Career Research & Argumentative Essay
Budget: $10 – $30 USD
ENG 110
L. Harkness
Essay #3: Career Essay
In class, you took an intelligence survey and then mapped it to possible careers. Then, you
had to research two professions. For this assignment, use those two items to write
an essay. Choose one of the careers you researched. Your assignment is to write an essay
describing the profession and then argue why or why not that career
would be a good career for you.
This essay is an argument paper, not just an informational paper; you are
trying to convince the reader to see things your way. This means you must take a side or
position and argue for it. To do this, your argument should appeal to the reader’s
sense of logic and reason, good character, and emotion. For example, you might base it
on the qualifications required compared to your results on the intelligence survey (or any
other type of survey you might have taken). Think about what your strengths or weaknesses are. Then you might compare a requirement of the profession to a strength you have.
Audience: Anyone in this class should be able to understand your paper. Do not expect
your audience to understand jargon specific to your career. Use judgment on what you
need to clarify or explain.
Length: 3-4 pages
Format: Type your paper according to MLA guidelines. This includes the following items:
leave margins of one inch on all sides of the page, double-space throughout the paper,
indent the first line of each paragraph, and place the last name and page number in the upper right-hand corner. Refer to samples from class and in the Pocket guide.
Sources: You need to have at least 2 sources from the SUNY Broome library.
Citations: Use MLA format. You will not need to do footnotes or endnotes. I assume
you will at least have the Occupational Outlook Handbook or another reference book, and
then one other source. Throughout this course, I have included several items on how to
properly do in-text citations and works cited. Please review them before turning in this paper to make sure you have done them correctly. If you have questions, ask!
Review the model for this essay and the checklist below.
Career Essay
Intro:
______Essay has an introduction
______Introduction starts broadly
______Introduction includes a main idea or thesis
Body:
_____Body includes a description of the career
_____Body includes a description of qualifications needed for career
(personality traits, education, experience etc.)
_____Body has a response as to whether this would be a good career choice and an
explanation of why or why not (match to your strengths and weaknesses)
Conclusion:
_____Conclusion restates without repeating
_____Conclusion leaves reader satisfied and does not end abruptly
MLA:
_____Paper uses in-text citations for anything that is a direct quote, summary or
paraphrase
_____Direct quotes have a signal phrase to introduce them, and paper has no dropped
quotes
_____Writer includes a works cited list for two sources
Mechanics:
_____Writer used Standard American English throughout the paper
_____Writer begins to show use of a variety of punctuation marks
L. Harkness
Essay #3: Career Essay
In class, you took an intelligence survey and then mapped it to possible careers. Then, you
had to research two professions. For this assignment, use those two items to write
an essay. Choose one of the careers you researched. Your assignment is to write an essay
describing the profession and then argue why or why not that career
would be a good career for you.
This essay is an argument paper, not just an informational paper; you are
trying to convince the reader to see things your way. This means you must take a side or
position and argue for it. To do this, your argument should appeal to the reader’s
sense of logic and reason, good character, and emotion. For example, you might base it
on the qualifications required compared to your results on the intelligence survey (or any
other type of survey you might have taken). Think about what your strengths or weaknesses are. Then you might compare a requirement of the profession to a strength you have.
Audience: Anyone in this class should be able to understand your paper. Do not expect
your audience to understand jargon specific to your career. Use judgment on what you
need to clarify or explain.
Length: 3-4 pages
Format: Type your paper according to MLA guidelines. This includes the following items:
leave margins of one inch on all sides of the page, double-space throughout the paper,
indent the first line of each paragraph, and place the last name and page number in the upper right-hand corner. Refer to samples from class and in the Pocket guide.
Sources: You need to have at least 2 sources from the SUNY Broome library.
Citations: Use MLA format. You will not need to do footnotes or endnotes. I assume
you will at least have the Occupational Outlook Handbook or another reference book, and
then one other source. Throughout this course, I have included several items on how to
properly do in-text citations and works cited. Please review them before turning in this paper to make sure you have done them correctly. If you have questions, ask!
Review the model for this essay and the checklist below.
Career Essay
Intro:
______Essay has an introduction
______Introduction starts broadly
______Introduction includes a main idea or thesis
Body:
_____Body includes a description of the career
_____Body includes a description of qualifications needed for career
(personality traits, education, experience etc.)
_____Body has a response as to whether this would be a good career choice and an
explanation of why or why not (match to your strengths and weaknesses)
Conclusion:
_____Conclusion restates without repeating
_____Conclusion leaves reader satisfied and does not end abruptly
MLA:
_____Paper uses in-text citations for anything that is a direct quote, summary or
paraphrase
_____Direct quotes have a signal phrase to introduce them, and paper has no dropped
quotes
_____Writer includes a works cited list for two sources
Mechanics:
_____Writer used Standard American English throughout the paper
_____Writer begins to show use of a variety of punctuation marks