Career Action Plan: Computer Science
[Thanks to DF for sharing his career action plan.]
My career-related goals in the short term are to find a job that can offer me more hours on a regular basis.
My current job is feast or famine in regards to how many hours they can offer. I plan on continuing my schooling, but I also have bills to pay. It is necessary for me to work and go to school at the same time.
Looking towards the future, I plan on getting the required credits for my AS transfer degree in computer science. I will then transfer to a California State University to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in computer science.
In order to achieve these goals, I will send out my resume in hopes that I can find a job that can offer me some steady hours. I will also stay focused on the requirements that I need in school in order to attain my transfer degree.
I will start to look into the program offered at the CSU closest to me to see if it is going to be flexible enough for me to attend while still working. I am not in a big hurry to get my schooling done. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that it may take six or seven years for me to actually attain a BS in computer science. I will not let that discourage me from working toward that goal.
The most helpful career-related resource for me would have to be the O*Net website. I really like how it breaks down the different jobs by interests, knowledge, job duties, work environment, etc.
I decided on my goals out of necessity. I have wound up working for the past twenty years in a career that does not have a bright future. In an effort to continue to provide for my family it has become apparent that a career change might be in my future.
My decision making strategy was based on the fact that it has become harder and harder to find work for what I do. As my hours dwindled I made the decision to go back to school.
Since I have always enjoyed technology and computers, it was not a difficult decision to pick computer science as my major. I believe that my current goals line up well with my interests and personality style in that most of the jobs related to computer science are technical and require ongoing learning of new technologies. It is important for me to feel like I am always learning new things in order to avoid getting bored.
The most significant factors that will play a part in my career/life planning endeavors would be that I have to provide for my family as well. Finding a balance between achieving my goals and keeping the bills paid is very important. I also do not want to take too much time away from my family in order for me to reach my goals. My family being happy is also a very important goal of mine, and I need to keep that in perspective as I strive toward other goals.
Some of the challenges and pitfalls for me to watch out for during the pursuit of my goals are almost all related to some of my character defects. I tend to get lazy and procrastinate. If I can avoid those character defects as much as possible I should be in good shape.
Some specific activities that will help me reach my goals are time management, and organization. If I can stay organized and make the best use of my time it will be a much easier road to reach my goals.
In terms of career planning, I am way further ahead now than I was before I took this class. I have been able to research more jobs related to the major that I have chosen. I have also solidified my choice of computer science. I have figured out my personality type and how it relates to the jobs related to the major that I have chosen.
The one thing that I learned about my chosen career path is that I don’t have to get there tomorrow. If I slowly chip away at my goals, I get closer, and it is not as stressful. One thing that I need to do in order to stay on track is to prepare for, and take, the math and English placement tests.
I am very motivated to continue the pursuit of my goals. The fact that I have made a definite determination to pursue computer science has boosted my confidence and increased my motivation. Before I took this class I was not confident that that was a final decision. After taking this class I have become even more motivated to reaching this goal.
I would definitely say that engaging in a systematic process of career planning was very valuable to me. Being guided in an effort of discovering my interests and personality type was beneficial to discovering the types of careers that would be a good fit for me.
Learning about the many resources that relate to career research, and how those careers relate to my values was invaluable. Not all majors and careers are a good fit, and finding that out before I made some big decisions was the best thing that I could have done.