Report-Career

As a rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.
Benjamin Disraeli
Objectives: This report is intended to give you more practice in the form, conventions,
and rhetorical strategies of the short report, and to also give you a chance to thoroughly
research your own career path and objectives.
The task: You have been asked to write a report on a particular job for the campus
Career Center. This report will give a complete and detailed overview of the position,
and the field. The end user audience for this report would be college students
considering the position—your job is to give them the complete picture.
Your data: Your report should include the current state of the field (what is the
projected growth? How competitive is it?); the educational requirements, any
additional certifications, qualifying exams, and so on. Also consider personality and
personal characteristics that lead to success on the job (for example, attention to detail
is highly desirable in an accountant; compassion and patience are good qualities for a
nursing career). Does the job require good communication skills? Knowledge of a
second language? Etc.
Career ladder: Include a section both for entry-level positions and mid-career positions,
with salary range estimates for each. For the mid-career position, such as managing
partner in a firm, include an estimate of years of experience needed to reach that level.
Also be sure to include what type of career ladder the position can expect—what other
positions this job can lead to.
You should also include a section on the “soft” considerations such as work-life balance,
lifetime income, levels of job satisfaction, any expected travel, and so on. The need to
complete continuing education once in the position should be noted as well.
Roadblocks: The report should also include a section detailing possible roadblocks.
Included in this section might be, e.g. how challenging it is to get an entry-level job in
the profession (say, if someone wants to be an actor). Or you might note the cost of
graduate or professional school (If you want to be a doctor, you are looking at a median
debt level of $200,000 as of 2015).
Your model report has an “additional considerations and recommendations” section—
consider adding this to note any particular strategies your research indicates would be
helpful in getting into a particular job. For example, in some especially competitive fields,
multiple internships can make a big difference to an applicant.
Researching: Start by researching sites such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics’
Occupational Outlook Handbook. The Oviatt Library also has a career research page:
http://library.csun.edu/Guides/CareerCounseling/Websites. You should plan to visit the
CSUN Career Center at least once in person, if this is feasible (i.e. if you live not too far
away from campus, to see what resources they can offer you). Search Monster, the
Career Center Sunlink, and other databases to actually view the postings for the jobs
you want, especially to support your sections on qualifications and skills. Additionally,
plan to visit the webpages of professional organizations for your desired position (you
can link to many of these through the Occupational Outlook Handbook).
In contrast to your Incident Report, this report will be heavily researched. Nearly every
piece of information you use will have a provenance, and that provenance should be
indicated in an in-text citation like this (Meisel, 2016).