Career Research Paper
Step 1:
Choose the career path that interests you and include any important/necessary and relevant
information:
a. include official title,
b. what skills/knowledge is required,
c. what are the duties and expectations for such a position
d. what is the pay scale for this career path?
e. What benefits/perks does it generally offer? You can consider paid medical leave,
health benefits, dental, paid vacations, bonuses etc.
f. Does it matter which state you work in, or size of organization?
g. Compare and contrast why/why not this might be a good career choice
Example: Restaurant Operations area – managing a restaurant is not easy, but can be exciting
and rewarding. According to the NRA(National Restaurant Association) at
https://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/Research/Operations-Report , a General Manager at
a restaurant (full service) is involved in all aspects of hiring, managing staff, firing and managing
the day to day operations of his/her restaurant. Average salary in Orlando, FL, is around
$50,000/yr and benefits such as health package, vacation, and family leave vary widely
depending on size of restaurant and ownership type (chain, franchise, independent).
To make your job easier and to give greater meaning to the information you find, be specific and
narrow in your research, and try not to include too much information that is not relevant to your
paper.
Step 2:
Include what is the current labor market for this job:
a. give some detailed labor statistics in terms of employability
b. how much demand is there for this job?
c. what is the turn-over rate (do people stay in this job for very long?)
Some things to consider – what is the upward mobility of this career:
a. how easy/difficult is it to move up this career ladder?
b. how long on average do people work in an entry level position before being
promoted etc?)
Would you recommend pursuing this career – why or why not? It’s OK to be excited/passionate
or to say “no way!”, just be sure to give your reasoning as to why you’d find this attractive, or
not!
Step 3:
• Double space
• 700 – 1000 words
• APA formatting, proper citation
Suggested websites:
US Labor Department
http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag70.htm
https://www.doleta.gov/brg/indprof/hospitality_profile.cfm
World Travel and Tourism Council:
http://www.wttc.org/research/economic-research/economic-impact-analysis/
National Restaurant Association:
https://www.restaurant.org/Home