Description
This portion of the report requires a discussion of the career and industry you desire to be employed in five to seven years as well as research into the career path to achieve your desired career. Part of your career research involves conducting an informational interview with someone in a role/job that you aspire to be in yourself. Each of the subsections described below needs to be related. An explanation of each subsection, as well as a required length, is indicated below.
IMPORTANT: This section must have secondary sources for it to be credible and all secondary information must be sourced using APA format which includes both in-text citation and a reference page. Personal experience and informal conversations are not credible secondary research sources, so both are inadmissible. Not citing secondary information is considered plagiarism.
7.3.1 Identification of Desired Career and Industry (Maximum 1 paragraph)
Thinking of five to seven years, identify a career and an industry in which you would like to be employed. Provide a brief description of the desired career and then describe the industry including the industry code, size in terms of revenue or number of companies as well as its annual growth (or decline).
Use the following link to identify the industry classification code:
http://dal.ca.libguides.com/business/industry
7.3.2 Analysis of Current Trends Impacting the Industry (Maximum 8 pages)
Once a career and an industry have been described the current trends impacting the industry need to be identified and analyzed in terms of how each trend is impacting the industry. Your analysis of how the current trend is impacting the industry is very important and must be evidence-based since you are writing an analytical section, not an opinion piece. Do not just list or describes trends as you are expected to include analysis in terms of how each trend has or is or will impact the industry. Just listing trends without analyzing is insufficient.
Sources that provide industry trends and reports can be found at 1. Library Guide – http://dal.ca.libguides.com/business/industry – Contact the Subject Specialist on this webpage directly for assistance.
Examples of databases you can access for the COMM3801 work term report are:
• ABI INFORM Trade & Industry Information (ProQuest)
➢ It contains more than 700 publications on every major industry, including finance, insurance, transportation, construction, and many more.
• BUSINESS SOURCE COMPLETE (EBSCO)
➢ It contains over 10,000 scholarly business journals and other sources, including full text for more than 1,150 peer-reviewed business publications, SWOT analyses, industry profiles, company profiles, and market research reports. 2. VAULT on MyCareer under “Career Resources” can provide a starting point for your industry trends research. Please remember you need a minimum of six secondary sources.
For all the research you gather, you are expected to use APA guidelines to do in-text citation AND list your references. An APA Style guide is available online at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/ or http://libraries.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/library/Style_Guides/apa_style6.pdf.
The specific current trends which should be discussed are political, economic, social and technological which are explained in detail below.
Political Trends
Describe any pertinent current trends in the regulatory or political climate such as ecological/environmental legislation or pending legislation; regulatory bodies and processes; federal or provincial government policies; upcoming or recent government elections; international trade/export policies; available funding, grants or initiatives; any domestic or international tension or pressure groups; potential or existing wars and conflicts. Note you do not have to include
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everything on this list – only identify and analyze the trends pertaining to your industry.
Economic Trends
Describe any pertinent current trends in the economic climate such as general economic conditions in Canada or in the USA or overseas; general taxation as well as taxation specific to your industry’s product/service; seasonality issues; market/trade cycles; market routes trends; distribution trends; interest and exchange rates; or international trade and monetary issues. Note you do not have to include everything on this list – only identify and analyze the trends pertaining to your industry.
Social Trends
Describe any pertinent current trends in the social climate such as lifestyle trends; demographics; consumer attitudes and opinions; media views; legal outcomes affecting social factors; brand significance, company image attitudes, consumer buying patterns; impact of and identification of role models or idealized organizations, major events, and influences; buying access and trends; ethnic/religious influences; advertising and publicity impacts; and ethical issues. Note you do not have to include everything on this list – only identify and analyze the trends pertaining to your industry.
Technological Trends
Describe any pertinent current trends in the social climate such as: competing technology development; available research funding; associated/dependent technologies; replacement technology/solutions; maturity of technology; manufacturing maturity and capacity; information and communications; consumer buying mechanisms/technology; technology legislation; innovation potential; technology access, licensing, patents; intellectual property issues; global communications. Note you do not have to include everything on this list – only identify and analyze the trends pertaining to your industry.
7.3.3 Career Path Research (Maximum 4 pages)
Conduct secondary research into your desired career path. Research needs to include the position when you first graduate AND the next position you will be promoted to in order to achieve your desired career. For each position include the following: identify the position title, describe the skills and abilities required, education and/or professional designations needed, examples of tasks to be completed and estimated compensation/salary. The information in this section must be written in paragraph format and be written in your own words. Do not cut and paste directly from a secondary source (NO quotes). Please note, this research can be done even if you are planning on being an entrepreneur.
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Listed below are two possible sources that will assist in researching your career path. In addition, positions posted on employers’ websites are other possible sources of information. Ensure all secondary information in this section has in-text citation and is listed on a reference page as per the APA guidelines at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/.
- Career Cruising – Go to the link – https://public.careercruising.com/en/. To sign in to the system, please use the following:
Username: Dalhousie Password: Lawson - Government of Canada Job Bank – http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/home-eng.do?lang=eng
IMPORTANT: This section must have secondary sources for it to be credible and all information that has been paraphrased from a secondary source must be sourced using APA format which includes both in-text citation and a reference page. Personal experience and informal conversations are not credible secondary research sources, so both are inadmissible. Not citing secondary information is considered plagiarism.