BUAD 252
Choosing and Planning A Future Career in Business
Fall 2013
Professor: Kirk Snyder
Office: ACC 215 F
Office Phone: 213-740-0500 Cell Phone/Text: 949-633-0778
E-mail: kirks@marshall.usc.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines both major theoretical principles and applied concepts of professional development practices and strategies, contemporary workplace issues, and employment trends that impact the career decision making process for college students in the 21 st
century. This course is designed to prepare students with specialized knowledge and practical tools to better understand the impact of the relationship between their Marshall education and their own professional development across diverse fields and industries in both the immediate future and over a lifetime.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Global Learning Objectives:

Gain an understanding of both theoretical and applied models of professional development frameworks to support strategic individual professional exploration, goal setting, and personal achievement in the contemporary world of work.
 Learn about best practices of professional development in today’s changing business landscape including the impact of new and evolving contemporary communication channels on the professional development process.

Identify individual professional competencies, prioritize professional values, and develop a lifelong systems-based approach to the career decision making process across diverse fields and industries.
Detailed Learning Objectives :
 Each student will develop an individual systems-based professional development plan over the semester to fit his or her unique individuality, abilities (talents and skills), and professional values and needs that align with the context and realities of a global workplace.

Understand the past, present and future trends of career development theories and their impact on the career decision-making process in today’s ever-changing professional landscape through readings, exercises, experiential research, and team projects.
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Introduce the role that assessment tools and resources are used in the professional development process and how to access these tools and resources within the University.

Critically evaluate the impact of technology and globalization as a colleague, manager and leader across diverse fields and industries as playing a key role in professional development.

Connect to the knowledge-base of working professionals in a variety of fields to increase the connection between majors and identified professional goals and outcomes.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
Custom Course Reader will include individual chapters and selections from the following three books:
 Patton, Wendy. Career Development and Systems Theory: Connecting Theory and
Practice , Sense Publishers, 2006.
 Swanson, Jane. Career Theory and Practice: Learning Through Case Studies , Sage
Publishing, 2010

Harrington, Brad & Hall, Douglas. Career Management & Work-Life Integration:
Using Self-Assessment to Navigate Contemporary Careers , Sage Publications, 2007
Bronson, Po. What Should I Do With My Life? The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate
Question , Ballentine Books, 2005.
PREREQUISITES AND/OR RECOMMENDED PREPARATION
BUAD 252 is targeted to sophomores but is open to everyone seeking practical knowledge and tools to assist in their individual professional development. Because the learning objectives of this course may potentially impact the selection of majors/minors, elective coursework and external internships, taking this course during the sophomore year is highly recommended.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Attend and participate in all classroom discussions, activities, and panels.

One Mid-Term examination. (Based on theoretical principles and course readings)

One group project and presentation. (Collectively each team will identify key professional development strategies based on individual experiential research and provide learning outcomes based on this research)

One written term paper. (My Model Fit)

Contribute to the course blog following each in-class professional panel. (On-Going)

Individual Professional Development Plan. (Final Paper)
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GRADING SUMMARY
Strategies for Professional Development is a CR/NC two unit course. Students will be evaluated on a 600 point scale. To receive credit for the course, students must receive a final grade of C or better.
Assignments
Blog Posts (On-Going)
Mid-Term (Short Essay Questions)
Points
50
75
Term Paper (My Model Fit)
Group Project
Final Career Development Plan Paper
Professionalism/Engagement
Total
Assignment Details
100
125
150
100
600 Points
Blog Posts: A course blog will be created at the beginning of the semester to facilitate online discussion and interaction between students during the week following each in-class panel. Each student will address key individual takeaways for them personally based on the panel. The professor will act as moderator and the posts will collectively be discussed in class the following week in a roundtable forum.
Mid-Term: The mid-term will consist of five short essay questions based on relating course readings and material presented in class to each student’s individual professional development.
These questions will provide foundational material that will be used in both the term paper and final paper.
Term Paper (My Model Fit): Each student will describe in a 3 page paper what their “model professional fit” is in the contemporary world of work. Serving as a prototype for each student’s
“model fit” this paper provides students with tangible criteria to use as guidelines and benchmarks as they evaluate potential corporate and organizational environments across diverse industries and fields. This criteria ranges from the personalities of their colleagues to salary to organizational structure to what they wear to work and what kind of a boss they have in their “model professional fit.” This assignment also serves as a starting point for students to assess and adapt their ideal vision to the realities of today’s world of work to begin managing expectations while at the same time identify key criteria that they can find in their professional lives that contribute to higher levels of job engagement and productivity.
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Group Project: This assignment is segmented into two parts. Part A: In teams of 4-5 students, each student will individually interview one professional in a position of interest. Students will be tasked with finding out key facts about their interview subject (including criteria identified in their model professional fit). These key facts will also include the positives and negatives about this particular field/industry and position as seen through the eyes of their interviewee and the success factors needed to flourish in the field. In these interviews, students will also be tasked to learn about domestic and global trends that are changing or may change this particular career path, as well as those career decisions the interviewee has made that have been successful as well as not successful. Part B: Each team will synthesize through their collective findings and present what they determine to be the most valuable professional development strategies (spanning across each of these positions of interest) and how they will incorporate this practical knowledge into their own career development process.
Final Career Development Plan Paper: Based on the systems theory model of career development, students will develop their own professional development plan for the next five years including internships, education to enhance abilities, and strategic actions for entry into the contemporary world of work as full-time employees after graduation. Examples of a systems-based framework students would use in this paper includes how their professional identity aligns with the internal reality of an organization, how their abilities (talents and skills) aligns with the success factors of a position, and how their personal image aligns with the external image of the employer.
Professionalism/Engagement: Throughout the semester, you will participate in classroom discussions as well as online discussions that will be included in this part of your grade. This part of your grade will be evaluated based on how active a role you take in these discussions, camaraderie and supportiveness in team activities/assignments, attending office hours, bringing relevant ideas or topical news items to discuss with the class based on topics we are covering in the course, level of commitment in the individual student meetings, etc. Multiple absences, lateness and lack of overall engagement will negatively affect your grade as will not paying attention to the professor, classroom guests or your peers when they are speaking or presenting.
Statement for Students with Disabilities:
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with
Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.,
Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Statement on Academic Integrity:
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus, the
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Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A. http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/
Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/ Failure to adhere to the academic conduct standards set forth by these guidelines and our programs will not be tolerated by the USC Marshall community and can lead to dismissal.
Emergency Preparedness/Course Continuity:
In case of emergency, and travel to campus is difficult, USC executive leadership will announce an electronic way for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or homes using a combination of Blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technologies. Instructors should be prepared to assign students a "Plan B" project that can be completed at a distance. For additional information about maintaining your classes in an emergency please access: http://cst.usc.edu/services/emergencyprep.html
Please activate your course in Blackboard with access to the course syllabus. Whether or not you use Blackboard regularly, these preparations will be crucial in an emergency. USC's Blackboard learning management system and support information is available at blackboard.usc.edu
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Session One: Course Introduction

Review Syllabus and Deliverables.

Individual introductions and course goals.

Networking Roundtable: What do I want to do with my life?

The foundation of a systems theory approach to professional development: Why it makes sense in a changing world.
Session Two: What Does Work Mean to Me? Where do I Want to Go?

Identifying individual talents, skills, professional values and personal goals.

What does my ideal job look like?
 Finding the “ideal” in the achievable world.

Professional assessments: What they are, What they mean, How to use them

In-class exercise: Talents vs. Skills
—What am I really good at and how can that create value in the global workplace?
READING: Bronson, Introduction: Obvious Questions Don’t Have Obvious Answers + Ch’s 1-3 (p. 1-18)
Session Three: Overview of Career Development Theories

Introduction to historical timeline of professional development theories:
Trait and Factor/Content; Process; Systems – applying knowledge to the workplace in 2013 and beyond.

Career Professional Panel: Connecting my major to the global world of work
DELIVERABLE: Blog Posting #1 (Based on today’s panel, due prior to next class )
READING: Course Reader, Ch. 1: Rationale for a Systems Theory Perspective (Patton)
Bronson, Destiny vs. Self-Created Meaning, Ch’s 4-5 (p. 19-30)
Session Four: Career Development and Content/Process Theories

Basics of content theories: Parsons & Holland

Basics of process theories: Ginzberg, Super, and Gottfredson

Introduction of team project and team assignments

Meet in respective groups to discuss team project
 Roundtable review of class blog (Last week’s panel)
READING: Course Reader, Ch. 2: Theories Focusing on Content: Differences and Self-Knowledge
Course Reader, Ch. 3: Theories Focusing on Process: Circumscription and Compromise
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Session Five: Interpreting and Managing Career Expectations for Gen Y

Career Professional Panel: Managing generational expectations in the contemporary workplace
 “My Model Fit” Paper Updates

Team Project Meetings (Developing a plan to interview professionals in a targeted position of interest)
DELIVERABLE: Blog Posting #2 (Based on today’s panel, due prior to next class)
Session Six: Individual, Social and Environmental Systems

How the professional development process is been impacted by each system

Review Midterm
 Roundtable review of class blog (Last week’s panel)
READING: Course Reader Ch 4: A Systems Theory Framework of Career Development: Individual, Social
and Environmental Influences (Patton)
Session Seven Mid Term
Session Eight: The Professional Impact of Technology, Transparency, and Connection

Roundtable Update: Defining my own professional development plan

Flat workplaces

Bricks and mortar vs. virtual offices and teams

The impact of transparency and omnipresent connection in career management

Team Project Meetings (Presentations in Two Weeks)

Term Paper Due -- “My Model Fit”
DELIVERABLE: Term Paper (My Model Fit)
READING: Bronson, Know Thyself, Ch’s 29-31 (p. 201-230)
Session Nine: Individual Student Meetings
Session Ten : Team Project Presentations

Each team will present their own professional development strategies based on each team member’s individual research interviewing professionals in fields of individual interest.
 Discussion/Evaluation by Panel of Experts
DELIVERABLE: Team Project Presentations
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Session Eleven Issues in Cross Cultural Professional Development: Gender, Race,
Sexual Orientation and Economic Status

Career Professional Panel: Managing my career in a diverse 21 st
century workforce

Final Paper Progress Updates
DELIVERABLE: Blog Posting #3 (Based on today’s panel, due prior to next class)
Session Twelve: Putting Your Plan Together
 Analysis of all professional development theories discussed
 Student arguments for a systems theory approach
 Creating my individual plan
 Roundtable review of class blog (Last week’s panel)

Putting together your questions to submit to the experts (next week)
Session Thirteen: Telling My Story
 How to answer the proverbial question, “Tell me about yourself?”
 Ask the experts: A panel of recruiters and executives from global companies in diverse fields and industries answer your questions as insiders to the interview process in 2013. (Live online forum)
Session Fourteen: Personal Branding and Professional Development
 Discussion of assigned readings about personal branding and achieving professional goals
 Creating your brand as a professional commodity in 2013
 Review for Final Papers and Individual Briefings (Next week)
READING: Assigned Article, HBR, Personal Branding
Bronson: The Appropriate Timeframe, Ch’s 50-53 (p. 338-360)
Session Fifteen: Taking the Next Step
 Final Papers Due
 Individual Briefings: Highlights of my professional development plan
 Course Wrap up and Next Steps
DELIVERABLE: Final Paper
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INTERNSHIP CREDIT
Because students who are working in a non-paid internship must by California regulations receive academic credit for a non-paid internship, students enrolled in BUAD 252, Strategies for
Professional Development , may also receive academic credit through this course for a current internship if they are not receiving academic credit for an internship in any other university course.
In other words, students may not academic credit for the same internship in more than one course.
For the purposes of this course, receiving academic credit for an internship through BUAD 252 will not be viewed as extra credit or as a substitute for other required assignments in this course. Rather, the opportunity to receive academic credit for an internship though this course is offered as a developmental courtesy to those students currently engaged in a non-paid internship. In order to be eligible to receive academic credit for an internship through this course, you will need to provide a completed Internship Academic Credit Request From available on Blackboard under Course
Materials by the end of week three of classes. At the end of the semester, your internship supervisor will be asked to complete an evaluation form that he/she will provide to both the student and the professor. In addition, students will be asked to complete an additional written deliverable in exchange for receiving academic credit in the form of an experiential journal based on your workplace experience over the timeline of the semester. Not completing this deliverable in exchange for receiving academic credit for your current internship will negatively impact your professionalism/engagement grade.
COURSE CATALOG DESCRIPTION
Examine and explore how the career decision making process impacts your professional development through applied theory, best practices and strategies, and contemporary workplace issues/trends.
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