SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Office of the Dean
BA483 Business Professional and Career Development
Job Search Strategy and Plan of Action (5-year Plan)
FINAL PROJECT
The purpose of this final project is two-fold:
1. To help you think through a plan for your career.
2. Since career planning follows the same logic as strategic planning, the exercise will also help you
learn the logic of competitive posture analysis.
I. DESCRIPTION OF THE EXERCISE:
1. Job Definition.
The job definition is described by the types of jobs you may consider. From this environment you
will select three jobs which are attractive to you.
FIGURE 1.
JOB ENVIRONMENT
JOB TYPES (1)
Performance Required
(Leadership + Tasks +
Mentality)
Rewards Offered
(Payoffs + Job Satisfaction)
Attractiveness
Qualifications
PREFERRED JOB(S)
Capability
Objectives
JOB SEEKER
2. Potential Qualifications for the Job.
2.1 Each job requires that you exercise appropriate leadership, execute the tasks required by the
job, and bring an appropriate mentality to the job. In Figure 1, this is labeled Performance
Required.
2.2 As a job holder, you will bring potential capabilities to the job: leadership, task performing skills
and knowledge, and mentality.
2.3 You will compare the performance requirements of each job to your personal capabilities to
produce an estimate of your potential qualification for the job. This step completes the lefthand side of Figure 1.
3. Attractiveness of the Job.
3.1 The right-hand side starts with identification of the rewards that are offered by a job in terms of
payoffs such as money, security, etc., as well as of the job satisfactions such as challenges,
power, etc.
3.2 You will compare the rewards offered by each job to your objectives (which are the levels of
rewards you would like from a job) to produce an estimate of the attractiveness of the job.
4. Choice of Preferred Jobs.
4.1 For each of the three jobs that you have analyzed, you will compare your potential
qualifications to its attractiveness. The procedure you will use to compare the jobs is illustrated
in Figure 2. Test your understanding of the matrix on Figure 2 by answering the question below.
Each job you have analyzed will be plotted as a point inside the matrix of Figure 2. You next
must choose one or more jobs for which you will prepare yourself.
4.1.1 What decision should you make about your preferred job type if only one job ends in
Case 1?
4.1.2 What should you do if more than one job type lands in Case 1?
4.1.3 What should you do in Case 2?
4.1.4 What should you do in Case 3?
4.1.5 What should you do in Case 4?
4.1.6 What should you do if all of the job types end up in Case 3?
4.2 As the next step, you will select one or more jobs which you will target in your career plan for 5
years from now.
FIGURE 2.
COMPARING ATTRACTIVENESS AND QUALIFICATIONS
Your Qualifications
10
9
8
Case 4
Case 1
Case 3
Case 2
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Job
Attractiveness
5. Preparing a Personal Development Plan.
5.1 You will next develop a series of steps, which will prepare you for the target job(s). These may
include experiences in intermediate jobs, academic courses, information you will gather, etc.
5.2 Since the preparation will not only prepare you, but also improve your knowledge of the job
types, you will need to review your career plan periodically.
II. SUGGESTIONS FOR PREPARING THE CAREER PLAN
1. To help you determine the performance requirements:
a. Research the job through resources related to the subject.
b. Ask people currently working in the job areas what they are required to know and do.
c. Seek out references related to careers, job announcements, and related resources.
d. Ask others.
2. To help you diagnose your capabilities
a. Make a list of your accomplishments over the past few years.
b. Examine them to determine what contributed to your success, and what personal talents or
aptitudes you possess to have achieved them.
c. Be honest with yourself because it is your future that is at stake.
3. Discussion of your goals and capabilities with a close friend or mentor will enable you to clarify your
ideas.
III. EXECUTION OF THE EXERCISE
Step 1: Job Profiles Identification
1. In the first three columns of Table 1, construct profiles of three jobs which you would like to
consider as your target for 5 years from now. Do this by checking the appropriate items in each of
the three columns at “First Pass” section. If a characteristic of the job of interest to you is not found
in the left-hand column of Table 1, or if you want to narrow down a particular alternative (for
example, under “Type of Organization” you may be interested in one or more specific industries
such as “banking” or “retailing” or “high technology firm”, etc), write the new alternative(s) under
OTHER and enter check(s) in the appropriate column.
2. Carefully check each job description for its consistency. (For example, the role of general manager in
a high technology firm and preference for maximizing risk are not consistent!)
3. If necessary. Correct your job descriptions and enter the revised profile into the “Revisions” section
in Table 1.
4. Now enter into Table 1.A. a verbal description of each job which you would use to explain it during
an interview with a recruiting officer. Be sure to use coherent sentences (instead of simple listing of
the entries in Table 1).
Step 2: Potential Qualification for the Job
In Tables 2, 3, and 4 you will determine the performance requirements of the job, then your own potential
capabilities for it, and then combine the two into an estimate of your potential qualification for the job.
Table 2
Shown across the top of Table 2 are the types of leadership that will be required from the job. Sometimes a
job is “simple” and only one type of leadership is needed. For example, an entrepreneur starting a new
enterprise needs primarily charismatic leadership in convincing financial supporters of the validity of
his/her dream. But an entrepreneur in a large firm may also need to be a political and an intellectual leader.
1. In the column labeled “Description of Job” use one or two words to describe each job identified in
Table 1.A.
2. In the column labeled “I” enter your judgment of the importance of directive leadership to success
in job 1. Use a range from 10-1 with 10 denoting “vital” importance and 1 “irrelevant”.
3. In the column labeled “C” on a scale from 10 to 1, enter your evaluation of your potential capability
for directive leadership, which you feel you can develop with experience and training.
4. Divide column “C” by column “I” and enter the result in the column labeled “C/I”. (Do not enter a
value that is higher than 1.0, even though your calculation might result in a value higher than 1.0).
5. Repeat the same procedure for each type of leadership shown at the top of the table.
6. Add the column labeled “C/I” and multiply it by 10, then divide the result by 4. The formula is:
L =  C/I x 10
4
Enter the result in the last column. The result is your potential qualification on leadership for Job 1
(L).
7. Repeat the process for Job 2 and Job 3.
Table 3
1. Repeat the preceding procedure in Table 3 to obtain your potential qualifications on performing
tasks (T) required by the job.
Table 4
1. Repeat the preceding procedure in Table 4 to obtain your potential qualifications to bring the
mindset (M) to the job.
Table 5
1. Transcribe into Table 5 the results of the last column of Tables 2, 3, and 4, for Job 1, Job 2, and Job 3.
2. Add L + T + M and divide by 3. This is your overall potential qualifications for each of the three jobs.
Step 3: Attractiveness of Job
Table 6
1. At the first column of Table 6, is a list of rewards, which may be important to you. If any reward
categories are missing write them in the spaces provided.
2. Next, in column 2 enter the importance (I) of the respective rewards to you. Use a scale of 10 to 1.
More than one reward can be assigned the same rating.
3. For each estimate the level of the rewards (R) if offers. Let 10 = “outstanding” and zero = “none”.
4. Compute the attractiveness of each payoff by dividing “R” by “I” for each job. (If the value exceeds
1, enter 1).
5. For each job add the “R/I” column and enter the total in the second last line of Table 6 (Column
Totals).
6. In the last line compute the overall attractiveness for each job:
Attractiveness = ( R/I) x 10
N
N is the number of payoff items in column 1.
Step 4: Choice of Preferred Job
1. Using the results of Tables 5 and 6, plot each job as a point in Table 7 and label the points Job 1, Job
2, and Job 3.
a. The jobs which fall in the upper right hand quadrant are clearly attractive: both the
attractiveness and your qualifications are excellent.
b. The jobs in the upper left hand quadrant are attractive but your ultimate ability to qualify for
them is problematic.
c. The lower right hand quadrant contains jobs, which you will excel, but you will have to
compromise your objectives for payoff for job satisfaction.
d. Finally, the lower left hand quadrant is unattractive and you are not qualified for the job.
2. YOU MUST NOW MAKE A DECISION
a. Select (one or more) jobs as the basis for your career plan and enter it (them) as target job(s)
in Table 7.
b. At the right of your target job(s) clearly state the reasons for your decision.
Step 5: Preparing a Career Plan
You have finished the analysis. Now it is time to think about it, and then write a career plan. The career plan
should be arranged into two parts:
1. Conclusion from the Analysis
2. Development Plan
In writing the career plan you should quote the data you have developed using the analysis.
1. Conclusion from the Analysis
a. Description of the jobs (copy table 1A)
b. Job rewards
c. What I learned from the exercise about the reward offered by the jobs.
d. Importance of various rewards to me.
e. How well does each job meet my objectives for rewards?
f. What are my reasons for the importance ratings for each qualification (performance
requirement).
g. Reasons for the ratings of my potential qualifications.
h. What kind of job(s) I have decided to target 5 years from now.
i. What are my reasons for the decision?
j. What kinds of contributions do the job(s) make to the strategic activities and operating activities
of the institution for which I will be working? (Strategic activities are those in which I will help to
change the firm’s relations to its environment, while operating activities are those in which I will
help to run the firm’s current operations in order to maximize current profits.)
k. What I learned from the exercise about myself: The kind of person I am, my strong and weak
points.
2. Development Plan
a. Describe the experiences you will seek in preparing yourself for the target job(s) (education,
training, data gathering, travel, etc). Try to be as specific as possible.
b. Identify those entry-level jobs that will help you in launching your long term plan.
c. Construct an “experience tree” starting with the entry level job and ending at the target job
description.
Table 1: Job Profiles
Characteristics of the Job
1. Geographic Location (describe in each
column)
2. Type of Organization (enter a check in
each column)
Large/Medium Business Firm
Small Business Firm
Government
Government Agency
International Agency
Educational Institution
Other:
3. Task*
Operating (competitive)
Strategic Development (innovative)
4. Type of Job
Coordinator
Decision Maker
Innovator/Creator
People Manager
Analyst
Other:
5. Definition of Job Responsibility
Highly structured
Moderately structured
Unstructured
Job 1
Job 2
Job 3
Characteristics of the Job
6. Required Risk Taking
Seek New Risks
Seek Familiar Risks
Accept Familiar Risks
Minimize Risks
Avoid Risks
Other Characteristics:
Job 1
Job 2
Job 3
Table 1A
JOB
1
2
3
DESCRIPTION (Use complete, descriptive sentences)
Table 2: Leadership Type
Leadership
Type
DIRECTIVE
Giving orders
and controlling
performance
Description I
of Job
Job 1:
Job 2:
Job 3:
C
C/I
POLITICAL
Using power
and influence
Your Potential
Qualifications of
Leadership
I
L=(Sum C/I)*10/4
C
CHARISMATIC INTELLECTUAL
Inspiring
Presenting
others to
persuasive and
follow new
reasonable
directions
arguments
C/I I
C
C/I I
C
C/I
I = Importance of leadership type of the job (1 to 10)
C = Your potential capability to perform the job (1 to 10)
C/I  1
Table 3: Task Type
Task Type
Analytic
Problems
Description
of Job
Job 1:
Job 2:
Job 3:
I
C
Political
Problems
C/I I
C
C/I
People
Problems
I
C
C/I
I = Importance of task type of the job (1 to 10)
C = Your potential capability to perform the job (1 to 10)
C/I  1
Daily
Problems
Long Term
Problems
I
I
C
C/I
C
Your Potential
Qualifications of
Tasks
C/I L=(Sum C/I)*10/5
Table 4: Qualification on Mindset (Part 1)
Attention Focus
Mentality
Aspect
Environment
Description
of Job
Job 1:
Job 2:
Job 3:
I
C
C/I
Time Perspective
Internal
I
C
C/I
Past
Successes
I
C
C/I
I = Importance of mentality aspect to the job (1 to 10)
C = Your potential capability to perform the job (1 to 10)
C/I  1
Present
Challenges
I
C
C/I
Future
Subtotals
Threat/
Opportunity
I
C C/I SI=(Sum C/I)*10
Table 4: Qualification on Mindset (Part 2)
Mentality
Aspect
Description of
Job
Job 1:
Job 2:
Job 3:
Calculated:
Prudent
I
C
C/I
Judgment:
Entrepreneurial
I
C
C/I
I = Importance of mentality aspect to the job (1 to 10)
C = Your potential capability to perform the job (1 to 10)
C/I  1
TOTALS
S2 = (Sum C/I)*10
S = S1 + S2
Your
Qualifications
on Mentality
M = S/7
Table 5: Overall Potential Qualifications for Jobs
L
(From Table 2)
Job 1
Job 2
Job 3
T
(From Table 3)
M
(From Table 4)
Overall Potential
Qualifications
(L + T + M)/3
Table 6: Attractiveness of Jobs
Rewards
1. Payoffs
I
R1
Job 1:
R1/I
Monetary
Security
Leisure Time,
Hours/Workload
Contribution to
Society
2. On the Job
Satisfaction
Challenge
Power
Prestige
Teamwork
Column Totals
Attractiveness
=(Sum R/I)*10/N
I = Importance of rewards to you (1 to 10)
R = Level of rewards offered by the job (0-10)
R/I  1
N = Number of items evaluated
R2
Job 2:
R2/I
R3
Job 3:
R3/I
Table 7: Job Positions Matrix
Attractiveness of Job
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
Target jobs
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Reasons for Decision
Qualifications
for Job