Career Planning - Essay Example

? Career Planning Career Planning Career planning and management is deemed as the pathing, planning and development of one’s work schedules and activities in relation to the individual’s abilities, skills, competencies and interests in both the short-term and long-term periods. Individuals have diverse interests and goals in terms of career paths. For the purpose of this activity, one aims present an analysis of one’s long-term career development and to explain the major components of a resume, of which one’s own resume is attached as Appendix A. The discourse would hereby address the following concerns, to wit: (1) to present a brief analysis of one’s long-term career plan; (2) to list and describe the six major components of a resume; and (3) to determine what three categories of questions may be asked during a job interview. Brief Analysis of Long-Term Career Plan One’s career goal is to own a little cafe or restaurant that serves healthy food as opposed to greasy fried fast food, generally offered in most proprietary restaurants today. The wealth of experience and academic background in the field of professional cooking and kitchen management has provided the solid foundation to pursue a life-long career as the owner and executive chef of one’s own diner. The genuine interest in this endeavor has been innately ingrained and for more than 20 years, working in the capacities of executive chef and general manager, one’s knowledge, skills and abilities have been extensively honed for this career. As one still currently committed as a General Manager and Executive Chef of Coho Vineyard & Winery, at Boston, Massachusetts, the perceived long-term plan is proposed to be enforced with the following details as hereby envisioned for the cafe cum restaurant in general overview: Proposed Name: Product Specialties to be Offered: Target Location: Target Market: Projected Number of Personnel: Estimated Start-Up Cost: Estimated Time Frame for Completion And Operation: Projected Monthly Revenue: Projected Monthly Income: The proposed career plan is expected to provide a significant amount of monthly income that would sustain and support the operations of the restaurant for the next five to ten years. Any changes in demand or preferences relayed by customers would be incorporated in the products being offered and adapted to their needs for the longer term status. Six Major Components of a Resume The six major components of a resume are heading, objective, education, work experience, skills/qualifications, and activities/organizations/honors. As shown in Appendix A, the heading provided the most relevant and crucial information containing the name and contact information. The objective provides the information that one can offer to employers in the capacity and expertise assumed. The educational background contains the name of the university, the degree and relevant details of academic performance. Work experience would incorporate all pertinent information relating to present and past employment including the names and locations of employers. Aside from details of employers, the professional experience should indicate duties and responsibilities, as well as significant accomplishments and contributions to the organizations. The skills and qualifications portion should identify distinctive skills and areas of expertise that would make one stand out from the rest. And finally, the activities, honors and organizations would specify any hobbies and special interests that put to effective use the skills and abilities gained through academic and professional experiences. From one’s resume, presented as Appendix A, all the crucial elements have been incorporated. The details and information for activities, honors and organizations are already integrated in the areas of expertise portion, as well as in the education and qualifications portion. Three Categories of Questions The three categories of questions that could be asked during a job interview are as follows: open questions, closed questions and leading questions. For closed-ended questions, the interviewer expects brief and concise answers such as confirming (yes), declining (no) or details contained in the resume: what year did you graduate from the School of Fine Art at Innsbrook, Austria? What other schools did you attend prior to this? Under whose tutelage do you account your expertise as effectively gained from? On the other hand, open-ended questions would require more extensive answers. Examples of open questions are: describe your academic background. Tell me more about your job at Coho Vineyard & Winery. Why did you choose to become an executive chef? Finally, leading questions could be asked to pry more on some details that apparently seem concealed from the perspective of the interviewer. Especially when the interview knows some controversial details about the employer or the organization and wants to get the information first hand from the interviewee, the job seeker must them exercise discretion in revealing confidential information that could backfire and reveal some negative aspects of one’s personality. Appendix A: Resume of Jennifer Lowell Jennifer Lowell Your address Phone number Email EXECUTIVE CHEF Specializing in Healthy Dining Cuisine Dynamic, Results-Oriented, and Team-Spirited Objective To continue exemplifying expertise from more than fifteen years of professional cooking and kitchen management experience in the capacity of an Executive Chef. Manifest leadership qualities and professionalism, backed by a consistent, verifiable record of achievement. Areas of Expertise Master Chef designation ExecutiveChef experience with million-dollar, upscale establishments Trained by Ivo Haemels, Houman Pournasseh, Francois Ajenstat, and Sidney Higa Training and development specialist; teaching instructor Successful catering experience (1,200+ people) Maximizing kitchen productivity and staff performance Professional Experience Coho Vineyard & Winery, Boston, MA, 5*/5* 1993 - Present GM / EXECUTIVE SOUS-CHEF Executive -Chef for restaurant serving healthy cuisine, producing $1 million in revenues. Hire, train, and direct six cooks/chefs. Plan menu, assure quality control, and minimize waste. Alpine Ski House, Vienna, Austria, 5*/5* 1990 - 1993 GM / EXECUTIVE CHEF Supervised 2 cooks/chefs. Managed back house operations. Performed purchasing function for this $1 million establishment specializing in healthy cuisine. Fourth Coffee, Transkai, South Africa 5*/5* 1989 - 1990 CHEF - FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY Managed 10 people and oversaw production of high-volume establishment for this $ 1 million restaurant specializing in healthy cuisine. Education & Qualifications School of Fine Art., Innsbrook, Austria Graduate: CERTIFIED MASTER CHEF Silver Medalist: International Cooking Olympics, Germany, 1983 Guest Chef: Cuisine de Chefs, Contoso, Ltd. Instructor: Culinary Arts to Aspiring Executive Chefs Guest Appearance: Kevin’s Kitchen Read More