Entrepreneurial Career Exploration Project

Florida International University Prof. Birrittella

Marketing Yourself – MAR 4354 Term Project

CAREER EXPLORATION PROJECT

Overview:

This project is designed to help you get more information about your desired career: job description and

requirements, salary ranges, job availability, career path, a typical day on the job, etc. While many of you

are probably already working, or have worked in the past, you might not be working in your “dream job”

or in the career for which you are currently studying. Many students are unsure of what they wanted to do

when they graduate. Therefore, this project is designed to help you learn about an entry-level/appropriate

job-level option, or about the next step in your career path, no matter what stage you are currently in.

Requirements:

1. You must determine what your expected or desired entry level job will be upon graduation and

typical salary ranges for that job title. There are many online and print sources for determining

this information. Make sure to make appropriate adjustments for local cost of living in

determining a reasonable salary expectation. Please base your salary range on at least three

sources.

2. Create a list of companies who recruit on campus for the job title you are seeking. If no (or too

few) companies recruit on campus, develop a list of companies you could target yourself. In both

cases, create a list of 10 companies with addresses, phone numbers, contact names and email to

send or link to submit.

3. You will conduct an “informational interview” with someone already working in your chosen

field, either in an entry-level position or higher up (the person should be a professional contact).

An informational interview is NOT a job interview; it is a short conversation with someone who

holds a job you find interesting. Most professionals are willing to give 15 – 30 minutes of their

time to talk about how they got their job, what their typical day on the job is like, what someone

interested in the same career should do to prepare, etc. Use LinkedIN to find people in the field

you are seeking AT THE COMPANIES you’d like to work. This is the BEST way to network your

way into a job!

When attempting to set up the interview, explain that you are not looking for a job, that it is an

informational interview, which will take no more than 30 minutes of their time. Once the

interview gets going, you might find that they are willing to spend more time speaking with you.

You should feel free to ask them about their college major and activities, their first job and how

they got it, their career path, what a typical day on the job is like, and anything else you might

want to know before setting out in a similar career yourself. Under no circumstances should

you ask about their salary or benefits. That is rude, and you can get general information about

salary from other sources.

Florida International University Prof. Birrittella

Marketing Yourself – MAR 4354 Term Project

Requirements: (con’t)

While it may be easier to interview someone you already know or connected to (which is

acceptable), it sort of defeats the purpose of this assignment by making a NEW connection with

someone that might be interested in hiring you. If you absolutely cannot find someone to

interview, please see my option below.

When doing the interview, keep an eye on the time and try to end at your designated time (to be

respectful of their time). If they don’t mind running over time, then they will tell you. For

example, you could say “I see that we are nearing the end of our allotted meeting time and I want

to be respectful of your schedule.”

Don’t forget to send them a thank you note after your interview. See my PPTs/videos on thank you

notes as a reminder!

4. You should also write a job description for your targeted position. Feel free to use information

from your interview, from textbooks or any other sources to develop your job description.

However, you should write it in your OWN words and not copy from any source.

5. Finally, please write a personal statement (1 – 2 pages) giving your reactions to what you have

now discovered about your desired career. Are you still interested in pursuing this career? Why

or why not? Are you more or less excited about it than you were before? What was surprising

from your research? What is your overall reaction to this project? How prepared do you feel for

this career and what are your next steps?

Can’t find someone to interview?

You may attend a company presentation or workshop conducted by Career Management Services

(College of Business) or Career and Talent Development (non-College of Business) or any professional

organization (i.e. American Marketing Association) on campus. You will complete all other parts of the

project discussed above and will write a summary of the presentation or workshop you attended (date,

speaker, who you met, topic, what you learned, how it can help you in your career, etc.) in place of the

summary of the informational interview. Please check with me to confirm that your chosen event will

serve the purpose of this project.

Florida International University Prof. Birrittella

Marketing Yourself – MAR 4354 Term Project

What to submit:

The paper should be typed, using a double-spaced, professional font. The contents should be presented in

the following order:

• Cover page listing name, date, course title and your targeted job title.

• Table of contents with appropriate page numbers

• Job description of your expected or entry level job

• Salary ranges (from at least 3 sources – please list sources)

• Summarize the interview – do NOT submit Q & A format + length of the interview + How did

you connect with this person – LinkedIn, professional contact, career fair, etc.?

• Personal statement (1 – 2 pages)

• List of 10 target companies – including addresses, phone numbers, contact names, email

address/link to submit

• References (similar to a bibliography) – any sources you used to compile info.

Note: You are strongly advised to start this project early in order to complete all of the requirements.

Projects missing any of the requirements will be severely penalized.

Entrepreneurial Career Exploration Project
ALTERNATIVE to replace the Informational Interview:

(For students seeking entrepreneurial careers – items in bold are new)

The paper should be typed, using a double-spaced, professional font. The contents should be presented in

the following order:

• Cover page listing name, date, course title and your targeted job title.

• Table of contents with appropriate page numbers

• Job description of your expected or entry level job

• Instead of salary ranges, please list a complete list of start-up expenses associated with

becoming an entrepreneur.

• Write the summary of informational interview based on an entrepreneur you admire.

• Personal statement – explaining your desire, interest, passion, commitment for becoming an

entrepreneur.

• Instead of a list of 10 target companies to work for; please include a list of 10 competitors

with a short description of location and what products/services they offer.

• References (similar to a bibliography) – any sources you used to compile info

Florida International University Prof. Birrittella

Marketing Yourself – MAR 4354 Term Project

Experienced Career Exploration Project
For students with 5+ years of experience in their field

In place of the informational interview portion of the project, you are to attend one of the following:

• A conference relating to your field

• A networking event relating to your field

Once you have attended the event, here are some examples of things you can write about for your project:

o List the name of the event you attended.

o How did you find out about this event?

o What did you discover/learn at the event?

o Who you met?

o How (if at all) will/can they impact your career?

o Was it easy/difficult to network with others?

o Was the event worth attending?

You can write about anything that will add value to your paper.

NOTE: Due to the nature of these events, early planning is essential to ensure you have enough time to

complete your project.