Replicate the Assignment in Your Classroom
Amber Hoye
Below you’ll find the instructions for this project if you’d like to replicate the activity with your world language students. If you’re interested in having students publish their contributions in this book, please kindly send me an email at amberhoye@boisestate.edu.
Careers for Language Majors Project
In this assignment, you’ll explore potential careers for language majors and dive into researching a career of personal interest. Taking what you learn from the first part of the project, you’ll create an entry in an openly licensed book titled “Exploring Careers for Language Majors,” which will be available for all language majors to access and will grow with time.
Part One:
Students in WORLD 300 typically fall into two categories:
- Students who know what career field they want to pursue.
- Students who may have some ideas but are unsure (or perhaps not yet aware of their options).
Even if you know what field you’d like to pursue, you might still be interested in learning about other opportunities! In order to fit this assignment with everyone’s interests, you will have two options to select from: an informational interview or career exploration.
Option 1: Informational Interview
Review the “Information-Interview Handout from the Boise State Career Center.”
Using your own contacts, LinkedIN, and the other tools suggested in the handout, decide who you would like to interview. This person should ideally be a language major or possess second language proficiency.
Reach out to the interviewee to schedule an informational interview. Don’t wait until the last minute to schedule this! This may be completed in person, over the phone or via a tool like Zoom. You should plan to record the interview for your note-taking purposes, please make sure that you ask for permission and let them know that while the recording won’t be shared, you may use some quotes from the interview.
Now that your interview is scheduled, complete a list of questions that you’d like to ask. You are welcome to use the questions provided on the handout, but please make sure you are making an effort to personalize your questions. You should also plan to ask the following questions:
- How is proficiency in another language useful or important in this field?
- How is the ability to communicate and work with people from different cultural backgrounds useful or important in this field?
- How have your language and cultural skills supported and/or enhanced your opportunities in this field?
- What are some other skills that are important for success in this field?
- What did you do to prepare for this field? (For example: If you attended college, what did you study, apprenticeships, internships, work experience, etc.)
- (Optional) What languages do you speak?
- Did you have the opportunity to study abroad or spend time in a language-speaking country?
After completing the interview, be sure to send a thank you email or card to the interviewee for their time.
Now you will use the information that you learned to complete the template below:
Informational Interview Pressbooks Template
Option 2: Career Exploration
Focusing on the career databases, review the following career planning websites. Many were found on the Boise State Career Center website- “Career and Major Decision Making”
- What Can I Do With This Major? If you have a major or know an academic subject you’re interested in but aren’t sure what type of career you might pursue with that degree, this resource is a great starting point. This tool should help to brainstorm industries you could work in, types of work you could do, and types of employers you could work for. At the bottom of the page, there is also a list of helpful resources. Take note of the interesting careers that you find.
- Visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook. Explore the following sections and take note of the interesting careers that you find:
- Highest Paying
- Fastest Growing (Projected)
- Most New Jobs (Projected)
- Field of Degree
Next— What companies do you admire? Head over to their careers page and see what positions they have available. For a list of great companies to work for, check out this list by Glass Door. Take note of the interesting careers that you find.
Lastly- Explore the featured profiles from the Language Connects Foundation and their career information page. Take note of the interesting careers that you find.
Once you begin to find positions that you are interested in, look for similar job postings on Indeed.com or another job site like Glassdoor or LinkedIn. Complete the following template on a Google Doc for at least 3 positions, though you are encouraged to do more if time permits. You will share the document with your course instructor.
Name of Position:
Company:
Link:
Minimum Qualifications (feel free to copy/paste):
Preferred Qualifications (feel free to copy/paste):
- What might be helpful to prepare for this field? Anything interesting to share about the position?
- How is proficiency in another language useful or important in this position?
- How is the ability to communicate and work with people from different cultural backgrounds useful or important in this position?
- What are some other skills that are important for success in this field? Where possible, try to highlight the skills listed on page six of the 2021 Association of American Colleges and Universities Report, How College Contributes to Workforce Success.
Select one of the positions that you will polish and research some additional details about to complete the following template:
Career Exploration Pressbooks Template
Part Two:
After updating your draft based on the feedback received from your instructor, you will now add the entry to “Exploring Careers for Language Majors.”
A Few Important Items:
- Please review this page on Student Creator Rights. While you are including your work in an openly licensed book, you still maintain the copyright! Please chat with your course instructor if you have any questions or concerns.
- If for some reason you prefer not to have your name listed, you can also use a pseudonym instead. This will have no effect on your grade for the assignment.
In addition to providing you with the instructions below, we will also do a short demo in class together.
- Create a Pressbooks account by going to boisestate.pressbooks.pub and click Sign in. Once you have done so, please send your instructor an email and they will add you to the book.
- Open the book: https://boisestate.pressbooks.pub/careersforlanguagemajors and click on the Admin button at the top of the screen.
- Click on the organize button on the left hand side of the screen.
- A template has been created for you to follow. Please click on the link that corresponds to your selected project (information interview or career exploration) and then copy the text. Please DO NOT write directly in this template.
- Click on the organize button once more.
- Click on the add chapter button next to Careers for Language Majors:
- Title your chapter the name of your profession.
- Use the box below the title to paste the template and input your work. Please be sure to follow the formatting setup for you by the template and remove any instructors or placeholder text.
- For any photos that you add, please be sure to include alt text. You can add this to the image when you upload the photo by adding it to the box on the right side of the screen.
- To finish, please complete the following:
- Send your instructor your First and Last Name, a photo, and 2-3 sentences about yourself for the Biographical Info box. Please include what you are studying and the languages you speak/study. You can also (optionally_ include a link to your LinkedIn profile.
- Complete the OER permission form (Sample form included here for instructors)
Project Rubric
| Criteria | Excellent (40) | Good (32) | Satisfactory (24) | Needs Improvement (16) | Inadequate (0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part One: Informational Interview Option | |||||
| Interview Preparation | Student demonstrates thorough research and preparation for the informational interview, creating a comprehensive list of personalized questions. | Student adequately prepares for the interview, creating a list of questions with some personalization. | Student prepares for the interview but lacks depth in question personalization. | Limited effort in preparing for the interview, generic questions. | Minimal or no preparation. |
| Completion of Template | The template is filled out thoroughly and demonstrates a deep understanding of the interviewee's insights. Information is well-organized and insightful. | The template is completed with a good level of detail and organization. Some insights from the interview are present. | The template is filled out, but with limited detail or organization. Insights from the interview are basic. | The template is incomplete or lacking in detail. Insights from the interview are minimal. | The template is not completed. |
| Part One: Career Exploration Option | |||||
| Career Research | Student thoroughly explores career planning websites, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, and company careers pages, providing detailed information for at least 3 positions. | Student adequately explores career planning resources, providing sufficient information for 3 positions. | Student explores career options but may lack depth or detail for some positions. | Limited exploration of career options, with insufficient information for most positions. | Inadequate research and exploration of career options. |
| Template Completion | The template for at least 3 positions is filled out comprehensively, covering all required aspects with insightful analysis. | The template for 3 positions is completed well, providing relevant information and analysis. | The template for 3 positions is filled out with some information but may lack depth or analysis. | The template is partially completed, lacking information or analysis for most positions. | The template is not completed. |
| Additional Details Research | Student selects one position for further research, providing additional details beyond the basic template requirements. | Student selects one position for further research, providing some additional details. | Student attempts to research additional details for one position but may lack depth or relevance. | Limited effort in researching additional details for one position. | No additional details are researched. |
| Part Two: Entry in "Exploring Careers for Language Majors" | |||||
| Draft Update | The student incorporates feedback effectively, refining the draft for submission in the career exploration book. | The student makes appropriate updates to the draft based on received feedback. | The student makes some updates to the draft but may miss some key points from feedback. | Limited effort in updating the draft based on feedback. | The draft is not updated. |
| Pressbooks Entry | The student successfully creates a Pressbooks account, adds the chapter, and follows all instructions for entry into the "Exploring Careers for Language Majors" book. | The student creates a Pressbooks account, adds the chapter, and follows most instructions for entry. | The student encounters some challenges with Pressbooks and does not reach out the course instructor for assistance. | Entry partially entered into book, but incompelete. | The entry is not completed in Pressbooks. |
| Professionalism | The assignment demonstrates a high level of professionalism in communication, organization, and adherence to guidelines. | The assignment is presented professionally but may have some minor issues in communication or organization. | The assignment is mostly professional but may have notable issues in communication, organization, or adherence to guidelines. | The assignment lacks professionalism in communication, organization, or adherence to guidelines. | The assignment is unprofessional in various aspects. |
| Total Points | /200 | /160 | /120 | /80 | /0 |
About the author
I presently serve as the Director of the World Languages Resource Center at Boise State University, where I support faculty implementing educational technologies and practices, including open educational resources (OER). In this role, I supervise a team of 20-30 students each semester who engage in open pedagogy to publish OER and teach a required course for language majors to prepare them for life after graduation, whether that be graduate school or the workforce, including the creation of an ePortfolio.
My current projects include co-directing the design and publication of OER French curriculum, supporting open education efforts at Boise State and supervising the creation of ancillary language teaching materials for the Pathways Project.
