Discovery Project: A Venture in Merging Brands, 65 Points Total:
Introduction The Discovery Project will aid in identifying essential criteria you must consider as you pursue any organization. To outpace your competition, you will need to create a connection between the employer’s brand and your personal brand. In the four-step Personal Branding Process (Discover, Create, Communicate, Maintain), this jump-starts the Discovery stage. You will spend time finding key information and career opportunities on your selected organization that will be used in composing your resume, cover letter, personal brand pitch, online applications, and interview responses.
Tasks You will:
1. Identify the name, and other criteria, of a company/organization (Part 1) for whom you would like to work, the Focus (Part 2), and its Competition (Part 3) and submit these in one document to the Blackboard Assignment Drop Box in a Microsoft Word document, by Friday, September 2, 2011
2. Review its website, if available, and other resources uncovered through our “Discovery Project” lecture for essential information that will be used in marketing yourself as a prospective hire
3. Collect and record this information so that you may draw from it and build your brand for future assignments
4. Compare and merge your and your organization’s brands so that you will gain experience promoting yourself to an array of employers
5. Submit the remainder of the Project (Parts 4 and 5) for grading in the Blackboard Assignment Drop Box by 5 p.m., Friday, September 9, 2011
Note: for both submissions, you may download this assignment requirements sheet keeping all or only the relevant Parts to submit on the two due dates.
There are several suggested resources for this assignment:
The relevant classes and captured lectures for weeks two and three of class
The organization’s website
CareerShift, the College’s job/internship search engine (you should have an active account from taking BUAD 2000. If not, log in using the hyperlink at the beginning of this sentence. When prompted for the school’s group code, enter “toldedobusiness.” There is a “How to Sign Up for CareerShift” document in the Blackboard Syllabus and Resources Folder. Use this Introduction to CareerShift for help navigating this in-depth resource.
Business Research Databases housed in the Carlson Library. See “Carlson Library Resources for BUAD 3000” in the Syllabus and Resources folder for this!
Glassdoor.com, which provides great information about company salaries, reviews and interview questions for thousands of companies.
Linkedin
Part 1 Company/Organization and Industry (For whom do you want to work?) (Each box must have a response to receive full credit!) 5 points
1. Organization Name
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
2. Website (if available) http://www.deloitte.com 3. Industry
Accounting Field
4. Publicly/Privately Held
Privately Held
5. Product/Service
A global provider of audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services.
Part 2 Company/Organization Focus This is the information that “draws” you to the organization. Try to capture any of the following points from the company’s website: mission, vision, philosophy, or set of core values/priorities. It is likely you will incorporate this information into your cover letter, application, and interview responses—in essence, your “brand.” Note: some organizations are intentional (specifically labeling “vision,” “values,” etc.) when placing this information on their websites. If you are having difficulty locating it, ask for help! Each response will be scored on a scale of 1 to 5 for this next section. 5 points (1-2=Needs Improvement, 3-4=Acceptable, 5=Excellent)
1. Write in, describe or copy and paste the mission/vision, philosophy, core values, etc.., in the text box below. 5 points
2. Type in the text box why you believe this organization would be a good “fit” for you. Why do you want to work for it? 5 points
