E. Hamilton, Career Plan, p.

Career-Related Strategic Plan

by

Emerald Hamilton
Psychology Department
Mansfield University

for

Psy 3353, Career Planning

Professor Karen Crisp
November 18, 2020
 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 2

E. Hamilton Career Plan, p. 2

I am twenty-years-old, I grew up in Liverpool, New York, but was born in York, Pennsylvania. I
was born as a female and identify as such. I come from a relatively stable family. I am the oldest
of four siblings. I am part of an upper middle-class family. We do not have any direct lines to the
community. However, I grew up, mostly, without extended family around so I created my own
family like network, by volunteering and being present in my elementary school building
throughout middle and high school. I am currently attending college at Mansfield University. I
have created ties to my current campus community as President of Delta Zeta Sorority, Iota
Theta Chapter.
When I was young it was just my mom and myself. We struggled immensely though she
never let me see it. I remember one Christmas all I asked for was a teddy bear and the Kim
possible movie and when I came downstairs there were dozens of presents. That Christmas has
stuck with me for so many years. My Biological father split not to long after that Christmas and
It became just mom and me. When I was around four, I met my adoptive father who treated me
like one of his own. He has made sure throughout my entire life I have never wanted for
anything. I was also blessed to have three younger siblings who have been the light of my life
since each of them were born. They are now thirteen, ten, and almost eight. They taught me a lot
about being an adult, but they have also taught me a lot about being a kid.

Values and beliefs that motivate or inspire your life

Honesty- I believe to be able to speak the truth makes you a much more trustworthy
person. To be able to speak/write/pass along the truth.
Patients- I believe people who express patients are the same people who get the most out
of their life. People experience things differently be willing to allow people room to try without
fear of failure.
Peace- I believe through peace we can grow as people to understand others and heal in
our own time. Though difficult trying to understand someone to maintain peace.
Compassion- I believe through compassion we can grow as people, but also grow into a
more of a caring community. Be understanding and caring toward others.
Hardworking- I believe the hardworking individuals may not lead the most glamorous
lives, but they tend to lead the happiest lives. Hardworking individuals are people that go above
and beyond when working not just doing the bare minimum.

Values and beliefs to your interest in and motivation to study psychology

Compassion- It is important to be compassionate when meeting with clients or
performing research it allows you to better understand the other person and form better
connections with them. I know I want to work as a counselor, so this is very important to me.
Understanding- It is very important to be able to try and relate to another person in the
psychology field whether or not you agree with them. I think being an understanding person
allows a person you are counseling to open up more which is important to me because I want to
be the best counselor I can be.
Communication- Whether verbally or written it is important for a psychologist to be able
to express themselves clearly and at varying levels of complexity in order to work with both
children and adults is very important.
 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 3

Patients- Not every person you work with and not every person will be extremely
forthcoming with information. Also, those you work with may also be difficult to work with and
patience will aid you greatly in getting work done. Being patient just generally tends to make
you more approachable and that is very important to a client.
Consideration- I think it is very important to be considerate of others You never know
who you will deal with on a daily basis so if you are considerate of the experiences of those
around you, they may trust you more than someone who doesn’t care. Being considerate allows
you to interact with more people from different backgrounds which I find not only interesting,
but a huge bonus when counseling others.

Character- I think I really developed my character through growth my parents constantly

pushing me to be the very best I could be in everything I did. They taught me that honesty and
compassion towards others is a very important part of our life. We were always getting involved
and helping our community as a family.
Scholarship- My father especially was very determined to instill a strong work ethic in
his kids and I think how did just that with me. I am incredibly hardworking, and school comes
first in everything I do.
Culture- I have always been very interested in my own culture as well as the culture of
others. I studied history throughout high school and took numerous classes that allowed me to
learn about cultures all over the world. I also help plan and run an annual multicultural fest at my
high school my sophomore year through my senior year and now am proud to say that festival
continues on and has continued to grow every year incorporating performances food and lessons
on cultural practices.
Service- Patients, understand, peace all things that are very important to the service of
others. I love to help my community and make a bigger impact on the world. As a freshman I
joined Delta Zeta Sorority and have been blessed to be part of our numerous philanthropy events
that benefit the Starkey hearing foundation as well as serve my sisters as chapter president,
recruitment chair and Vice president of programs.
I am a junior in psychology with a concentration in counseling. I am president of my sorority and
also the co-vice president of membership. I enjoy the philanthropy, networking, leadership
opportunities and chances to travel. Each day revolves around classes, homework, and sorority
activities.
Vision for the Future
My vision for the future is to become a school counselor. In the next 10 years I want to work in a
school district that is supportive and understanding, more of a family environment than that of
coworkers. I also hope to be involved in my community perhaps volunteering with youth in
outreach programs. I also visualize myself as still being involved in my sorority most likely
through an advisory position. At that point I would hope to be married and possibly have at least
one child.
Traits I Possess
 Organized, I love to color code things and organize paperwork into folders and binders in
order to great the easiest understanding of a lot of papers and for general information that
should be kept.
 Self-motivated, I am able to start projects quickly and on my own without being told to
do so. I am very good at motivating myself to do things with little to no direction from a
boss.
 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 4

 Strong communication skills, I am able to communicate with others effectively through

email, phone calls, and verbal communication. I also am able to understand social media
and popular slang which can be very beneficial in this new media age.
 Leader, I am a natural born leader I am not afraid to take charge in a situation. I have had
plenty of experience being a leader as I am currently president of Delta Zeta Sorority.
 Fast learner, I learn things especially fast, I am able to pick up on new ideas and concepts
and I am able to teach them fairly quickly after I learn them.
Traits to work on
 Delegating, I like to know things are being done and being done right so I tend to do
everything myself and not ask others to do things even small things. By developing this I
can take a lot of my own plate and decrease the amount of pressure I face with everything
being done by me, share the workload and the pressure.

 Procrastination, I often get overwhelmed by how many things I need to do that I push
them all off to the very last minute. This does nothing to help my stress in fact it normally
just makes it worse, but I continue to do it in the hope that it will benefit me. If I move
away from this, I will be much less stressed and more likely to be able to create higher
quality work because I am not pressed for time.

 Perfectionist, I like when things are perfect. I like assignments to be perfect and myself to
be perfect. By working on this I feel like I can grow more as a person because feedback
would be back at my actual ability, also in general I feel like I would be a lot happier with
myself and the person I am if I was less focused on everything being perfect all the time.

 Balancing work and free time, I do not balance my time well at all and I tend to be all
work until I literally can’t do it anymore and have to take time off. I feel like if I focused
on balancing by time between the fun stuff and work, I would be much more likely to feel
like I was living a balanced life instead of one entirely devoted to work.

 Positivity, I don’t try and be a negative person, but when things get hard, I tend to jump
head first into a pool of negativity and that does nothing for those around me. I want to be
a more positive person in regard to myself and my work. I do however know that it will
take a lot of time and dedication to actually become a more positive person.

Opportunities
 I was able to shadow an elementary school counselor a few months back and learn what
her day-to-day was like working with different students from groups to individual
sessions. It really helped me see what the job could entail on any given day
 Connections in my school district, I am lucky to have a lot of connections at the
elementary middle and high school levels of my local schools which gives me really good
references which is helpful considering I want to work in a school district.
 I will be knowledgeable in most forms of communication and social media. Considering I
will be fresh out of school I will still have knowledge on what is considered cool by the
younger generations and that can help me connect with them more then someone in their
40s or 50s.
 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 5

 Having the opportunity to put myself in any field I choose, because I will have just gotten
out of school, I have a multitude of tracks I can follow doing any number of things that
will lead to me finding a long-term career that I generally enjoy.
 Being around kids most of my life I have a lot of experience with them which is
beneficial considering I know I want to work with children in some capacity.

Barriers
 There are a lot of psych majors and aa lot of people gradationing with psych degrees.
Luckily, I have a unique set of skills and experiences that make me more likely for me to
stand out and be hired.
 I am a female in a female dominated profession. A vast majority of psychologist and
counselors are female and that makes me blend in a bit more. However, I may be a
woman, but I am also part of the LGBTQ+ community which makes me stand out a bit
more than others.
 I will not have a master’s degree, when I graduate, I will only have a bachelor’s degree
which decreases the amount of jobs I can have and that will make it more difficult to find
a job which is extremely difficult.
 Technology changes very quickly and it will be harder for me to keep up even if I am not
part of a community that is actively using the changing media it will be easy for me to
fall behind the times.
 Though I have grown up around kids my work experience does not reflect that I have
experience working with kids and that can sadly be a negative to employers.

Goals

Goals for the next 6-12 months and/or prior to M.U. graduation:

 Raise my GPA to a 3.0 by the end of the semester

 Take my GRE’s by May 2020

 Do a major research project

Goals for 1 to 5 years after M.U. graduation:

 Be accepted into a graduate program by 2022

 Find a job in my field by 2021

 Get my master’s degree in school counseling by 2023

Goals for 6-10 years after M.U. graduation:

 Get accepted to a doctoral program by 2024

 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 6

 Get my Doctorate in counseling by 2030

 Have a stable job as a counselor

Strategic Plans for the Future

Strategic Plan 1.

Goal: Raise my GPA to a 3.0 by the end of the semester.

Objectives and steps within this goal:

A. Take courses that I feel are interesting and have a course load I can handle (completed
within 6 months).

Step 1. Look through courses that are available in the spring semester

Step 2. Meet with my advisor to begin to lay out a course plan that is manageable
for me. (Next two weeks)

Step 3. Finalize my course plan and have it ready in my web advisor

Step 4. Register for classes as early as possible to insure I get the classes I want
(next 3 weeks)

B. Create a better environment to work in. (next 4 months)

Step 1. Clean my space an organize it for functionality ( completed by the end of

2 weeks)

Step 2. Decrease distractions in my environment, by making sure T.V.’s is off,

and my phone is away when doing homework( next month)

Step 3. Create a routine centered around school work, giving myself time to work,
relax and try new things (will probably take two months to solidify)

C. Stop procrastination assignments (next 6 months)

Step 1. Keep a detailed planner of what assignments are and when they are do.
(start immediately)
 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 7

Step 2. Do small assignments the night they are assigned, and begin larger
assignments at least two weeks before they are due (next 2 months)

Step 3. Talk with professors when workloads are overwhelming and create a plan
to tackle the work in a timely manner. ( Next 6 months)

Strategic Plan 2.

Goal: Be accepted into a master’s program and receive my Master’s in School counseling

Objectives and steps within this goal:

A. Decide on master’s programs I am interested in applying to.

Step 1. Research programs that are accredited and are relatively small schools,
either online or in person programs . (Next 4 months)

Step 2. Decide which programs seem the most beneficial whether that be an
online program that is more flexible or an in-person program that allows
for more hands-on practice. (Next 6 months)

Step 3. Get in contact with the schools that have my interest the most and find out
more about their programs and what perks their program has over others.
(Next 6 months)

Step 4. Visit the schools I am most interested in if they are in person programs
and get a feel for the campus. (1 year)

Step 5. Evaluate my financial position and look at what is most realistic for me to
handle, and what programs fall into that capability. (1 year)

B. Create a well-rounded and substantial resume.

Step 1. Complete an internship (1 year from now)

Step1a. meet with my advisor Professor Crisp to determine when I should do my

internship. (next 2 week)

Step 1b. Apply for internship with the Psych department (next 4 months)

Step 1c Find an internship that allows me to apply my undergraduate counseling

education (next 4 months)
 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 8

Step 1d. Interview with a few different internships (next 5 months)

Steph 1e. get approved by the deans (next 5 months)

Step 1f. Decide on an internship. (By April 2020)

Step 1g. Complete my internship. (By august 2020)

Step 2. Take the GRE’s and get a high score (By May 2020)

C. Submit the strongest possible application by May 2021

Step 1. Decide what semester I would like to begin my master’s program (1 year)

Step 2. Have mt application proofread if possible (Next year)

Step 3. Ensure all parts of the application are completed and reflects my strengths
(within the next year)

Step 4. Submit my application (within the next 18 months)

Strategic Plan 2.

Goal: Have a stable job as a School counselor.

Objectives and steps within this goal:

A. Complete my master’s in School Counseling

Step 1. Be accepted into the program( Next 3 years)

Step 2. Complete the mandatory requirements to finish my degree by 2023

Step 3. Graduate! (next 5 years)

B. Apply to jobs that are Elementary, middle or high school counseling positions, by
2025

Step 1. Decide on the area in which I want to live in. (by 2021)

Step 2.Get certified in that state by taking their certification exams. (by 2025)

Step 3. Find jobs in the areas I want to live in and apply to them with a strong
resume. (work on now and continue to grow)

C. Secure a job
 Mansfield University, PSY 3353, Career Planning, Career-Related Strategic Plan, p. 9

Step 1. Prepare a paper copy of my resume including my internships and job

experience (Ongoing process.

Step 2. Interview with the appropriate individuals (by 2026)

Step 3. Send a thank you card for the interview and call to thank for the interview.
(The week following the interview)

Step 4. Receive jobs offer and accept. (by 2026)

Career Plan Summary

I have always dreamed of being a school counselor. I have always dreamed of helping young
kids overcome situations in their lives that are challenging. I want to give back to my community
and those around me I have always felt better a like I was making a difference. I have been able
to do this in college through Philanthropy in my sorority. Through graduating with my B.S. in
Psychology with concentration in counseling I will be able to movement to a master’s program
in school counseling and achieve my dream. My plan is to finish my bachelor’s degree by 2021
and get my master’s by 2025. I have been able to address exactly what my dream jobs are and
how to get to those jobs. These exercises have allowed me to look more thoroughly at what I
want out of the rest of my undergraduate’s degree and what I want for the future. I have analyzed
the fact that I want to go to grad school, at an accredited school, to get my masters and then
move into a job as a school counselor. Going forward I hope to increase my GPA and score well
on my GRE’s and get into an accredited program. I have learned so much about counseling and
who I am as a person I have grown and learned a lot on how I can move forward in my education
I am looking forward to representing Mansfield in my community for years to go.