1. Career Exploration
EDL 100
Ricardo Trevino Jr., Instructor
E-mail: TrevinR@miamioh.edu
Office: Wilson Hall – Resident Director Office
Phone: 513-529-7089
Office Hours: By appointment
Learning Outcomes
 Students will gain an understanding of their personal strengths, interests, and values as
they relate to career possibilities and majors.
 Students will be exposed to multiple career paths and industry opportunities.
 Students will explore a career path of interest.
 Students will learn about the various components of a career to consider when making
career choices.
 Students will be able to articulate the importance of networking.
 Students will develop a plan to support their career exploration in college.
 Students will develop a comprehensive portfolio that supports their ability to market
themselves to employers.
Course Overview
As a first or second-year college student, you have endless opportunities for what to
pursue in your future. Maybe you came to college knowing exactly what it is you want to do,
maybe you came to college with no idea, or maybe you came to college with a million ideas
about what you want to do. Regardless as to where you are in thinking about your future, this
course is designed to help you explore your own interests and talents, and connect them with the
kinds of opportunities that are available to you when you graduate.
Through this course, you will be exposed to different careers and understand how they
connect to the broader economy. You will have the opportunity to talk with people who are
currently working in the careers you find interesting. Having the opportunity to explore careers
can provide you with good information on what you do and do not want in your future career
path. It can also provide you with access to information on what kinds of experiences you can
prepare yourself with during college to not only help you further explore careers of interest, but
gain the skills and experiences required to ensure you are ready for your future job search.
Finally, this course will expose you to the elements of the job search. You will learn
about how to build an effective resume, online profile, and market yourself to future employers.
Through building a career portfolio, you will have an opportunity to develop a first draft of your
story to share with others. This is one you can continue to refine throughout college as you build
new experiences and acquire new skills.
This course is largely driven by you and your peers and the kinds of experiences you
want to learn about. It is important to be an active member of the learning community so you
can contribute to your own learning and that of the people around you!

2. Required Readings
Brooks, K. (2009). You majored in what?: Mapping your path from chaos to career. New York,
N.Y: Viking.
Pollak, L. (2012). Getting from college to career: Your essential guide to succeeding in the real
world. New York: Harper Business.
Rath, T. (2007). Strengths finder 2.0. New York: Gallup Press.
Course Expectations
Participation: You are responsible for completing all required readings in advance of each class
session. Completing the readings increases your own learning, as well as the learning of your
classmates and instructor. Active participation in class discussions is also expected and essential
to learning. Active participation includes:
 demonstrating that you have completed the readings by including aspects of the readings
in our class conversations and in a meaningful way in written assignments
 contributing thoughtful comments about and examples of concepts being discussed; this
includes comments about ideas you’re still trying to understand (class conversation is
about learning, not always having the “right” or most profound comment)
 raising thoughtful questions, including asking for clarification when you don’t understand
a concept (again, class conversation is about learning, not already having all of the
answers)
 listening carefully to your classmates’ contributions and respectfully responding to
others' comments
Attendance: As a discussion-based course, you are expected to attend all class sessions. Your
grade will be lowered as a result of missed classes. There are no excused absences in this class
without prior consent, but please note even excused absences may result in a lowered grade. If
you miss more than two classes you will be dropped from the course as this is a shortened course
and there are a limited number of class meetings.
Timeliness: Out of respect to your classmates and instructor, please be ready to begin class when
it starts and to stay the full duration. If a prior commitment will affect your ability to arrive on
time or requires you to leave early, please notify me prior to class. Repeated problems with
timeliness can impact your final course grade.
Phones, laptops and anything else with the internet on it: Please disengage with these
devices where they are not necessary. In other words, when we are having discussions that do
not involve articles on your laptop, tablet, or phone, please do not have them open on your desk.
If you use your laptop during class for taking notes or looking at class readings, I trust that you

3. are not also surfing the web, checking e-mail, or on Facebook. Technology is wonderful, but
please do not use it in a way that detracts from our classroom learning.
Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is central to our community. Miami has a webpage
describing academic integrity: http://www.muohio.edu/integrity. Often times, academic
misconduct is a result of not being familiar with certain policies or misunderstandings about
policies. Please be certain to review these documents and websites.
Respect for Diversity: Our Miami University values emphasize the value of an inclusive
community. Similarly, the Miami University Statement Asserting Respect for Human
Diversity emphasizes inclusiveness. The text below is reproduced directly from:
http://www.miami.muohio.edu/documents_and_policies/diversity_statement/index.cfm
Miami University is a multicultural community of diverse racial, ethnic, and class
backgrounds, national origins, religious and political beliefs, physical abilities, ages,
genders, and sexual orientations. Our educational activities and everyday interactions
are enriched by our acceptance of one another; and, as members of the university
community, we strive to learn from each other in an atmosphere of positive
engagement and mutual respect.
Because of the necessity to maintain this atmosphere, bigotry will not go
unchallenged within this community. We will strive to educate each other on the
existence and effects of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, religious intolerance,
and other forms of invidious prejudice. When such prejudice results in physical or
psychological abuse, harassment, intimidation, or violence against persons or
property, we will not tolerate such behavior nor will we accept jest, ignorance, or
substance abuse as an excuse, reason, or rationale for it.
All who work, live, study, and teach in the Miami community should be committed to
these principles that are an integral part of Miami's focus, goals, and mission.
Note regarding accommodations for disabilities: If you have a disability that will affect your
ability to participate fully in the course or if you require accommodations, please speak with me
about this as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged.
Class Assignments
Best Self Reflection (20%)
The goal of the best self-reflection is for you to bring together what you know about yourself
and what you learned from the strength finder exercise and write a 2-3 page paper that 1)
summarizes what you are doing when you are at your best based on your own experiences (you
can pull from stories of work you’ve done, activities you’ve been a part of, etc.), 2) provides
your own thoughts about whether or not you agree/disagree with the themes you saw across the
strength finder activity and why, and 3) how you believe your own ideas about who you are, and
what you enjoy can combine with the strengths finder exercise can to support you as you look at
future paths. In other words, are there patterns or themes you see emerging from your own ideas
and those of the strength finder exercise that you would like to leverage as you think about a
future career? Your paper should not just list answers to the three requirements but should be an
integrated reflection that tells a story about your thoughts.

4. Career ResearchPaper (25%) and Presentation (20%)
You and a partner will select a career cluster on which you would like to do research. As a part
of the course, you will research the following elements of that industry and summarize your
findings in a 3-4 page paper that includes citations for where you found your information:
1) What kinds of companies and non-profits fall under that career cluster?
2) What jobs are available in this cluster?
3) What challenges are facing the industry today?
4) How does the industry play a role in the United States and/or global economy? In other
words, is it a growing/shrinking/steady industry? Why? How is it connected to other
industries? Provide any details you can on how this industry plays a role in the broader
economy.
From there, you will select one specific career within the cluster you would like to look at and do
the following:
1) Identify 4 job descriptions that align with that career and try to understand what skills and
preparation are common among those job descriptions. Are there significant differences
or similarities among the job descriptions? What are they? Why do you think they exist?
2) Find two people (per group) who currently work in that career and do an informational
interview using the questions you will develop in class.
3) Use what you learned from the paper and your career research to develop a 7-10 minute
presentation on both the career cluster and specific career you researched that will help
your peers learn more about this career so they can consider it for their own futures.
Include information on where the specific career fits in the overall career cluster you
researched for your paper.
Final Career Portfolio (25%)
The final career portfolio is a starting point for your career development journey at Miami
University. The portfolio should include the following:
- A copy of your first draft resume signed by a Career Assistant in Miami’s CS office with
feedback
- A second resume draft that reflects changes made after the meeting with the Career
Assistant
- A copy of your Mapping Your Miami Experience plan with your goals
- A copy of your LinkedIn profile (a print out from the internet or screen snapshot that
captures the information would be sufficient)
- A reflection (1 page) on your experience in the course and how you intend to move
forward with your career planning after the course finishes
Class Participation (10%)
You will be graded on your class participation. Students who are actively engaged (i.e., verbally
and non-verbally) in the class and come prepared for each class (i.e., have clearly completed
readings) will receive an A. Students who come to class and are sometimes engaged and
sometimes have done the readings will receive a C. Students who are unengaged and unprepared
regularly will receive a grade of F.
Class Preparation/Outline

5. On the syllabus, where it says “read” please come to class having completed the reading listed
for that class. Where it says “do” please make sure the assignment is done PRIOR to class.
Class will be divided into two portions; the first portion will be for content delivery/discussion
on the readings for class and the day’s topic. The second portion will be used as a lab and group
work time. Knowing this, it is critical to come to class prepared so you can use the class time
well, otherwise you may have more work to do on your own outside of class.
Class Topic Prepare ForClass In Class AfterClass
2/3 You wantto do
what?
CareerServices
101/FindingYour
Future
Read:New
Syllabus
2/5 What do you
value?
Read:SummaryCh1. 1, 2 & 3
Brooks& Ch.1 Pollak
Discuss:Ch.1, 2 & 3
Brooks& PollakCh.1.
Discuss:Focus2
Results
Read:Brooks Ch.
1, 2 & 3 & Pollak.
Ch. 1
Do: Focus2
2/10 Why your
classesmatter.
Read:Brooks Ch.4 Summary DiscussBrooksCh. 4 Read:Brooks Ch.4
Do: Strengths
Finder
2/12 What’sin a
career?
Read:Brooks,Ch. 5 Summary Discuss:BrooksC. 5
Discuss:Strengths
Finder
Read:Brooks Ch.5
2/17 Exploring
Possibilitiesand
FindingYour
Passion
Read:Brooks,Ch. 6 & PollakCh.3
Summaries
Discuss:Brooks,Ch.6
& PollakCh.3
ResearchingCareers
Read:Brooks,Ch.
6 & PollakCh.3
2/19 Exploring
Possibilities
Do: Findthree job descriptions
that lookinterestingtoyou
Do: BestSelf-ReflectionDue in
Class
Discuss:Job
descriptions
2/24 Networkingto
SupportCareer
Exploration
Read:Pollak,Ch.4 Summary
Do: Developalistof
informational interviewing
questions
Discuss:Linked-In
Discuss:
Informational
Interviewing
Read:PollakCh.4
2/26 Networking Do: Create a Linked-InProfile Linked-Inprofile
critiques
3/3 SettingYourself
Up for Success
Read:PollakCh5 & 6 Summaries
Do: CareerResearch Paper Due
Discuss:PollakCh.5
& 6
Read:PollakCh.5
& 6
3/5 Havinga
Resume
Read:Brooks,Ch 8 & PollakCh.7
Do: Come to classwitha resume
Resumes101
3/10 SharingCareers Read:CareerResearchPapers
Do: VisitaCareerAssistantto
have a resume review
In-classPresentations
3/12 SharingCareers Read:CareerResearchPapers In-Class
Presentations

6. 3/17 Mapping
Forward:Goal
Settingand
Planning
Do: Come to classwith3-5 career
relatedgoalswrittendown
MappingYour Miami
Experience:Career-
relatedGoal Setting
for Your NextFour
Years
3/19 Wrap Up!
Do: Final PortfolioDue inClass