Communication Studies 100A

Communication Studies 100A
Career Research & Interview Assignment
200 Points: See Course Schedule for due date
The goal of this assignment is for you to explore a career that you are
interested in pursuing. This assignment also aims to help you build your
network and learn about the benefits of informational interviewing. You will
also learn to use APA style for this assignment, which you will be expected to
use throughout your upper-division coursework in the Communication Studies
Department.
Instructions, Format, & Requirements:
To get started, choose a job/career area that interests you (example:
communication manager, public relations manager, firefighter, teacher). Next,
you will do research to learn more about that job/career such as the
educational requirements, average salary, and what the day-to-day work is
like. As part of your research, you will also need to connect with someone
currently working in that career area to conduct an informational interview
with. You will prepare several questions (a minimum of five) to guide the
interview process.
Ideally you will interview someone in the career area you’ve chosen but given
the current situation with COVID-19, I understand that may be difficult. I
encourage you to try, as you will benefit the most from an interview with
someone in the actual field you’re hoping to go into. If you cannot find
someone in your chosen field, just do your best to find someone who can
provide helpful insights about the professional world. I will allow you to
interview a relative or friend, but I encourage you to expand your network. You
may conduct the interview via phone, email, or Zoom. Face-to-face interviews
are not recommended due to COVID-19.
APA style must be used for:
• in-text citations
• page numbering
• reference page
• cover page
• font, spacing (double spaced, 12 point)
Make sure you proofread for proper grammar, syntax, spelling, and clarity.
Since your professor should NEVER be the first person to read your paper (just
like a potential employer should never be the first person to read your resume
and cover letter) I encourage you to find someone to peer edit with.
Your paper should have an introduction, body and conclusion with clear
transitions between paragraphs. It should include the following information:
▪ Introduction: Describe the career you have chosen to research and tell
the reader what it is, why it interests you and how majoring or minoring

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in communication studies can help launch you into this job (to be clear,
you can choose ANY job/career, it does not have to be obviously related
to communication studies). Introduce the person you interviewed.
▪ In the body of your paper, make sure to address:
o Educational requirements: consider both entry level into the field
as well as what education is required to get to the highest
position you aspire to. Don’t just guess or go by what you’ve
heard, this is an area where you should conduct research and cite
your sources.
o Other requirements: what types of experience and skills do
people in this job/career need to have? Again, don’t just guess –
use research and cite sources.
o Personal requirements: what are the personal traits and
characteristics one needs to be a success at this job? Describe the
typical schedule and work-life balance for this career. Do your
best to cite your research here or provide clear analysis. That
means claims should be supported with reasoning.
o Salary range: consider both the entry-level salary range as well as
the salary range for the highest position you aspire to. This is
another place you should cite your research rather than just
making claims.
o Projected future need for this job: you can find this information
in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. If your career isn’t listed,
find something similar or do other research and try to draw logical
conclusions about whether this career will see growth in the next
several years.

▪ As you address the above topics, weave in what you learned during your
interview. Include important and/or surprising information you learned
during the interview.
▪ Conclusion: Based on your research, is this career a good fit for you? Why
or why not? If you’re not sure, what information would help you to
decide? Also discuss:
o what specific steps would you need to take to get your foot in the
door for this job?
o how will majoring or minoring in communication studies help you
get there?

You must cite at least 5 different sources of information in this paper. You may
use a source more than once, but there must be a minimum of 5 different
sources cited, including:
1. The Occupational Outlook Handbook (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/)
2. At least one personal interview
3. Two articles from the last 36 months from reputable sources. These
should be articles or opinion pieces from mainstream, reputable
publications such as the New York Times, Fortune, The Wall Street
Journal, or a peer reviewed scholarly journal.

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4. One additional source of your choosing. I highly recommend consulting
career websites such as Glassdoor, LinkedIn, or The Balance.
While there is no minimum length requirement, you can probably thoroughly
address the required information in about 4-5 typed, double-spaced, Times
font, not including cover and reference pages.