose someone not on one of these lists.)
8. Writeups of three Information Interviews (click for more info)
9. Writeups summarizing your experience Career Shadowing at least one professional (preferably for at least one workday, though half-days are acceptable) (click for more info)
10. Service-Learning Report (click for more info)2. The Employment Section will contain the following:
-the results of computerized job searches for three professions of interest to you
-a summary of the Occupational Outlook for each of these professions
-a print out of an advertisement/posting for an available position within one of the three professions
-a professional-appearing cover letter tailored to the job advertisement (see above) & that can be modified for other job applications
OR
2. The Graduate School Section will contain the following:
-results of a search for appropriate graduate programs, listing a description of and application requirements for at least three programs to which you'd realistically apply
-a completed application for at least one of the three graduate programs (you do not need actually to submit these applications in unless you want to)
3. The Conclusion Section (required of all students):
The conclusion should synthesize and coalesce the previous two sections of your Personal-Professional Portfolio. You should discusss relevant demographic information, major influences, events and other pertinent personal experiences which have affected your decision making process (where you have come from, who and what have influenced you, and where you are going). Resources and challenges related to your future opportunities should be mentioned (ala Mills). You should close by reflecting on your current and future academic and continuing educational and career plans & aspirations.
Portfolio Presentations
Students will present their portfolios during the last week of class. These presentations will last approx. 10 minutes each. Make an effort to create an interesting, engaging experience with your classmates, sharing where you have come from, what you've learned, and where you're going (with an emphasis on this last part). Close with one relevant piece of advice that you would give to an undergraduate student majoring in sociology.