Florida International University Psychology Essay

The purpose of this assignment is to prepare you for the next step after you have earned your undergraduate degree. This is a multi-step project that involves planning for alternatives. Here are the steps you will take to complete this assignment:

1. Look up the job you are interested in having in the future. Make sure you notice the salaries, whether they differ by state.

2. If this position requires a graduate degree, look up the cost of different graduate programs to determine what is the highest and lowest cost of this graduate degree.

3. You will then prepare or update a resume for job applications. Microsoft Word has some helpful resume templates that you can use as a guide. You can also access courses on LinkedIn Learning or resources from the Career and Talent Development Center on how to build a resume. Your resume should not exceed one page. If the job you’re looking for requires a graduate degree, your resume should then reflect that (you will pretend that you have a graduate degree—the goal here is to give you the opportunity to become informed about the degree you would need for this position).

4. Now, imagine if your ideal career ceases to exist. Perhaps the robots can do it now, you are unable to get the degree needed to be eligible for that job, or maybe it becomes obsolete for some other reason. You will need to create a parallel or alternate plan. To do so, you will first identify your career-related interests, abilities, values, and goals. For example, think about the following questions:

a. Why am I interested in pursuing (insert your top choice major here)?

b. What do I like most about my current major of interest?

c. What classes have I performed well in and what classes have I disliked or struggled with the most?

d. What specific careers interest me and why?

e. What types of work environments do I prefer?

f. What companies would I love to work for and what is my dream job?

g. Explore different Majors within your Academic Unit, College, School, etc.

h. Look up job opportunities that can be done with the same degree you’re earning now. Take note of the fact that the alternate job you’re interested in requires a different degree and consider if you’d be willing to go back to school for another degree.

i. Pay attention to the job salaries for these alternate jobs/careers.

5. Create your parallel plan. When developing a parallel plan, there are several things you should be sure to find out:

• Are there any common courses between my current major of interest and my alternative major choice?

• What courses differ between these majors?

• Are there any application requirements or admission standards that I should know about?

• Does this alternative major require a minor? Can I minor in something similar to my current major of interest or top choice major?

6. Once you have completed the above steps, you will prepare document you will be submitting. The document must have the following four sections:

a. Current job Salary Discussion: Discuss your findings when you searched for the job you currently are planning on pursuing. Make sure you include what the salaries are and if they differ by city, state or region.

b. Graduate School or Marketability: Discuss the cost and the time it will take to complete a graduate degree if this career/job requires it. Include whether you willing to take the economic risk of going to graduate school? What strategies during graduate school might prepare you for a job search?

If it does not require a graduate degree, discuss in this section how can you improve your marketability while you’re earning your bachelor’s degree? For example, internships, volunteering, etc. How can you obtain these opportunities while at FIU?

c. A one-page resume ready for applying to the job you are interested in pursuing currently.

d. Discuss your parallel plan with the alternate job(s) you might pursue instead. Specifically, identify and mention what that job/career would be and discuss why you chose it. You must answer the questions included in step 5 above, and feel free to include other questions you considered in the steps above while developing your parallel plan. Make sure you include what the salaries are and if they differ by city, state or region. Discuss whether you would be willing to go back to school to get the degree or courses required for the alternate job (or if you can complete these requirements currently while earning your current degree). Finally, discuss how job application and resume writing might be different (if at all) with this alternate job versus the current job you are planning on pursuing.