career decision paper

My Career Choice

choosing a career its tough business. There are so many choices, so many different aspects to consider. Money, the job setting, and how a specific job will affect family life. Growing up I thought about many different options, such as being a professional, specifically a pediatrician, becoming a track star, and owning my own restaurant show the different extremes I have thought about. For the time being though I am fairly certain on my current decision to major in law enforcement and become a police officer. In the future, I also hope to one day become a detective.

Becoming a police officer has always had an appeal to me. Ever since I was a little kid I have always been fascinated with becoming a police officer. Doing justice the right way and making sure that people obey government laws the right way is the kind of job I would like to pursue. This job is becoming a police officer. since i was 13 years old i watched my uncle working as a police officer and it would caught my attention how he loved and care for his job and think to myself “I would like to do that someday. Police and detectives enforce laws. They catch criminals. They collect evidence. At times they testify in court. Others patrol set areas to prevent crime. Some patrol and give out traffic tickets. Some police direct traffic. Most police wear uniforms. Detectives and special agents work in regular clothes. Most detectives are part of regular police forces. Special agents work for Federal and State agencies. They file reports about what they've done during the day.

Individuals are drawn to police work for many reasons. Among these often include a desire to protect the public and social order from criminals and danger; a desire to hold a position of respect and authority; a disdain for or antipathy towards criminals and rule-breakers; the professional challenges of the work; the employment benefits that are provided with civil service jobs in many countries; the sense of camaraderie that often holds among police; or a family tradition of police work or civil service. An important task of the recruitment activity of police agencies in many countries is screening potential candidates to determine the fitness of their character and personality for the work, often through background investigations and consultation with a psychologist.To fill such a position you need some good personal characteristics. It would include honesty, integrity, good judgement, patients, intelligence, good observation skills and basic good humor are essential in this occupation. A police officer also needs to be physically fit, emotionally stable and responsible, able to work with all kinds of people in a variety of situations, able to use their own initiative with minimum supervision, and should be very good at working as part of a team. Because that is exactly what the NYPD is all about. A team effort in trying to protect the people. The requirements involved in becoming part of the team can vary. If you compare what you need to become a police officer to anything else that requires an education it seems minimal. This surprised me when I first read up on it. The basic requirements include a high school diploma or a related post- secondary diploma or have no stated minimum education requirement.

proffesional associations

http://www.ipa-usa.org/index.php
 

The Association for Police Officers is an organization that promotes officer safety through superior training. It is their goal to offer Law Enforcement Officers training. they also  support and defend  the united states to promote the enforcement law and order  to create and maintain tradition of the  corps insuring fidelity to duty under all conditions and circumstances; to cultivate a spirit of fraternalism and mutual helpfulness among our members and the people we serve; to increase the efficiency of the law enforcement profession and thus more firmly to establish the confidence of the public


http://www.iupa.org/

the mission of the international union police association is to improve legislation that protect and affects public safety officers, as well as representing the need of law enforcement  officer and personnel whether that be for better equipment more staff or a fair wage.

informational interview

  http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/occupations/a/info_interviews.htmhttp://career.ucla.edu/Students

/ExploreCareers/WhatIsAnInformationalInterview.aspx

http://www.wisebread.com/the-informational-interview-what-not-to-say-and-more



questions for my informational interview would be:

 What made you decide to be a police officer?

Have you ever been in a very life treating situation? Explain.

did you always know this is what you wanted to do?

How many years have you been an officer?

what is the most gratifying thing you have ever been through as an officer?

2 chapters of our own

 Assigment about 2 chapters of our own choice read in you majored in what 


Chapters read 5&6

In chapter 5 the theme is Identifying Your Possible lives. Students who are having problems with their choice of career are because their career goals are all over the place. This is not a problem because this chapter introduces an exercise to map out and organized them to be less confusing. This map is called “The Possible Lives Map” is about how you could narrow down and put your career choices into categories. (pg 111).  Many college students who are majoring in liberal arts usually have more than one career goal. These students have trouble focusing on one career because they don’t want to limit themselves. Well this is not a problem because is always good to have more than one option, but it has to be well organized if not it will be confusing.   

Chapter 6: Even Wanderers Make Plans

Chapter 6 talks about making plans for the future. Here we are introduced to The Wise Wanderings system which has three planning strategies:

• The first one is Probability Planning (Wandering Strategy I) which means you know what you want to do.

• The second one is Possibility Planning (Wandering Strategy II) which is when you have several ideas for the future.

• And the last one is Seeking the Butterfly (Wandering Strategy III) meaning when you have no idea what you are going to do.

jobs interview

http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-questions/top-10-interview-questions-prep/article.aspx

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewsnetworking/a/interviewblund.htm


http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-questions/100-potential-interview-questions/article.aspx


Job interviewing never seems to get any easier even when you have gone on more interviews than you can count. You are meeting new people, selling yourself and your skills, and often getting the third degree about what you know or don't know
in these three websites you can see alot of questions that are asked in most of jobs interview, also it give you some example of how to answer those question and how to react and dress for an interview its really helpful because it help you in most of our doubts.

how to create a resume

Your resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview. If it does what the fantasy resume did, it works. If it doesn't, it isn't an effective resume. A resume is an advertisement, nothing more, nothing less. A great resume doesn't just tell them what you have done but makes the same assertion that all good ads do.
 snagajob.com/job-articles/how-to-create-resume.aspx     this website tell us how to create an resume and it give us an example of a person who did it so we can have an idea of what is a resume.

http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/skills/resumes/whatisaresume.html      i really like this website because it tell us what is a resume how to create one step by step and also tell us for what we need one so it was really helpful for me.

the third website give us a picture example of how some resume look like this help you visualize how your resume should look like.

 http://www.howtowritearesume.net/

self assessment

  I haven't had many jobs to say that i have a good handful of experiences but I possess many strengths and weaknesses with regard to my particular learning style. I tend to focus on my strengths while managing my weaknesses. The key to my success is that I have identified my strengths and pursued them with vigor. I believe that I am an achiever and have the willpower, perseverance, and desire to do well. I concentrate my efforts by assessing what I do well, and I do a lot of it. Practice makes perfect. Another strength I possess is listening to myself and acting on a hunch. I believe in receiving advice and input from others; however, no one knows my learning style better than I do, so I always try to listen to myself. I am also a very motivated individual who learns very quickly. I have learned to capitalize on my rapid learning skills by realizing that when I am good at something I should mold it into my everyday learning activities. My organizational skills and special attention to detail assists me in studying and learning more effectively. Finally, I always strive for excellence. My grandfather always told me “if you can’t do something right just don’t do it at all.” A sign of a good learner is someone who desires excellence and does what is necessary to achieve optimal results.


There are also many areas in my learning style that I can improve upon. Sometimes, if I do not feel that I am grasping something, I get frustrated, and tend to skip over that particular area. It may be that I try to capitalize and focus too much on what I do well that I give up on issues that do not come to me as easily. I also feel that my close attention to detail can lead to an obsessive type of learning style that can “muddy” the water at times. I begin to get minimal results despite my intense focus. There is also the issue of overconfidence. At times, I often think I have mastered a skill, and I get a little sloppy and lose focus. When learning new things, I consciously think through the steps of the process. However, I continuously, almost obsessively, think about the steps instead of mastering the skill quickly. I dwell on the smaller things instead of focusing on the bigger picture. Sometimes, learning drains all of my energy, thus making it more difficult for me to actively engage in additional learning right away. Finally, I feel that I need to become a little more of a mixture between an introvert and an extrovert. By being shy, I do not get to know other individual’s personalities, styles, habits, etc. Interacting on a more personal level with individuals will help my learning style, especially in group settings.

response to chapter 3 and 4

hapter 3 Mental Wanderings: Your Mind Can Take You Anywhere or Nowhere


1.  The idea of “shaping your right mind” is key to Brooks’ ideas about major and career exploration.  She emphasizes recognizing challenges and turning them into opportunities, and includes the following quote: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” (Wayne Dyer). I really loved this quote because i think is true everything in our life happen in the way we want them to happen because if we see things positive we will get positive result so is the way we look a it .


Chapter 4 – Wandering Beyond Majors and Minors:

the author explained that Once we’ve made a decision to move forward with a particular major, students must learn to embrace their choice and be able to articulate how it will contribute to their future success. in this chapter i learned how  to approach a difficult course, or how to get to know my professor a little more. for example im not that good in power and politic i find that class bored but after i have read chapter 4 i feel more confident because i know how to approach in this class.

cover letter

                                                       
                                                               cover letter 

A cover letter is a letter that you send to accompany your resume when you apply for job, whether advertised or when you are sending an unsolicited application. Do not over look this tool as it can be a great asset in your job hunt. this leter provides information on your skills and experiences, the purposes of this letter is to  tell the employer what type of position you seek, or which specific job you're applying for.      



http://www.freeresumehelp.net/what_is_a_cover_letter.html
 

This website explain what is a cover letter and what is the purpose to create one 



myfuture.com/careers/articles-advice/creating-your-cover-letter?



Another good website that help us create an excellent cover letter is the one in the top it explain step by step what we should include in our letter.





My third website give you an example of how to create a cover letter if you major in criminal justice

jobsearchhelpnow.info/cover_letter_police_officer.html

portable skils

www.academia21.com/blog/2010/11/23/importance-portable-skills-vocational-training/

http://nolbal.hubpages.com/hub/Portable-Skills


portable skill can be difened as those skills hat you can keep or still use when you move from one job or situation to another,Being able to apply yourself to many facets of a job will give you a competitive edge that an employer will find highly desirable and during a job interview will give you the necessary advantage over other candidates. it is very important to transfer your skills and become useful in different areas of your workplace you will contin to find your job challenging and rewarding. By remaining interested in your job you will find it easier to apply yourself and you will also discover that with additional skills there is more prospects of advancing within the company.

you majored in what

"you majored in what by katherine brooks " is a book that help us understand that we might have many questions when its come to talk about our careers but we most not feel alone or lost because there alot  of guide and  things we can do to  get back in our track. with the author Wise Wanderings career coaching system helps you mine your academic and life experiences for career gold through creative yet practical techniques including visual mapping, storytelling, and experimenting. Thanks to the Wise Wanderings system, you can forget what you've been told about the job search. You don't have to know where you'll be in ten years. You don't have to have picked the perfect major. The job-finding process doesn't have to be one more burden on your already overburdened schedule. All you have to do is pay attention. Embrace the chaos. Think. Create maps. Construct small experiments. Celebrate your education. Consider possible lives. Tell stories. And start wandering. Wisely, of course. You'll be amazed at what's waiting out there for you.


 One part of the essay that really caught my attention was the part when  the author said " right now you're probably thinking that persuing an education that directly relates to a career, and vice versa,  seems so stable and easy. wouldn't it make more sense to follow a more direct path ? " when i read this i feel very familiar because that is the way i was thinking before i read the book  for me it was more reasonable to think that if i wanna become a cop i should study criminal justice because they are related but now that i read the book i see that linear thinking  can keep us from thinking broadly about our opinions and being open minded to new opportunities.

Another part that i really liked was when she said "you might assume that the job search is a linear logical process  you set a specific career goal follow clearly outlined steps and arrive at the perfect job" i really thought this way lol but after i read the experience a students had i realize that with the time we change our mind because there are some experience in our daytime life that really help us understand what we want to do how, where and why also i learned  that there is not a linear logical process to get a job sometimes life just surprised us with greats opporunities so we dosnt have to follow any steps.

introduction to myself

HI my name is elizabeth abreu,im from dominican republic, my major is criminal justice because im interesting in law enforcement, right now im not working but i want to become a cop. After i graduate from la guardia im going to tranfer to john jay to get my bachelor degree.this semester is very different and harder then the others because  i just had a baby and  my life have change alot now i cant dedicate my whole time to study because i have a family and that take a lot of time, but im willing to learn alot in this class especially i want to improve my skill in how to prepare myself for new opportunity in networking.

i find this class interesting because it really helps me understand that sometime we feel lost when it come to talk about our career,we learn from other people experiences that not everyone is sure of what they really want to do in their future so is really help me  also we have the chance to learn how to be prepare for new jobs and opportunitty. my goals is to pass this class and make it helpful and interesting everyday