Your EP should not exceed 6 pages (not counting tables, notes, appendices, etc. or List 2 items) and should be structured and contain the following elements:
Step 1: Perform an employability trajectory analysis.
• Determine where/what you want your career to be 5 years from now. Describe the career, industry, type of company, and position to which you aspire.
• Determine the key skills that will be required for this position? Possible sources: O*NET, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Professional Associations, Career Guides, Interviews with subject matter experts. Provide some evidence for your analysis.
Step 2: Determine areas for development and maintenance.
• Using the skill feedback from the 360 survey, describe what areas you believe will need improvement and/or require significant maintenance (in the case of strengths) as they relate directly to your career aspirations described above. If relevant, feel free to incorporate your previous Assessment Center (from MGT 500) skill feedback as well. Be sure to address the two major capability “buckets”:
1. Essential human capital capabilities (i.e., knowledge, skills, behaviors, experiences etc.)
2. Essential social capital capabilities (i.e., network, people, connections, associations, etc.)
Step 3: Narrow your development areas and determine where to direct your energy.
• You can’t do everything. Identify which gaps (between your future job requirements and your present employability) are most critical (i.e., prioritize). Clearly state your key areas of development. Limit it to no more than 3 areas. Describe the trade-offs you are willing to make in order to pursue future employability.
Step 4: Create a plan that will guide your developmental activities.
• Discuss the specifics of how you plan to achieve employability. That is, describe your 5-year action plan. This plan should include at a minimum:
Formal development activities. Description of the formal activities from List 1 (below) of which you will engage.
Time-line. A general time line as to when you will engage in the developmental activities. This can be in large time-blocks such as “Spring 2017”
Potential obstacles. Identify and describe any potential barriers that must be overcome to successfully implement your employability plan. Be sure to describe ways that you could remove these potential barriers.
Resources. Describe any resources you’ll need to accomplish your major activities.
Progress evaluation. You must be able to evaluate whether or not you are following your EP, whether or not the EP needs to be updated, and if you are progressing toward fulfilling your career aspiration. Describe how you plan to monitor and evaluate your EP (both in process and the outcome). Remember, multiple data sources make for better evaluations. Think about collecting/tracking qualitative and quantitative data.
Project Evaluation
Should you want to attempt to receive a grade in the A range (i.e., A- or A), your plan must include a description of activities that goes beyond the requirements in List 1 to include at least three activities from List 2 (each bullet point is one activity, some activities have multiple tasks). In addition, you must indicate that you are attempting to achieve an A. See below for more details.
List 1 (Required): Formal Resources
MBA Curriculum/course work – selection of courses and how they will impact your development.
Certifications where applicable.
Other formalized training programs – from your company, outside agencies, or other educational opportunities (e.g., toastmasters etc.).
Professional associations – description of key association(s) to join and become active.
List 2 (Optional): Informal Resources
Take Additional Career-related Assessments. Seek out and take additional occupationally relevant assessments such as ones offered by the career center (e.g., Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory) or other tools available (e.g., Career Key). These should be validated measures (i.e., generally not those found on the web). For each assessment taken, write-up a one page synopsis of the results and what they mean for your employability plan.
Informational Interviews. Conduct 2 to 3 informational interviews with individuals who can provide information on your employability aspirations. Document discussions with a one page summary of your key points of learning and what they mean for your employability.
Job Experiences. Determine at least 2 crucial job experiences that will increase your employability and put into place a plan to obtain such experiences. These experiences could include, but are not limited to: 1) a challenging project in your current role, 2) an assignment in your organization, but outside your current role (e.g., cross-functional assignment, expatriate assignment, etc.), 3) a volunteer experience outside your organization. Write a one page description of the crucial job experiences detailing: a) what the experience will entail, b) when it will take place, c) what key KSBs you are targeting, and d) how it will factor into your employability plan.
Mentoring. Seek out and solidify a mentor-protégé relationship. As a protégé, discuss with your mentor your thoughts regarding your employability aspirations and agree on how your mentor can best work with you. Write-up a one page description of this conversation to include, a) description of your mentor, and b) what you will do with your mentor to improve your employability.
• Staying Current. Identify 3 to 5 articles that detail key aspects/trends of employability/career management for your desired position. Summarize these articles in a two-page document providing key points of learning and take-away actions that will impact your employability. These articles should not be from newspapers or magazines, but rather from academic sources or trade-specific publications.
