OGL 482 Pro-Seminar II

Unit 3 Assignment:
Networking Plan Template
Section 1: The Career Decision Matrix
As you move through the data-gathering phase and begin to generate options for potential jobs
and potential employers, this is when you can build and use a Career Decision Matrix. Following
the information from Harrington & Hall text, Career Management & Worklife Integration,
Chapter 4, pages 92-94, you will research, gather, and analyze information from your self-
assessments (i.e. the Kuder assessments in Unit 1, in particular), thematic analysis (themes),
career resources and more to create your Career Decision Matrix.

Career options are broader than jobs. They are paths you can take to get to where you want to be.
Here is a resource that can assist you in determing:
https://careerwise.minnstate.edu/careers/pathways.html

Answer the following:

1) As you have gathered your data take the time to share and fully describe your top
four (4) possible career options. You want to be specific, as this creates a more
meaningful matrix. Describe each career with as much detail as possible. Consider
the following to be used in your 2-3 paragraph response per career option: career
field / organization / job-related responsibilities / opportunities for advancement /
future outlook of the career field. These responses need to demonstrate that you
have gathered your research and analyzed it, so there should be citations referencing
where you got your information, using APA standards. Remember to include why you
are choosing each career option.

a. Career Option 1: Marketing Communications

The marketing communications career field includes planning,

coordinating and implementing marketing strategies, advertising, promotion and

public relations activities. Examples of marketing communications include

traditional advertising, direct marketing, social marketing, presentations and

sponsorships. (Gartner) Organizations utlize marketing communications

specialists to help promote and sell their product or service. There can be many

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 departments that fall under this and/or contribute to the position. Departments

include sales, advertising, publc relations, and promotions. Growth within this

field can mean becoming the director of the marketing department or even the

combined sales and markeing team.

This position is responsible for utilizing social media and other media

outlets to build relationsships with prospective and existing customers and clients.

These relationships are necessary to ensure the organization’s sustained success.

Marketing Communications embodies the whole process: From client relations,

PR and marketing strategies, to the creative side of promotional literature,

advertising and artwork. (TotalJobs.com) Specific duites may include creating

marketing plans, organizing trade shows and special events, budget management,

producing press releases, and designing and developing marketing materials. Job

outlook is high for this position as the market is everchanging as is technology

and social media.

b. Career Option 2: Event Planner

Event Planners have a wide variety of types of events they can plan. From

weddings, to corporate seminars, to trade shows, to birthday parties, the

possibilities are endless. Organizations hire Event Planners to organize their

events and programs in-house and outside. There are a lot of moving parts in

event planning so it’s imperative that planners have superior organizational and

communication skills.

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 Basic responsibilities include Delivering events on time, within budget,

that meet (and hopefully exceed) expectations, setting, communicating and

maintaining timelines and priorities on every project, communicating, maintaining

and developing client relationships, managing supplier relationships, providing

leadership, motivation, direction and support to your team, travelling to on site

inspections and project managing events, and ensuring excellent customer service

and quality delivery. (totaljobs.com) Growth for this position looks great as

people will always have gatherings and programs.

c. Career Option 3: Human Resources

Human Resource associates play a crucial role in organizations that

employ people. HR managers can influence a company’s culture and the way

people perform, and they’ll always put the needs of the business first.

(Totaljobs.com) The role can offer competitive salaries and growth opportunities,

especially for managers and specialists. Most people will start off as a coordinator

or admin, and work their way up to management. Being in HR can also provide

additional career opportunities such as talent management, recruitment,

compensation and benefits, and learning and development.

There are many responsibilities of HR associates such as leading the

recruitment process, including selection and interviewing of candidates, keeping

track of employee performance, handling conflicts and terminations, creating safe,

diverse and inclusive environments in the workplace, and managing benefits and

compensation. The most important duty is to ensure the organization complies

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 with labor laws and regulations and build a culture that aligns with the company’s

values and mission.

d. Career Option 4: Project Management

The job of a project manager is to plan and oversee all aspects of a project,

and to meet the project’s goals on time and within budget. It will require you to

organise people, tasks and resources to bring about a successful conclusion.

(totaljobs.com) Project managers are needed in all types of organizations as

certain projects need to be led by professionals with the right skillset and abilities.

It has become more and more evident how much value project managers can add

to organizations. Because of this, this career field is in high demand. It also comes

with great salaries and benefits. Most project managers start off their careers as

coordinators and move into management from there. More experienced project

managers tend to move in program management.

The responsibilities of a project manager vary by organization, industry,

and level of seniority. General duties include leading the planning and

implementation of projects, defining a project’s scope and goals, planning and

scheduling project timelines, resource planning and allocation, quality assurance

and risk assessment, and meeting budgetary objectives. (totaljobs.com)

Now that you have determined these four options, take a step back and share a fifth
UNTHINKABLE (UT) career option, that you would never do, but are trained for by what
you have learned by earning your degree. Think about skills you have acquired while
earning your degree, which would be transferable to something completely different.

UNTHINKABLE Career Option: Teacher

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 Teachers play a crucial role in the lives and development of young people. They

primarily work in schools; elementary, middle, high school, or college. They can

teach a variety of subjects as well. This position can be exciting yet challenging in

many ways. Primarily, teachers will impart knowledge to their students to help them

learn new things about a specific group of subjects. (totaljobs.com)

I have aquired many skills throughout my degree program such as empathy,

communication, resilientcy, listening, and planning. Even with all of these skills, I do

not think I would ever be a teacher. As I learned in my self-assessments, I like to

avoid conflict and difficult situations. I also value financial success and teaching will

not provide that for me.

e. Using the information you have gathered and shared above it is time to fill in
your Career Decision Matrix.

Marketing Event Human Project Teacher

Planner Resources Manager

Family m m h m h

Time m h m h h
Management

Feedback h h h h h

Creativity h h m h h

Financial m m h h l
Security

Organizationa h m h m h
l Culture

Work m m m m l
Fulfillment

Stability m l h m h

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 Peace m m m l m

Advancement h l h h l

CTCP 38 32 42 38 37
(Summary)

2) Now that you have determined these career options in relation to your life themes:
a. Reflect to what extent your Career Decision Matrix development process has
helped your career development decisions.

I believe that the Career Decision Matrix has helped me in my career

development decisions. It’s interesting to see how my themes from my thematic

analysis align, or do not align, with possible career avenues. When I produced my

thematic analysis, I came across a lot of values that were previously undiscovered. It

made me re-evaluate my priorities not only in my personal life but also my career. I

don’t believe I’ve ever given much thought on what I truly valued and how to look

for those values in an organization. I’ve always taken jobs that I was qualified for and

that paid well. Analyzing the Career Decision Matrix has made me realize that

perhaps I am down the wrong career road. I also feel more open to other career

possibilities.

b. Share which career option(s) you feel would be worth researching more and
pursuing as you begin to think about your networking plan.

As I mentioned above, after analying the Career Decision Matrix, I feel more open to

exploring alternative career routes. Looking at the matrix, a career I would be

interested in researching a little more and possibly pursuing is human resources. I’ve

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 actually always had human resources on my radar as I am a people person and always

have been. I like working with people, building relationships, and being a source of

support for others. I also believe that human resources provides the opportunity to

gain insight into all business aspects. I think it would be amazing to be able to

influence the organization, their employees, and strategic business choices.

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Section 2: Networking Plan
Now that you have completed your Career Decision Matrix we now need to move forward and
develop a networking plan that you can use to help you reach your career goals. Review
Harrington & Hall text, Career Management & Worklife Integration, Chapter 4, pages 77-83.
Developing and managing your network of people who can help you is an important ongoing
process whether or not you are currently happy in your career.

The purpose of this activity is to:

• Help you assess and enhance (extend or strengthen) your developmental network relative
to major challenges you will face in the next 1-3 years
• Help you develop a networking strategy that will work for you
• Help you develop a specific plan to pursue over the next 6 months to 1 year
• Create an accountability mechanism

Research on leadership development has demonstrated that people benefit from a variety of
developmental relationships, including short-term and long-term alliances with bosses, peers,
senior executives, coaches, subordinates, and family members, the more diversity and depth
there is in your developmental network, the better. Depending on our dominant learning tactics,
we are more or less likely to pay attention to the quality of our developmental network.
This assignment was adapted by Professor Kathy E. Kram from a worksheet developed by
Professor Deborah Kolb, Simmons Graduate School of Management. Adapted by permission.

Answer the following:

1) As you think about the major changes that are likely to take place at your place of
work in the next few years, what major challenges and opportunities do you foresee
that you will need to deal with in the next 1-3 years?

Describe and explain why these are your top three (3) of Challenges here:
a. Having to find a job will be a challenge in the next 1-3 years. Looking for a job in
a new industry might mean me starting from the bottom. Depending on the
position, it could take forever to find that perfect job I’m looking for.
b. Finding my desired salary with my new job will be a challenge.
c.

Describe and explain why these are your top three (3) of Opportunities here:
d. Better opportunities would present themselves.
e.
f.

2) Given these challenges and opportunities, what type of help are you most likely to
need? Check one and explain why.

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 a. Help in getting the job done ______
b. Help in advancing my career _X
c. Emotional support ______
d. All of the above ______

I hope to have help from a mentor at my organization. Someone that can guide me in
furthering my career.

3) If your major challenge or opportunity is related to your work, how well positioned
are you to get information, advice, and resources about new opportunities and
possibilities? Check one and explain who can help you and why.
Very Well ___X___ Okay ______ Need to Expand My Network ______

I feel confident enough in my abilities to reach out to others for information about new

opportunities. I would say more comfortable if it was within the organization. I find it

difficult to network and ask for help from people outside of the organization. Who would be

able to help me are my mentors and supervisors.They could be the first to deliver the

information that could help me in advancement.

4) If your major challenge or opportunity means making a move into a leadership

position, do you have relationships with people who can give you advice and
effectively advocate or champion you for important assignments or other
developmental activities? Check one and explain who can help you and why.
Yes __X____ No ______

I do currently have relationships with people who can give me advise and vouch for me

for important assigments. I’ve made it a point to build these relationships every company I go

to and I maintain them throughout the years. Most of these people are either on my

management level or above it. Their opinions are valued way more and are more influential

on decisions made.

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 5) If your challenge or opportunity means that you will need emotional support, to
what extent do you have people who can give you support? Check one and explain
who can help you and why.

a. I have a strong support network to help me. __X___

b. I don’t have people to help me through changes I will have to make. ____

I am very fortunate to have strong support system at home. We are very protective of

eachother’s opinions and emotions so we take care of eachother evenmoreso. My support

network consists of my husband and two children. Everyday we give eachother love and

support.

6) If your challenge or opportunity means that you will need help getting the job done,
advancing your career, or getting emotional support, do you have people in your
network who can fulfill these functions? Check one and explain who can help you
and why.
Yes ______ No ______

(Insert Explanation on Who can HELP and Why Here)

7) What is your approach to building relationships? How are you at initiating

relationships? In what settings are you most comfortable meeting people?

a. Joint or shared work, projects, and committees __X____

b. One-on-one appointments, with specific agendas ______
c. Informal “no agenda” social settings __X____
d. Going for coffee, lunch, or drinks ___X___
e. Leisure activities such as golf, tennin, or theater ______
f. Other ______

I try to build relationships within my department first and then branch out to other

departments. My organization hold monthly meetings and trainings for same level

managers, all departments. I see these meetings as a chance to network and create new

and maintain old relationships. There are so many different departments, it’s hard to keep

up so these meetings give us a chance to contribute to that relationship.

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 8) What is your preferred style?

a. Occasional phone calls or e-mails just to ask “how are you?” __x____
b. Phone calls, e-mails, or visits with specific requests or questions ___X___
c. Holiday cards and letters ______
d. Dropping in or calling when you’re in the neighborhood ______
e. Arranging in advance to get together at professional meetings __X____
f. Relying on the chance that your paths will cross ______
g. Inviting people to join you for lunch, coffee, golf, and so on ___X___
h. Contacting people when you find some information, an article, or an opportunity that
might interest them ______
i. Other ______

In my emails, I tend to combine the casual “how are you?” with a list of specific requests
or questions following after. The responses are typically short and sweet which is perfect. Every
task I try to complete, I have to plan ahead for any contingencies. I do enjoy getting outside of
the “office” and getting to know my team meeting them for lunch or coffee .

9) Now turn your attention to the “Action Planning” part of the exercise (top of page 82).
Respond to the following questions:

a. What are your goals in developing a professional network? Be specific.

(Insert Response Here)

b. How will a well-developed network of contacts help you achieve your career goals?

(Insert Response Here)

c. What are some of the characteristics of the people you are looking to include in your
network?

(Insert Response Here)

d. Where might you come in contact with these people? How will you grow your network /
initiate contact with new potential networking contacts?

(Insert Response Here)

e. Who in your network are you looking to enhance your relationship with? How will you go
about enhancing these relationships?

(Insert Response Here)

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 f. How can you leverage your existing network? Might some of your existing networking
contacts know others who you should be in contact with?

(Insert Response Here)

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Section 3: SMART Career and Networkings
Using a SMART goals-based approach, as well as project planning and management skill best
practices, create a detailed project plan for at least two specific goals. At least one must be
related to your Career Plan, and the other related to your Networking Plan. Both of these goals
need to be things that you are passionate about accomplishing.
Your selected goals and SMART plan (see SMART goal information provided in the Unit)
should be structured based on a one to two-year timeline. It should include specific milestones,
action items, sub-tasks as well as task-related interdependencies as applicable. With respect to
each goal, critically think about what specifically are the things you will do in the next one to
two years to achieve these goals.

Develop a clear and detailed SMART plan, with facilitating goals and steps/actions required
to accomplish your selected goals. It should be evident, by looking at the format and structure
of your plan, that you have developed some significant skills respect to project management.
Include Gantt charts or other visual project representations as you see fit, and be sure to address
your approach to tracking/measuring your progress.

1) What is your Career Goal?

(Insert your Career Goal above and provide short answers below describing your Career
Goal in terms of the SMART model. Finally, provide a Gantt Chart using the tools
provided).

a. Specific (provide details about the goal)

b. Measurable (explain how you’ll measure your progress or completion)

c. Attainable (explain why this is possible)

d. Relevant (explain why this matters to you)

e. Time-Based (provide the timeframe in which you’ll complete this goal)

(Insert Gantt Chart)

2) What is your Networking Goal

(Insert your Networking Goal above and provide short answers below describing your
goal in terms of the SMART model. Finally, provide a Gantt chart using the tools
provided).

a. S

b. M

c. A

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 d. R

e. T

(Insert Gantt Chart)

References

Gartner_Inc. (n.d.). Definition of Marketing Communications (MARCOM) - gartner marketing

glossary. Gartner. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from
https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/glossary/marketing-communications-marcom- 

Jobs are our job: Totaljobs. Totaljobs.com. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from
https://www.totaljobs.com/ 

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