Career Decisions: From Insight to Impact from Coursera

What's inside

Syllabus

Your Motivations, Part One

This module will introduce you to the course and ask "What is insight? Why is it important? What impact can personal insight have on your academic or professional goals?" We will also look at why people tend to prematurely foreclose on career options due to choice paralysis and occupational stereotypes. The exercises will help reveal how you go about making decisions.

Your Motivations, Part 2

This week we will explore how cultural norms, such as the American definition of "success", affect how we think about our academic and career choices. We will consider the role of family and friends in our decision making and how personal insight can help us distinguish our personal interests and goals from the expectations others have for us. We will also explore how our personal identities can affect how easily (or not) we navigate change in our lives. The exercises this week will reveal how you personally define success, as well as how your concepts of personal identity may be affecting how you experience change in your life.

Your Mindsets

What is more important: Passion for what you do or developing marketable skills? Can you get smarter if you work harder? What does academic research tell us about well-being and the role of finding meaning in our work? We will explore all these questions this week, and you will complete exercises that will allow you to consider the skills you have and need to develop as well as take stock of what you devote your time to now and what that reveals about your motivations.

Your Map

This week we'll use a design thinking framework to learn how to broaden your exploration for possible working identities. You will also implement practical steps for making professional connections and learning more about specific fields of interest. Finally, you will complete a capstone project that pulls together all the concepts from the course and help you make your case for how you can make an impact on the world.

Good to know

Know what's good

, what to watch for

, and possible dealbreakers

Explores occupational stereotypes and helps learners overcome choice paralysis

Examines how cultural norms impact career choices

Teaches how to use a design thinking framework to explore career options

Provides practical steps for making professional connections

Offers hands-on exercises to help learners reflect on their motivations

Includes a capstone project to help learners create a plan for their career

Reviews summary

Career course: insight to impact

Learners say this course offers impactful guidance on career decisions, helping them identify their strengths and motivations. It encourages self-reflection and provides practical advice on exploring opportunities. With a mix of theoretical and practical content, this course offers a valuable starting point for individuals navigating career choices.

Features an experienced and knowledgeable instructor who provides clear and engaging presentations.

"Amazing course on making career decisions ! Great mentor and helpful peers. Had a wonderful time pursuing this course. Learnt a lot which I did not knew before joining this course. Thank you all."

"The Course is really Insightful and Interesting, it helped me analyze my inner potentials and how one can turn there passion into a Profession. It has a blend of both theoretical and Practical approach towards ones career development."

"One of the best course. Just loved it. Videos, assignments, reflection paper and my peer reviews everything helped me a lot, to understand myself better and how to choose path for my career."

Facilitates engagement and feedback through peer assessments.

"Great informational course. I wish I had this course way back when I started to college. It would have helped me avoid a lot of missteps I encountered."

"I definitely recommend this course! It is great for reflection and understanding one's decision, but also it gives practical advice on how to go about exploring career opportunities."

"Very interesting insights on Career Choices. This course gives an opportunity for individuals to introspect and understand where they stand in their World of Work."

Covers a wide range of important topics related to career development and decision-making.

"A very inspiring course, the course name is so fitting. Both very insightful and impactful indeed! One fact I like the most about it is that it makes you think. I really learned and enjoyed this one a lot."

"Learned about how to get myself out in the world around my interests. Or at least I understand better how to do this process."

"With full of expertise, Sharon the lecturer has helped me go through a self-realization process and gain new values, enlightening me both personally and professionally in areas I think I already knew well enough."

"I've had a great experience with this course, thanks to which I feel very motivated and ready to take action towards my life goals. The information was well structured and precise."

Provides tangible advice and strategies for career exploration.

"Very helpful insights on Career Choices. This course gives an opportunity for individuals to introspect and understand where they stand in their World of Work."

"This course has taught me a lot not just about career decisions but also about myself — my skills, interests, and strengths."

"Extremely useful course that takes a holistic approach to how an individual builds a career."

"The course requires you to acknowledge hard truths, and ask hard questions of yourself. If you're willing to put in the work, there's so much value that this course delivers."

Prompts introspection and self-discovery.

"It was an insightful session. Thank you so much."

"Really useful! I appreciated a lot the clarity of exposition, the quality of content and the variety of examples!"

"Loved how each of the modules had certain practice questions to delve deeper into our thinking and understand the process that goes behind our decision making."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Career Decisions: From Insight to Impact with these activities:

Review the concepts of career decision-making

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Gain a solid foundation in the key concepts and theories of career decision-making to better understand and apply the course material.

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Read the article "Theories of Career Choice and Development" by Super and Savickas and summarize the key points.
Identify and describe the different stages of career development proposed by Super.
Discuss the role of self-assessment in career decision-making.

Create a personal career values statement

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Develop a clear understanding of your personal values to make informed career decisions that align with your priorities.

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Reflect on your experiences, interests, and goals.
Identify the values that are most important to you in your career.
Write a brief statement that articulates your personal career values.

Complete career assessment exercises

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Gain valuable insights into your strengths, weaknesses, interests, and values through guided career assessments.

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Take the Strong Interest Inventory assessment.
Complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment.
Reflect on the results and discuss them with a career counselor or mentor.

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Develop a career exploration plan

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Create a structured plan to explore different career options and identify potential paths that align with your interests and goals.

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Identify a list of potential career paths that interest you.
Research each career path, including job descriptions, salary expectations, and career advancement opportunities.
Network with professionals in your target career fields.
Write up a summary of your career exploration plan, including your goals and action steps.

Explore online career resources

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Leverage online resources to expand your knowledge of different career fields and gain practical insights.

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Visit the websites of career counseling centers and professional associations.
Explore online job boards and databases.
Utilize online career assessment tools and resources.

Participate in a career support group

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Connect with other students and professionals to share experiences, learn from each other, and gain support in your career journey.

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Join a career support group or online forum.
Attend regular meetings and participate in discussions.
Offer support to other members and share your own experiences.

Connect with professionals in your field of interest

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Establish connections with experienced professionals who can provide guidance and support as you navigate your career.

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Identify potential mentors who work in your target career field.
Reach out to these professionals and introduce yourself.
Request a meeting or phone call to discuss your career aspirations and seek advice.

Practice interviewing skills

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Enhance your interviewing skills to increase your chances of success in securing your desired job.

Browse courses on Interviewing Skills

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Review common interview questions and practice answering them.
Conduct mock interviews with a friend or family member.
Attend a career fair or workshop to practice networking and interviewing skills.

Career center

Learners who complete Career Decisions: From Insight to Impact will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Career Counselor

Career Counselors are focused on helping people find the right career fit. Their work may involve them educating people on different career options or helping people develop career strategies to reach personal goals. People wishing to work with individuals to build and execute on career plans may want to consider this course. As a Career Counselor, this course will help you understand what insights and factors someone should consider to help them make the right career decisions.

See salaries and explore the career path for Career Counselor

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors help people with disabilities explore and engage in work. They may work by helping someone understand their strengths and goals or help them find training programs or jobs. These Counselors must have a keen understanding of the factors that determine what makes a good career fit. This course could help build that foundation.

See salaries and explore the career path for Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Organizational Psychologist

Organizational Psychologists study how people and their careers interact within a workplace. This includes how humans and technology interact to ultimately affect organizations or optimizing employee performance. Taking this course may be helpful for someone wishing to enter this field as it will help in understanding human motivations and behaviors that affect career paths.

See salaries and explore the career path for Organizational Psychologist

Human Resources Manager

Human Resources Managers work to oversee relationships between employees and their employers. They must be able to assess HR risks and employee situations with the goal of keeping employees fully engaged and to keep companies running efficiently. The knowledge gained from this course may help with understanding the factors that influence employees decisions and motivations.

See salaries and explore the career path for Human Resources Manager

Life Coach

Life Coaches work with people to help them identify and overcome personal obstacles and reach personal career or life goals. Practitioners must have a strong understanding of how to help people understand and set personal goals. This course may help someone seeking to become a Life Coach in better understanding the motivations and obstacles that affect career choices and life goals.

See salaries and explore the career path for Life Coach

Career Development Specialist

Career Development Specialists help create and support career development programs. They have a strong understanding of how to help people develop and implement career plans. If you wish to enter this field, taking this course may be helpful as it will help you understand what kind of work goes into making career plans and what kind of factors have an effect on them, such as personal motivations or cultural influences.

See salaries and explore the career path for Career Development Specialist

Student Affairs Professional

Student Affairs Professionals work with students in a student-centered environment. They provide help for academic or personal problems. This course may help people who wish to enter this field by helping them understand how to best guide students as they consider their career options when working on developing academic or personal goals.

See salaries and explore the career path for Student Affairs Professional

Guidance Counselor

Guidance Counselors help people, usually students, explore their career options and develop and achieve their individual educational goals. This course may be helpful to those especially aiming to guide students in making career decisions rather than personal as this course dives deep into what factors influence how people come to make career decisions.

See salaries and explore the career path for Guidance Counselor

Psychologist

Psychologists study human behavior. This course may be helpful for someone wishing to enter this field as it will help in understanding factors and motivations that influence human behavior, career related or not.

See salaries and explore the career path for Psychologist

Social Worker

Social Workers assist people with social, emotional, and mental health problems. Though Social Workers may not always work specifically on career development, knowing how to help people understand and work toward goals is an important part of the job. This course can provide foundational knowledge on how to help people make informed decisions.

See salaries and explore the career path for Social Worker

Teacher

Teachers instruct students at various levels of education. While Teachers may not always work specifically on career development, this course may be useful to someone wishing to become a teacher who wants to better understand how their students think and make decisions about their educational or career goals.

See salaries and explore the career path for Teacher

Instructional Coordinator

Instructional Coordinators plan, develop, and implement instructional programs. They may work in schools or businesses. This course can be helpful for someone in this role to better understand what influences people's choices when considering educational programs.

See salaries and explore the career path for Instructional Coordinator

Professor

Professors teach and conduct research at colleges and universities. While Professors may not always work specifically on career development, understanding how students consider personal goals for career decisions can help Professors better educate them. This course may help with this.

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Business Analyst

Business Analysts work to improve business processes and systems. While they may not always work specifically on career development, having a background in what motivates or hinders people as they make career decisions may be useful for someone in this role.

See salaries and explore the career path for Business Analyst

Data Analyst

Data Analysts collect, clean, and analyze data to help businesses make informed decisions. While this work does not always involve career development, the skills learnt in this course, such as interpreting data to make decisions, may be beneficial to someone who wishes to work as a Data Analyst.

See salaries and explore the career path for Data Analyst