MODULE 10: CAREER PLANNING, GOALS AND PROCESSES, RESUME BUILDING,

THE ART OF PARTICIPATING IN GROUP DISCUSSION, AND PERSONAL INTERVIEW

Learning Objective:
After the completion of the module, the students shall be able to:
1. define career planning;
2. discuss the career goals and process;
3. create a resume;
4. explain the benefits of group discussion; and
5. perform personal interview.

Pre – Activity:
Title: Resume Writing
Instruction: 1. Prepare a resume. Act like someone who is already a fresh
graduate from college or someone who has already gotten a first job
related to hospitality or tourism industry

Introduction
Having a successful career will offer you a lot of benefits and real profitable
opportunities. As we live in a world governed by social status and money, working your way
up to the top will definitely improve your quality of life. There are many possible reasons for
which an individual would desire success.
I guess one of the reasons is that
maybe by being successful in your
professional life makes you feel better
among other people. It offers you a feeling of
security and accomplishment. Many people
who went from zero to a successful career
have reported that their lives were improved
in almost all the aspects.
There are certain habits and activities
that successful people from all over the world
do. The best way of approaching success is Source: Google Image
by following and figuring out what are the
strategies that professionals use, and model them according to your needs.
What is career planning?
Source: Google Images
The career planning process involves taking the
time to decide what your career goals are and how you'll
get there. You might engage in this process on your own
or with a guidance or career counselor.
You can also start the career planning process
at any point in your career. Although it's often
associated with high school and college students, it can
also be helpful for those who are contemplating a career
change or who aren't seeing the progress they'd like in
their career field.

How a Career Planning Process Works

The career planning process includes several steps. Ideally, you'll revisit these steps
from time to time to see the progress you've made and to reassess your goals.

1. Conduct a Self-Assessment
Evaluate your strengths, preferences, passions, work
style, and financial needs. Consider your work, school, and
volunteer experiences. What have you enjoyed? What drives
you crazy? For example, if the idea of wearing a suit every day
makes you want to scream, you may not want to pursue a
career in finance. Or you might want to work for a start-up
company that takes a non-traditional approach to finance.
Consider both who you are as a person and who you
desire to become as a professional. Take a careful inventory of
your career values, interests, skills, and personal qualities. Source: Google Images

2. Research Potential Careers

Next, brainstorm possible job options and investigate them. Look at the descriptions
and qualifications for various positions, typical entry points, and advancement opportunities.
In addition to online research, interview people involved in your area of interest for
information and advice about their work, asking about the realities of the field and the
recommended preparation for it, including continuing education requirements or graduate
study.
Internships and part-time jobs are an excellent way to sample a field of interest.
They provide the opportunity to perform some of the job functions and evaluate the workplace
environment.

Source: Google Images

 You may also want to consider job shadowing. Also known as externships, these
experiences last from one morning to several weeks and are an excellent way to get a feel for
what your responsibilities would be in a given role.
If you're in school, consider applying for on-campus roles related to potential job
interests. For example, if you're thinking about a journalism career, you might work for a
campus magazine or newspaper. If you're interested in finance, you might volunteer for the
student credit union.
Selecting project-oriented courses related to career options can also help you to decide
what's right for you. For example, if you're considering product management as a career, you
might select a marketing course where you formulate a branding campaign for a product as a
project.

3. Decide on One or More Career Paths

Consider the pros and cons of the career
options you've been researching. Consider the current
demand in the field, whether you're comfortable with
relocation, and your potential income. Income isn't
everything, of course, but it's something to consider in
balance with other aspects of your career. For example,
work as a professional actor can be erratic and low-
paying initially, but if you can't imagine doing anything
Source: Google Images
else, the risk might be worthwhile.

You may decide on one career path, or you may want to position yourself for a few
options. It all depends on where you are in your life and what career options you're
considering.

4. Set Concrete Goals

Set specific goals for how you want
to progress on your career path. For
example, if you need to go to graduate
school to enter your chosen field, set a date
for when you want to decide on three
graduate schools to apply to.
If you're looking for a job in your field,
set a goal for how many applications you
want to send each week or to attend one
networking event per week.
Some of your goals may be short-
term, while others may be long-term. You
might set a goal of achieving an executive-
level position in 10 years. Think about the
small steps you'll need to take to achieve that
Source: Google Images
goal and set timelines for those goals too.
Your goals and timeline will change
along the way, but setting concrete goals in writing is an important starting point for your
career.
Key Takeaways
The career planning process is a series of steps to help you decide on your short- and
long-term career goals.
You might engage in this process on your own or with a career counselor.
Start with a self-assessment of your strengths. Next, research potential careers and
decide on a career path.
Finally, set concrete short- and long-term career goals.

What is a resume?
Your resume is the most important document you'll submit in your job search. It's your
front-line fighter, so to speak, as it's your first opportunity to present yourself to a potential
employer.
A strong resume can help you stand out from the crowd, but a weak resume can
remove you from the running, so you want to do all you can to make sure your resume is the
best it can be.
It can be difficult to succinctly present all of your experiences and qualifications, but
there are many ways to spruce up your resume without going overboard. To help you land an
interview, Business News Daily rounded up some of the experts' best resume writing tips.

Resume Writing Tips

1. Keep your resume short and direct.
The No. 1 rule of writing a resume is to keep it short and to the point. The general rule
is no more than one page unless you have a very good reason for it to be longer, like an
extensive career or many highly applicable work experiences.
Your resume should target the specific job you are applying for. Sending the same
resume off to every job you apply for will be a detriment.

"Don't write a generic resume that could work for any job," said Wes Lybrand,
teacher and former assistant director at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham's Career and Professional Development Services. Be sure to
prioritize your skills and qualifications for each job you try to land. Your resume
"should be focused, clear and concise."

An easy way to keep your resume trim is to only include recent, relevant experience.
While that yearlong first or second job might have taught you a lot about the field, it's not
always necessary to include every detail from your entire career history.

2. Create an original resume template.

While it's helpful to refer to a professional resume template, don't follow it rigidly,
said Claire Bissot, SPHR and managing director of CBIZ HR Services.
Employers appreciate originality.
"I often pass over resumes that match Microsoft Office templates," Bissot said.
"The templates are meant to be a guide to get started, but it should be
expanded on to make it your own."
 When structuring your resume, make sure the information is presented in a
logical order, said Veronica Yao, a former recruiter and current marketing and
community manager at #movethedial. "A hiring manager [will] read your resume
starting at the top and ending at the bottom. However, if they don't finish reading
the whole thing – and they often don't – you still want to ensure your strongest
points come across."

Choose three or four former positions or experiences that best highlight the skills
required for the position you are applying for. Employers value brevity; this is not the time to
list every position you have ever held. For example, if you are applying for a marketing position,
you could include your former retail experience and bullet the communication, branding, and
interpersonal skills you learned in that position.

3. Craft a career snapshot.

More recently, career experts have urged job seekers to do away with the old
"objective" statement and instead consider including a brief summary, called a "career
snapshot," at the top of their resumes.

"With the career snapshot, you present a branding statement that briefly
explains your unique value as well as your skills and qualifications," said Tomer
Sade, founder and CEO of FACTORE. "This would then be followed by a few
bullet points that highlight your experience and your accomplishments.
Whatever you list here should be relevant to the position you're applying to."

Think of your career snapshot as an answer to the question "how would you describe
your work experience in one sentence?" The summary is an opportunity to sum up your most
relevant and important skills, experience, or assets right off the bat.

4. Optimize your text.

If a company uses an https://www.businessnewsdaily.com (ATS) to collect and scan
resumes, a human hiring manager may never even glance at any application that doesn't fit
the job criteria they've entered. Trish O'Brien, vice president of human resources at Caliper,
emphasized adapting your resume to the position to increase your likelihood of passing the
first level.

"Make sure you've carefully reviewed the posting and ... [used] the appropriate
keywords in your resume to get past the screener," O'Brien said. "Be truthful,
but understand that the first pass on your resume is likely via an ATS."
 A helpful tip is to make sure you include keywords from the job post in your resume.
TopResume suggests copying and pasting the job description into a word-cloud generator to
identify the most frequently used terms, and making sure the terms that apply to you are used
in your resume. You can also create a "core competencies" or "areas of expertise" section of
your resume to list all of your hard and soft skills, and then reiterate those skills when you
bullet your experience.

5. Think beyond your job duties.

Hiring managers don't want to read a list of your job duties. They want concrete
examples of your accomplishments in previous positions that show how you can make a
difference in this new position. Rangel noted that specific merits are more engaging to read
than just your experiences. For example, "I reduced operating expenses by 23% in six months"
is far more interesting to an employer than "I have 30 years of sales experience," she said.
When deciding what information to keep or cut out of your resume, focus on striking
abstract traits and qualifications in favor of concrete, quantifiable results.

"The best resumes highlight a job candidate's actions and results," said Bob
Myhal, director of digital marketing at CBC Automotive Marketing. "Employers
want employees who get things done, and who take great joy and pride in what
they do. Rather than a laundry list of your qualifications, your resume should
reflect your accomplishments and enthusiasm for your career."

You shouldn't ignore your skills section either. Sade reminded job seekers to list any
industry-relevant apps or programs they're familiar with, and find ways to incorporate
examples of their soft skills (e.g., work ethic, reliability) into their job descriptions.

6. Use the right language to stand out.

Trite, lackluster descriptions of your job duties and accomplishments won't do you any
favors. Make sure you're using strong action words like "achieved," "designed," "improved"
and "established" to describe your roles and projects, said Sade. This, he said, will make you
sound confident while imparting vital information. But be cautious about depending on action
verbs – make sure to include details about how you improved a process or achieved a goal.

"Words such as 'professional,' 'results-driven' and 'detail-oriented' provide very

little helpful information," Sade said. "It's better to use actual job titles than these
words."

Diya Obeid, founder and CEO of applicant tracking software company JobDiva,
also said that you should remove buzzwords like "go-getter," "team player" and
"go-to person" from your resume. These come off as fluff and only take up
precious space on your resume.
7. Check for errors.
Triple-check your own work, and then have someone else look over your resume to ensure
it's 100% clean. There is no room for sloppiness on your resume, said Obeid – a hiring
manager will likely automatically dismiss your application if they spot a typo or grammatical
error.

"Make sure it's error-free and easy to read," Obeid said. "HR reps equate typos
and errors with laziness. Use good English – the written word has a huge impact
on the employer."

However, typos aren't the only type of mistake to watch out for.

"Review formatting very closely, including font, alignment and spacing," said
Bissot. "Related issues can often be perceived as a sign of lacking technical
skills and/or attention to detail."

Yao added that candidates often submit applications that are addressed to the
wrong employer or outline experience that's irrelevant to the role.

"Receiving a resume that's crafted and addressed to someone else (or, worse, a
competitor) can be a huge turnoff and will set a negative tone even if they do
choose to continue reading your application," she said.

8. Follow instructions.
Yet another reason not to use generic, cookie-cutter job applications is that some
companies have very specific instructions as to what they want to see in your resume, cover
letter and work samples. Failing to do what's been asked could mean an automatic no from
employers.

"Candidates weed themselves out when they don't follow instructions," said Raj
Sheth, founder and CEO of DecaSource. "Attention to detail makes up a huge
part of any resume or job application because it shows that you care about your
work and your reputation. Carefully read what the employer seeks in an
application, and make sure yours matches up."
How to Effectively Participate in a Group Discussion
Not everyone is a fan of group
discussions, but most would agree that group
communication is an important form of
communication in academic, professional, and
social contexts. Your contribution to the
discussion and the way you communicate with
others define your role in the group and affect
how other members perceive you.
If you are looking to improve your
communication skills, here are tips for you:
1. Be thoroughly prepared.
2. Arrive a few minutes before the meeting
3. Speak confidently Source: Google Images
4. Use an appropriate tone
5. When confronted by others, focus on the issue under discussion and remain polite
6. If your idea is stated by others first, don’t feel there is nothing else to say

Personal Interview
In an interview, you expect employers to ask you questions about your work history,
your professional skills and about their company, but they may also ask you some more
generic personal questions. It's helpful to rehearse answering questions of this nature before
an interview so that you appear confident and calm. In this article, we go over some commonly
asked personal questions in interviews and supply some tips for responding appropriately.
Before your interview, it's common to prepare for professional questions that inquire
about your qualifications and skills in a specific field. Employers will also likely ask some
personal questions that are more generic in nature. These are geared toward your personality,
your work style, how you handle stress and other questions about your character. These
questions are just as important as those about your skills because they help reveal your
personality, as well as how well you'll assimilate into a company culture.

Here are 10 examples of these types of personal questions, as well as some tips on
how to effectively answer them:

1. Tell me about yourself.

This is where you give what's known as your "elevator pitch." In other words, it's a
quick summarization of you. This is a great place to list two to three accomplishments that you
want the interviewer to know about. Finish your answer with how those experiences positioned
you for this particular role. Be sure to touch on your education and work history in addition to
one other relevant item.

Example: "I recently graduated from university, where I studied advertising.

While in school, I completed three internships and made the Dean's List every
semester. Other than my internships, I've worked as a waitress while finishing
my degree."
2. What are some of your strengths and weaknesses?
The key here is to provide relevant strengths and irrelevant weaknesses. Try listing
three strengths and two weaknesses. These questions are what influence the interviewer's
decision to hire, so try to come up with unique answers that are relevant to the industry. There
are two ways to effectively address weaknesses:
Give a weakness that is unrelated to how well you will perform the job. Use humor,
and say something like "eating French fries." This will break any tension, create a lasting
impression and likely catch the interviewer off guard.

Example: "I would say that some of my strengths are that I'm an effective
communicator, detail-oriented and hard-working. As for my weaknesses,
chocolate is definitely one of them. But I also find myself being too empathetic,
and taking on the weight of other people's problems, which can be draining."

3. Can you describe yourself in three to five words?

Try to relate this answer back to the job description. Contrary to what you might think,
providing a word that recognizes a flaw (as long as it's not too big) will show the interviewer
that you recognize the areas you need to work on.

Example: "If I could describe myself in three to five words, I would say that I am
loyal, passionate, funny and cautious."

4. Why did you leave your last job?

The key here is to avoid any negative language when referring to your current or
previous employer. Instead, cite reasons like looking for better opportunities or wanting to
grow professionally. Deliver it in a way that highlights why the job you're applying for is a better
fit for you.
If you were let go from your last position, a simple answer is totally fine. Just say,
"Unfortunately, I was let go," and leave it at that.

Example: "I would love to gain more experience in this industry, and I know I
can get that here."

5. What kind of compensation are you looking for?

Money can be an uncomfortable subject, but there are ways to handle this question
gracefully. You can try turning the question back around to the interviewer, and ask them what
they're expecting to pay someone in the position.
However, always do your research beforehand, and find out what people are making
in this position. Once you have a range in mind, always state the higher number based on
your skills and experience, but be sure to communicate that you are flexible. You want to make
it clear to the interviewer that you want the job, and that you're willing to negotiate.
 Example: "I would like to earn in the range of $45,000 to $55,000 annually. I
realize it's an entry-level position but that is my ideal scenario given my skills
and experience."

6. Do you work better alone or as part of a team?

Depending on the industry and company values, they could be looking for a specific
answer. However, the ability to collaborate and compromise are always desirable traits in an
employee. If you're unsure, say that you prefer a mixture of the two.

Example: "I love collaborating with others, but at times I find it necessary to step
away and brainstorm things on my own."

7. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Much like the ability to collaborate, ambition is almost always a good quality. Take this
time to emphasize your ability to look and dream ahead. Try incorporating that you'd like to
have more responsibilities in a company that values you, your skills and your input.

Example: "In five years, I hope to be established as an art director at an

advertising agency that values my skills while also continuing my development.
Hopefully, I'll have opportunities to take the lead on some creative projects."

8. If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

While this question seems inconsequential, it demonstrates your ability to think on your
feet. There's no wrong answer here. The employer is looking for creativity and relevance so
choose a response that represents your strengths and personality.

Example: "If I were an animal, I would probably be a deer—loyal and kind, and
cautious. And a little confused by bright lights."

9. How do you handle stressful situations?

You want to highlight your ability to face stressful situations in a manner that is both
productive and positive. Try mentioning some of your stress-relieving tactics, and then provide
an anecdote about a time that you effectively handled a particularly stressful situation.

Example: "When I'm stressed, I like to close my eyes and take some deep
breaths. Then I make a list of things I need to accomplish and organize them by
order of importance. From there, I work through the issue one task at a time."

10. Do you have any questions for me?

This question typically ends an interview so be prepared with 2-3 questions you will
ask. Though it may seem inconsequential, there is a right and wrong way to respond.
Additionally, this is a wonderful time for you to decide if this position is a good fit for you. Do
they meet your professional standards?
Focus on the company and how you can grow there. For example, avoid asking
questions about salary or benefits at this time as they will be answered through the human
resources department if you are offered the job. It's appropriate to ask about growth
opportunities for employees, new products or services, computer technology you will be using,
team or corporate structure. Another tactic is to ask the interviewer about their experience at
the company to gauge how happy they are.

Examples: "When did you start with the company?" "How did you work up the
ranks?" "What do you enjoy the most about working here?" Related: Interview
Questions to Ask Employers

Additional tips for answering personal interview questions

Research the company
Find out about their industry, competitors, culture and values. This will help you tailor
your answers, as well as predict some of the questions that you may be asked.

Prepare questions
Though some of your questions might be addressed during the interview, it's always a
good idea to come prepared with thoughtful questions to ask at the end of the interview. Bring
a printed sheet or write them on a legal pad that you bring to the interview. This shows you
are proactive and professional with a high level of interest in the position.

Practice interviewing
Try doing a few trial runs before your interview. Though you want to avoid seeming
scripted, it will help you prepare the words and phrases you'd like to use when it's time for the
real thing.

Take a personality test

If you struggle with being self-aware, it may be helpful to take a personality test to help
assess your strengths and weaknesses. That way you will have more informed answers to
some of the more personal interview questions.

Stay positive
Do self-talk the day before reminding yourself of the strengths you bring to the position.
Maintain a bright and confident demeanor the day of the interview and throughout the
interview.
 Post – Activity:
Title: Personal Interview
Instruction: 1. Pair up with your classmate.
2. Using your prepared resume, one must act as the interviewer and
as the interviewee and vice versa.
3. You may use any video conferencing app to record your interview.
4. Your recorded interview will be sent in the provided google drive
link.
5. A interview rubric will be provided for grading.

Resources:

7 Strategies to Build a Successful Career Eva Wislow (2017). Internet link:

https://www.careercast.com/career-news/7-strategies-build-successful-career

What Is the Career Planning Process? Definition & Examples of the Career Planning Process.
Doyle, A. (2020). Internet Link: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-the-career-
planning-process-2063709

Tips for Creating a Great Resume. Kuligowski, K. (2019) Internet Link:

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3207-resume-writing-tips.html

How to Effectively Participate in a Group Discussion. Internet Link:

https://brightspeaking.com/en/how-to-effectively-participate-in-a-group-discussion/

Top 10 Personal Interview Questions and Tips For Answering Them. Internet Link:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/personal-interview-questions-and-
answers

Prepared by:

FERDIE S. ANDULAN, MIHM

Instructor