Career Planning

Title	Career Planning
Overview	An in-class exercise for students to think about the role of open source projects in their career planning.
Prerequisites	Sophomore standing and a declared major or minor in computer science.
Learning Objectives	After successfully completing this activity, the learner should be able to: Students will think about where they are in their learning and project where they can be by graduation.
Process Skills Practiced	What process skills will the student practice while completing this activity?

Background

Many students do not stop to think about how they will get a job after graduation. They simply expect that having a degree in computer science will result in job offers. The goal of this exercise is to get students thinking about their future and the types of activities they can do as an undergraduate to make their resume and job application stand out.

Directions

1. (10 minutes) As a “Think, Pair, Share” exercise (see http://www.readingquest.org/strat/tps.html):
   • Describe the ideal candidate for an entry-level programming position.
   • What would the resume of such a candidate look like?
2. (10 minutes) Questions for class discussion:
   • What technologies would you list on your resume? What information do you intend to convey with this list? What can an employer conclude from such a list?
   • If thousands of students graduate each year with a degree in computer science, how can an employer differentiate between applicants?
   • Is it the responsibility of the school to prepare you for your career? What is your responsibility?
3. (5 minutes) Mini-lecture on open source projects
   • What it means to be open
   • Common technologies used (version control, etc.)
   • Online presence
4. (10 minutes) Class discussion:
   • How can participation in an open source project help differentiate you in a job candidate pool?
     • Real-world experience with the software development process
     • Experience using common tools
     • Experience with a large code base
     • Record of contrubutions

Deliverables:

None

Assessment:

How will the activity be graded?

How will learning will be measured?

Include sample assessment questions/rubrics.

Criteria	Level 1 (fail)	Level 2 (pass)	Level 3 (good)	Level 4 (exceptional)
The purpose of the project
Why the project is open source

Comments:

• What should the instructor know before using this activity?
• What are some likely difficulties that an instructor may encounter using this activity?

Suggestions for Open Source Community:

Suggestions for an open source community member who is working in conjunction with the instructor.