ENG1A City College of San Francisco Finding a Career Path Essay

Requirements

Essay Requirements

• An introduction that introduces and develops the problem faced by many American college students and workers. It should also define and explain why this problem is serious/important You should develop and explain ONE of the following two problems depending on the type career you are recommending for yourself.
  • • the problem of the big squeeze (Greenhouse’s article) (that is, the mistreatment of American workers by corporations (white collar/more professional careers)
    • the conflict between professional (white collar/minds) and vocational (blue collar/hands) careers (Crawford’s article)
• A thesis statement answering a question (What career is most suitable for you, considering your personality attributes, interests, or work values?) Your thesis statement should be clear, concise, and arguable, and it should be appropriately placed (the last sentence of your introduction)
• A background paragraph providing a brief overview of the career path. In this paragraph, describe your methods for exploring the career path. Include a description of the career, including the pay (annual or median) and benefits, national trends/patterns, required training or education (US Department of Education and CareerOnestop website). You may also BRIEFLY include background information about your previous or current work experience that has prepared you for this career path.
• At least three (3) well-developed body paragraphs, each of which supports your thesis statement and focuses on one topic (criteria). Each body paragraph should include the following aspects:
  • A topic sentence/point that covers one topic (e.g., interest, value, skill, OR personality) per body paragraph and that specifically states why that topic is suitable to your career option/aspiration;
  • Information that includes
    • definitions of the topic from the assessment inventory
    • Your scores from the assessment inventories
    • quotes/paraphrases from the primary (CareerOnestop and O-Net) and secondary research and from the readings we have covered including Tyrell–Smith’s “How to Choose a Career That’s Best for You,” Greenhouse’s Big Squeeze and/or Crawford’s “The Care for Working with Your Hands”);
  • Explanation that explains and analyzes how and why your information proves your topic sentence. Such explanation should answer the questions such as “So what? What does the information mean and why does it matter?
• A clear and logical organization of the main ideas (e.g., most to least important/highest to lowest ranked values, interest, traits). The data results (weights/percentages) from the completed assessment inventories should guide your organizational thinking and should be included in your body paragraphs. The information in each of your body paragraphs should move from primary (assessment score and definitions and relevant quotes about your career from CareerOnestop or O-Net) to secondary sources (articles from the readings)
• A conclusion that restates your thesis statement and that offers and explains at least two (2) pieces of advice to yourself about the next steps to achieving your career options/aspirations
• Frequent use of coordinators and subordinators to combine your sentences
• Correct formatting in accordance with MLA guidelines (i.e., a full and correct, heading, a specific title, 12-point font, Times New Romans, one-inch margins, double-spaced, running heading with your last name and the page number, no extra spacing between paragraphs)
• A Works Cited page (MLA)
• Careful proofreading and editing

Research Focus

You must complete at two of the three inventory types:

• one (1) value survey
• one (1) interest survey
• one (1) personality survey

You must gather information from at least one (1) of the following primary sources to gather infromation your career aspirations/goals:

• CareerOnestop (https://www.careeronestop.org/ (Links to an external site.))
• O-Net/MyNextMove (mynextmove.org/ (Links to an external site.))

Using a CCSF database, you also must find one article related to your career options/aspirations from a reputable newspaper, magazine, or journal.

Suggested Search Terms

• “Careers” and “[your job/career title]” (e.g., Careers and kindergarten teacher)
• “Careers” and “[your discipline]” (e.g., Careers and psychology)

Suggested Databases

• Academic OneFile (Gale)
• Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context)
• Popular Magazines (Gale OneFile)* (recommended)

US Major Dailies* (recommended)