Temple, Career Plan, 1

Career-Related Strategic Plan

by

McKenzie Temple
Psychology Department
Mansfield University

for

Psy 3353, Career Planning

Professor Karen Crisp
November 18, 2021
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Core Values and Beliefs

My identity and background

My name is McKenzie Temple and I am a twenty-year-old American woman. I come
from a middle-class family. My mother grew up in Florida and moved to Pennsylvania when she
was a teenager and my father's family is from Pennsylvania. I grew up in a small town and
graduated high school in a small class where I knew all my classmate's names. While a small
school had its advantages, it wasn’t always the most open-minded or accepting environment. As
a gay woman I have encountered my fair share of people who have a negative opinion about the
way I live my life. Although it’s easier to handle as an adult, it was hard being a young teenager,
figuring out my sexuality in a place I felt judged. My family has a history of poor mental health
on both sides and I am no acceptation to this. As a teenager I struggled a lot with depression and
not feeling “okay” a lot of the time. I remember feeling like my life was mundane and sad and
that it would never be any different than that. Knowing now how much I have grown since them
makes me want to help people in any way that I can. I believe that these and many other factors
of my life growing up have shaped me into an honest person who wants the best for everyone
and who believes in compassion, patience, and understanding.

Values and beliefs that motivate or inspire my life

Values and beliefs :

● Honesty

I believe that honesty is one of the most important things in the world.
While I can admit that sometimes not being 100% honest is the best option
(as long as no one is being harmed by it), I don’t believe it is possible to
be productive under any circumstances without honesty.

● Empathy

Empathy is important because it helps provide perspective. To think that

everyone else thinks and feels the same way as you do would be ignorant.
Therefore it is important to try to acknowledge other people's viewpoints,
especially those that may differ from your own.

● Fairness

In a world where people really are so different, fairness is something I

value a lot. None of us truly know where we all came from or what our
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purpose is but I believe it is important to let everyone have a fair chance at

life.

● Hard work

Hard work is important because there’s no point in doing something if

you’re not going to do it fully or correctly. Society needs hard workers
because no one can do everything themselves but if everyone would give
equal effort the world would be a lot better place for everyone.

● Organization/Planning

Planning is important because not having things planned out feels hectic
to me. Things flow much smother when deadlines, dates, plans etc. are
laid out in advance.

● Fate

As far as faith I'm not sure what mine is. I believe in a higher power I just
don’t know exactly what that higher power is. However, I do believe in
fate. I don’t like to mess with the was things are “supposed” to be because
if I feel like I'm messing with fate, it kind of freaks me out.

● Self love/confidence

This one is important to me especially because it’s something I struggle

with. However, I don’t think you can expect other people to think highly of
you if you don’t think highly of yourself as well.

Mission Statement
I am a third year Forensic Psychology student at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. I am a
dedicated student, employee, and member of the campus community. I am an active member of a
sorority which presents me with opportunities for leadership as well as community service. I am
dedicated to being a morally good person and remaining fair in all situations. I work hard and
do what needs to be done keeping in mind the best interest of myself and those around me. I
believe my involvements now will help shape my future by giving me experience working with
other people in a professional setting.
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Vision Statement
My vision for the future is to graduate and get a job in the field of Forensic Psychology. I plan to
go to graduate school for my masters degree. I want a job that I feel happy and successful in. I
want to be organized and motivated by my own accomplishments and goals. I want to be
confident and a leader who others can look to for guidance. I want to have a wife and children
because family is very important to me. I want to be a successful in my professional and personal
life alike.

Strategic Self-Assessment

Personal and professional career-related strengths

Driven/ Motivated

It is important to be driven and motivated especially in a workplace

environment. If you lack a sense of internal motivation you will likely not
do well at any job. I believe that being driven is a strength for me because
employers never have to worry about asking me multiple times to do
something because I have the internal motivation to handle the things that
need to be taken care of.

Dedicated

Being dedicated to your work is a crucial component of being a good

employee and a good professional in general. I believe being dedicated to
my work benefits me because my employers never have to wonder if I am
on task. I also believe that my dedication allows me to push boundaries
and make improvements in areas that others may look over or dismiss.

Confident

Confidence sometimes gets a bad connotation but there is a difference

between being confident and being cocky or conceited. I will be the irst to
admit there are things I do not know, and I like to ask questions for
clarification. However, when I speak, I speak confidently, and I believe in
myself and know that I have the capability to do my job well.

Humble
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Being confident without being cocky includes being humble. As I stated

above, I do not know everything. No one knows everything. So, it is
important to stay humble and know there is always something to be
learned. This is especially good in the workplace being allowing yourself
to gain knowledge and perspective from others can likely lead to you
doing a better job.

Have good interpersonal communication skills

It is important to have good interpersonal communication skills in almost

every field. This is important being a person needs to be aware of how
they ​interact with others as well as how their actions and words make
others feel. It's important to know how to speak in a way that is effective
in communication as well as understanding.

Career-related areas where I would like to grow or improve myself

Saying No

I think it is important to be able to say no when it is necessary. Sometimes

I have a hard time telling people know which can lead to me
overwhelming myself with responsibilities when I could have easily
avoided that situation by simply saying no.

Delegating

I am very determined and dedicated and sometimes I think that works

against me. Like to make sure everything is the way it should be and I
sometimes obsess about things being “perfect.” Because of this, I have a
hard time delegating responsibility which can also lead to being
overwhelmed. It's important that I learn to do this more effectively to
lessen the likely hood of overwhelming myself in my career.

Organizing/managing time
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I procrastinate (some things more than others) and sometimes it gets me in

a little bit of trouble. I think if I worked on managing and organizing my
time a little bit more, it would help me in this aspect of my career.

Vocabulary

Though I do believe I have a pretty good vocabulary, I find myself feeling

like it can be improved often. I think if I tried to focus on broadening my
vocabulary it could help me be more successful.

Considering other opinions

I am always open to listening to what others have to say but sometimes I

have a hard time considering it. I am sometimes very confident in my
opinions and I sometimes forget how important it is to genuinely consider
other people's perspectives. This is something I could improve, and I know
that will help me in my career path.

Career-related opportunities available to me

Internships

Internships are crucial to my success because most if not all of the future
jobs I am looking at will require that I have completed some type of
internship.

Entry level jobs

The first job or two that I get in my field will be important because they
will give me the first look at what I've gotten myself into. These jobs will
help build my knowledge even further and connect what I have learned in
school to real situations.

Working with law enforcement

Working with law enforcement is important because my greatest interest

lies in deviant behavior. In order to study deviant behavior, I have to have
the opportunity to be around individuals who present this behavior.
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Working with children

I hope to have the opportunity to work with children in a forensic setting

through my internship(s). Currently, I think I may want to pursue a career
in which I work closely with children. However, I would like to have a
little bit more insight and see how I personally handle these types of
environments before making a career choice.

Field experience

Experience in the field kind of falls under the rest of the headings on this
list. However, it is important to note that I will never truly know how I
feel about this field of study or this career path until I get some experience
in the field.

Challenges or barriers in the world I face now or that will face in the future
People older than me giving opinions on my field of study

I often find myself in conversations with others (normally not people who
are in college and often not even people who ever gone to college) in
which they tell me “It is so hard to get a job with your degree.” This is
frustrating because I never stated that I thought it would be easy nor did I
ask the opinion of anyone on the difficulty of getting a job in the field of
Psychology. I try to ignore these people and write it off as ignorance
because nothing worthwhile is ever “easy.”

Competition for jobs

I understand that there are a lot of people across the country and the world
who have the same degree that I am pursuing. I believe I will overcome
this barrier by being honest to myself and the things that make me stand
out as a candidate and an employee.

Sexism

Unfortunately, as much as many people like to believe it is not, sexism is

alive and well and is definitely something I am concerned about in the
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future. I will overcome this by proving that regardless of my gender I am

well educated and driven and will make a great employee.

Competitiveness of graduate programs

I'm not completely sure yet if I want to go to graduate school. However, if

I do choose to take that path, getting accepted into graduate school is
something I have to think about. I believe that my academic success and
hard work will help me with this.

Finding a job that I enjoy

It is important to me that I spend majority of my professional life in a job I

enjoy. I know that people say “work is work” but I have a genuine interest
in psychology, and I believe there is a job for me in the field that I would
thoroughly enjoy getting up for every day. I am not oblivious to the fact
that I will likely have many jobs that are not completely ideal, but I
believe in my ability to land in a job that I can be excited about.

Career-Related Goals

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

● I want to have a solid decision on whether I want to go to Graduate school by

January 2020.
● If I choose to go to grad school, I would like to be accepted to a Master of
Psychology program by December of 2020.
● I would like to achieve greater than a 3.5 GPA by the time I graduate (May 2021).

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

● I would like to be relocated and living/ working in a new area by September 2021.
● I want to have at least two jobs/ work experiences in forensic psychology by
September 2025.
● I want to have experience working with law enforcement by September 2025
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Goals for 6 to 10 years after M.U. graduation:

● I would like to be above an entry level job by January 2026

● I want to have a solid idea of what I am working toward or my goal/dream job by
January 2026 (whether that be moving to a different place of employment or
working my way up in a place where I am already employed)
● I would like to have at least 8 years of experience in the field by September 2029.
(meaning I have worked in the field since I graduated from M.U.)

Strategic Plans to Meet my Goals

Strategic Plan 1
Goal: Decide for sure whether I would like to attend grad school and make this decision by
January 2020.

Objectives and steps within this goal:

A. Decide what exactly I would like to do as a career.

Step 1: Do some online research to keep finding careers within Forensic Psychology that
pique my interest.

Step 2: Reach out to my Psychology professors and ask for their advice/guidance/ ideas
of careers I may be interested in or could pursue.

Step 3: Meet with my advisor and have a long talk about my interests, my goals and what
kind of career aligns with them.

B. Look at specific graduate schools and programs in Forensic Psychology.

Step 1: Do online research to find out what kind of Forensic Psychology Masters
programs are available.
Step 2: Decide if I want to do an online program or live on campus for my Masters
Degree.
Step 3: Visit and/or meet with people from graduate schools in order to find out what
would be a good fit.
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C. Become more educated on what I can do with my Bachelors degree as opposed to if I get
a Masters Degree in Psychology.

Step 1: Start exploring internship opportunities within Forensic Psychology.

Step 2: Talk to my advisor about what options are available to me after graduation.

Strategic Plan 2
Goal: Have at least two jobs/ work experiences in forensic psychology by September 2025.

Objectives and steps within this goal:

A. Graduate from Mansfield University with a B.S. in Forensic Psychology (May 2021).

Step 1: Continue to go to class and do my work while giving my best effort.

Step 2: Stay focused on my schoolwork an prioritize.

Step 3: Take and pass all of the required courses for my degree (by May 2021)

B. Start meeting people in the field of Forensic Psych and get experience.

Step 1: Apply for internships

Step 2: Earn at least one if not two internships before I graduate.

Step 3: Give my best effort in my internship(s) so that I can get the most out of it.

C. Have confidence in myself and apply and earn competitive jobs that will help me grow
within the field of Forensic Psychology.

Step 1: Remind myself that I am a good student and work hard so that it shows.

Step 2: Apply for jobs that I want and believe I could do well in.

Strategic Plan 3
Goal: Relocate and live/ work in a new area by September 2021.

Objectives and steps within this goal:

A. Continue to work while going to school

Step 1: Continue to give my best efforts at work and be a good employee
Step 2: Go to work when I am supposed to
B. Save money so that I can afford to move

Step 1: Leave my savings account untouched

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Step 2: Save money from every paycheck to put into my savings

C. Find employment/ housing in the place I would like to relocate to (by May 2021)

Step 1: Do research on jobs in the area as well as houses/apartments for rent

Step 2: Contact employers and ask about interview/application processes

Step 3: Get in contact with landlords/realtors

Career Plan Summary

My vision for the future is to graduate and start a career in the field of Forensic
Psychology. I will be a confident, successful, family woman who is motivated by her own goals
and accomplishments. I will graduate from Mansfield with honors and immediately start
pursuing opportunities in the field of Forensic Psychology. Working hard for the remainder of
my undergraduate time will help me achieve this. I will continue to seek new information and
opportunities to help me grow within my career and personal life.

Within my career, I will seek opportunities in multiple different settings. I will gain
experience in different offices and occupations within Forensic Psychology in order to find what
I most excel in and enjoy. I will achieve this by completing internships before I graduate from
Mansfield University. I will also be working to line up a job in the field for the months after
graduation. I will keep my options open and pursue any opportunities that come my way.

I am a driven, hard working woman. I am dedicated to my work and will always

complete tasks to the best of my abilities. I am confident in the choices I make but humble
enough to know that I am not always right. I thrive in individual work but can work well with
others and have good interpersonal communication skills. I appreciate constructive criticism and
am always striving to improve myself and my work habits. I will be successful because I know I
can be and I will not let myself fall short of that.