GRADED PROJECT

INTRODUCTION
This project-based assignment is designed to help you define and communicate
your goals related to your field of study. This project will help you understand
the process of locating potential employers who might want to hire graduates
with formal instruction in this career field. Youll focus on the skills, training, and
personal traits that those employers look for when recruiting job applicants. Youll
also investigate and describe potential paths for continuing education, career
development, and enrichment. Finally, youll complete a sample application and
simulate the experience of formally responding to an employment opening.
One objective of this project is to help you organize your thoughts on why youre
interested in this specific career field. Portions of this project can be used as a
dry-run for an interview that you might have as you look for employment after
graduation. Another objective is to develop an appreciation for education as a
lifelong process. In order to truly become a professional in your chosen career,
you need to view your graduation from this program as the starting point in
your education, not the conclusion. Thats why graduation ceremonies are called
commencements. Its the beginning of the process, not the end.
Like the other assignments in your program, this assignment is also open book.
Not only is it open book in terms of your study materials, youre encouraged to
use the Internet and any other research tool available to you to develop your
responses. Youll be able to relax and enjoy the process of investigation, and
along the way youll become better prepared to look for job opportunities and to
grow throughout your career.
Before starting this project, be sure to download and save this interactive file to
your computer. You can type your answers directly in the spaces provided in this
file. As always, be sure to save your work often. Name your file with your student
number_program code and when ready, submit your finished assignment.
Detailed instructions on how to submit your assignment are provided at the end
of this booklet.
This project consists of four parts. Each part is worth a specific amount of points
as described below. Your total grade will be equal to the sum of your totals for
each part. Grading of this project will be as follows:

Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:

20 points
30 points
25 points
25 points

Total Possible Score: 100 points

Now that you understand the basic goals of your project, lets get started.
CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

PART 1: EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER GOALS

When you decided to enroll in this program you had a goal or objective in mind.
You may have been interested in gaining employment, changing careers, or
perhaps starting your own business. Or your goal may have involved personal
enrichment. Or maybe the education obtained from this program is one small
component of a larger career development plan that you have designed for
yourself. In two to three paragraphs describe your reasons for participating in this
career education program.
There are no right or wrong answers in this assignment. You should attempt to
describe the factors that sparked your interest in the particular career and the
factors that influenced you to seek formal education.
Here are some questions to consider while you develop your response to Part 1 of
this assignment:

Did a family member, friend, or mentor introduce you to this career?

Did you develop an interest in this career because of courses you took in
high school?

What attracts you most to this career? Possible financial rewards or the
satisfaction of seeing the end result of your efforts?

Is there something about the working conditions or potential clients that

you find interesting?

What is your ideal employment situation? Do you want to be your own boss
or do you want to be a valued employee?

Draft your response below.

I was always passionate about cars and wanted to pursue my

__________________________________________________________________
career in automotive industry. Not only the field provides numerous
__________________________________________________________________
opportunities but also the exposure to technology ,process and

__________________________________________________________________

people from different cultures are quite fascinating. Although there

__________________________________________________________________

are great career advancement opportunities available linked with

__________________________________________________________________
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lucrative financial rewards, the satisfaction obtained from solving the

challenges and problems of the customers satisfies me most. The

__________________________________________________________________

Ashworth course provided me a great chance to utilize my time

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
obtaining the diploma and in future I would like to be a valued

employee of a great automotive institution.

__________________________________________________________________

CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

PART 2: EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND

APPLICATIONS OF APPLIED LEARNING
Now that youve considered some of the reasons why youre attracted to your
career, your next step is to locate potential employers or identify clients or
customers that might be interested in your new skills and knowledge. Locate
any five (5) employment ads related to your particular area of study. The ads can
be from online job-search sites, newspapers, trade publications, or any other
legitimate source. Try to find a range of employment descriptions and employers.
Provide the name of the potential employer if available, but most importantly
list the job skills and employee characteristics the employer is looking for. List
any certifications or professional affiliations required to apply for employment.
If salary information is provided, include that as well. If your source is computerbased, you can copy and paste the ad into your document.
In addition to potential employers, research and identify three (3) clients or
potential customers in your local area that you could market your new skills to
if you were to be self-employed. You can also identify three (3) other situations
where you might be able to apply the skills you have obtained.
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CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

PART 3: CONTINUING EDUCATION AND

CAREER DEVELOPMENT
In Part 3 of this assignment, you will investigate potential resources and
opportunities for continuing education and professional development in your
chosen area of study. You should look for educational programs that provide
instruction at a more advanced level than the program you are enrolled in now.
List the names of the institutions you find that offer these programs, the entrance
requirements (if any), and the objectives of the program. Research certifications
that are related to your field of study and instructional programs and products
that you can help you prepare for and pass required certification exams. Identify
trade and professional organizations that support professionals employed in your
field or who provide similar services. List the requirements for application and
continued membership.
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CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

PART 4: JOB APPLICATION DETAILS

In the final part of this project, youll complete a sample job application that you
can use as a quick-reference fact sheet when you apply for actual employment.
Many times applicants present a poor image to potential employers because of
missing or incomplete information on their application. If theyre not prepared,
they might have sloppy or illegible entries, misspellings, and other errors that
could cause their application to be viewed unfavorably. This assignment will give
you the opportunity to practice the process and to identify the key people, dates,
and information youll need to thoroughly complete an application. Youre not
required to supply any information on this sample that you feel is sensitive (for
example, you shouldnt use your actual Social Security number). You can make
up certain information for the purpose of this exercise, but remember to create a
real version after you receive feedback from the school. Youll want to have a final
accurate copy that you can use when you apply for an actual position. Pay careful
attention to the directions on the application and provide any information in the
order requested. Review the dates provided for your education and work history
and make sure they make sense.

CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

SAMPLE APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT

MY FACT SHEET
Applicants Name:
(Last)

Majumder

(First)

Mailing Address:
Street 5146,Saint Peter st
City

Pekham
State

Columbus

Complete and carry with you on your job search

Social Security Number

Middle Initial

Ohio

Zip Code

43221

Work Telephone Number

(
)
Home Telephone Number
(
) 6145063030

EDUCATION
Name of School

Location of School

Degree or Course of Study

Date Completed

Elitte Institute of Engineering & Management

Kolkata,India

Diploma

5/23/2013

Jadavpur Sammilita Girls' High school Kolkata,India

Garia Harimati Devi Uchcha Balika Vidyalaya

Kolkata,India

Grad 12th

4/28/2010

Grad 10th

3/23/2007

EMPLOYMENT HISTORYBegin with your most recent job. List each job separately.
10/01/2012 To __________
03/31/2013
25
hour
Job Title Automotive Spare Part Co-ordinator Dates Worked From __________
Pay $ ______
Per ______
Name of Employer Mohan Motors Business Pvt. Ltd. (Certified dealer point of Mahindra & Mahindra,India) Name of Supervisor Sharma
Address:
Street BBT Rd, Jagannathgarh
State West Bengal,India Zip Code 00140
City Kolkata
(033) 401-5444
Telephone Number (
)
Reason for Leaving to come at USA
Duties Performed
Managing the inventory of spare parts,preparing the purchase order,finding sources to get spare parts and providing the spare parts to the technical team.

Co-ordination Body parts and spare parts from store,follow up and receive the spare parts order.

Job Title
Name of Employer
Address:
Street
City
Telephone Number (
Duties Performed

Dates Worked From __________ To __________

Name of Supervisor

State
)

Zip Code
Reason for Leaving

PERSONAL REFERENCES: List the names of three references that employers may contact.
(933) 973-0485
1) Name Pranab Ghosh
Telephone Number (
)
Address:
Street BBT Rd, Jagannathgarh
State West Bengal,India Zip Code
City Kolkata
(983) 025-5738
2) Name Apurba Kundu
Telephone Number (
)
Address:
Street 10,Chotobotola Road
State West Bengal,India Zip Code
City Kolkata
3) Name Kalyan Das
Telephone Number (
)
(332) 432-4087
Address:
Street 1/1, 10B, Baishnabghata Patuli
State West Bengal,India Zip Code
City Kolkata
6

Pay $ ______ Per ______

Relationship: Ex-colleague

00140

Relationship: Ex-teacher

00094

Relationship: Ex-colleague

00084
CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

SUBMITTING YOUR WORK

When you complete all four parts of your project, you must submit all of your
work to the school. Keep in mind that the results of this project will be graded.
Once youve completed all four parts of this assignment, login to the student
portal at http://community.ashworthcollege.edu. To log in, youll need the
username and password that you received via email. From the Student Portal
page, enter your username and password (Figure 1). Then click Login.

Figure 1
The Home or Dashboard page of the Student Portal displays. To access your
courses, click Courses in the upper right-hand banner (Figure 2).

Figure 2
CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

Click on Courses to access your My Workspace page (Figure 3). Click on More
Sites and navigate to the final segment of your program (Figure 4).

Figure 3

Figure 4
Click on Assignments under Quick Links on the left-hand navigation menu
(Figure 5).

Figure 5

CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

Click on the link for your graded project under Assignment title in the center of
your screen (Figure 6).

Figure 6
Click on the Choose File button at the bottom of the page to locate and attach
your finished project. When you have attached your file, check the Honor Pledge
box to confirm that you are submitting your own work for the assignment. Then
click Submit (Figure 7).

Figure 7

CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

Youll see a confirmation message that tells you your project has been
successfully submitted to the school (Figure 8).

Figure 8

10

CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

Grading RubricAchievement Exam: Career Investigation and Development

Part 1:
Educational
and Career
Goals

Part 2:
Employment
Opportunities and
Applications of
Acquired Learning

Part 3:
Continuing
Education and
Career
Development

Part 4:
Job Application
Details

Grading Considerations

Points/Actual

Points/Actual

Points/Actual

Points/Actual

Student attempted legitimate response to project part.

5/

5/

5/

5/

Student meets basic criteria of question/inquiry;

minimum number of paragraphs, resources submitted;
sample application attempted.

5/

5/

5/

5/

Response submitted is organized and accurate; clear

evidence of investigation and legitimate sources.

5/

5/

5/

5/

Student displays good communication techniques,

including correct spelling and punctuation.

5/

5/

5/

5/

Student demonstrated job-search skills and ability to

identify critical work skills and employer preferences;
self-employment targets are practical and wellreasoned.

N/A

10/

N/A

N/A

Student identification of continuing education

opportunity was appropriate for specific career
field; professional organizations identified are clearly
connected to students career field.

N/A

N/A

5/

N/A

Student supplied all information requested on job

application; education information appears accurate
and organized per directions; job history appears
logical and accurate; dates and job titles appear
reasonable; references provided would be useful to
potential employers.

N/A

N/A

N/A

5/

20

30

25

25

Total Points Possible

Total Points Earned (Each Part)
Sum of Points from Parts 1-4 = (Project Grade)

CAREER INVESTIGATION PROJECT

Total Grade =

11