| Course | D572 Career and Lifelong Learning |
|---|---|
| Task | Task 1 |
| Paper type | Career self-assessment and goal |
| Length | About 1,100 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 |
| School | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Program | BS Psychology |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for D572 Task 1
From Closing Shifts to Crisis Shifts: A Self-Assessment, Three Career Pathways Compared and a Goal of Becoming a Psychiatric Technician on an Adolescent Unit
Student Name
Leavitt School of Health, Western Governors University
D572: Career and Lifelong Learning, Task 1
Course Instructor
Month Day, Year
From Closing Shifts to Crisis Shifts: A Self-Assessment, Three Career Pathways Compared and a Goal of Becoming a Psychiatric Technician on an Adolescent Unit
Introduction
Choosing a career is less a single decision than a series of informed guesses that get better with evidence. This paper assesses my strengths, interests and values, explores three career pathways open to a psychology graduate, compares them against what I learned about myself, and sets a specific career goal. It closes with what lifelong learning will mean for reaching that goal. I am 27, in my second year of the BS Psychology program, and I have worked for six years in restaurants, the last three as a shift manager at a busy family restaurant in Indianapolis.
Self-Assessment: Interests
I began with the O*NET Interest Profiler, a free tool from the U.S. Department of Labor based on Holland's theory of vocational personalities. Holland (1997) proposed that people and work environments can be described by six types, realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional, and that satisfaction is higher when a person's type matches the environment. My highest scores were social, followed by enterprising and investigative. The social result matched my experience: what I like best at work is training new servers and calming guests who are upset. The enterprising score reflects the leadership side of shift management. The investigative score surprised me, but it fits how much I have enjoyed my research methods and psychopathology courses.
Self-Assessment: Strengths and Growth Areas
Strengths, with evidence: First, staying calm under pressure. On Friday nights I manage a floor of 14 staff and about 300 covers, and when a guest becomes aggressive I am the person who handles it. Second, reading people. My general manager has asked me to run interviews for new hires because I notice when someone is uncomfortable before they say so. Third, reliability. I have missed two shifts in three years.
Growth areas: I have no clinical experience and no formal training in crisis de-escalation, only what I have learned on the job. I also tend to take on too much myself instead of delegating, which led to exhaustion during last year's holiday season. Finally, I have never written a resume for a job outside food service, and I do not yet know how to describe my experience in terms a hospital would value.
Self-Assessment: Values
Ranking a list of work values, I placed helping others, stability and learning at the top, and high income and independence near the bottom. Helping others explains why I chose psychology after my younger brother spent two weeks in an adolescent psychiatric unit when I was 19; the staff who treated him with patience made a lasting impression. Stability matters because I pay my own tuition and want predictable benefits. Learning matters because I plan to continue to graduate school.
Career Pathways Explored
I researched three roles open to someone with a bachelor's degree in psychology, using O*NET OnLine and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Psychiatric technician. Psychiatric technicians care for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities, monitoring patients, helping with daily activities, leading recreational and therapeutic activities and helping to de-escalate crises (National Center for O*NET Development, n.d.). The median pay was $45,130 in May 2025, and employment of psychiatric technicians and aides is projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d.). Employers may require CPR or basic life support certification. The role is strongly social and draws on the calm I use every weekend.
Case management aide at a community agency. This role involves scheduling, paperwork and connecting clients to services. It is social and conventional, offers daytime hours, but involves less direct care, and the postings I found in Indianapolis paid slightly less than technician roles.
Human resources assistant. This role would use my interviewing and training experience and my enterprising side. It offers a clear corporate path, but it is further from the clinical work that drew me to psychology.
Comparing the Pathways
Measured against my interests, strengths and values, the psychiatric technician role fits best. It matches my social type, uses my experience with de-escalation and people who are upset, and offers hospital benefits. It also builds toward my long-term interest in counseling, since direct care experience is valued by graduate programs. Its drawbacks are shift work, including nights and weekends, and physical and emotional demands. Having worked restaurant closing shifts for six years, I am used to nontraditional hours, but I will need to plan for the emotional load. Super (1980) described career development as a series of roles played across the life span, and I see this job as the right role for the next stage, not the final one.
Career Goal
Within 12 months of this course, I will be employed as a psychiatric technician on an adolescent inpatient or residential unit in the Indianapolis area, working at least 32 hours a week while completing my degree. To get there I will earn basic life support certification and a crisis prevention and intervention certificate, gain at least 60 hours of volunteer experience with adolescents, and rewrite my resume to show transferable skills. My longer-term goal is to enter a master's program in clinical mental health counseling within four years.
Lifelong Learning
Reaching this goal will require learning in areas where I have no background, and my first months in a clinical setting will involve mistakes. Research on growth mindset suggests that people who see abilities as developable are more likely to persist through challenges, and that brief interventions can shift that belief for some students (Yeager & Dweck, 2012). I intend to approach supervision and feedback in my first clinical job the way I approach a hard shift: as information, not a verdict. I will also keep a short monthly log listing new skills gained and the next ones to build, so that my development stays deliberate.
Conclusion
My self-assessment points to social, people-centered work that uses calm under pressure and a desire to help. Among three pathways, psychiatric technician work fits my interests, strengths and values best and leads toward my long-term goal of counseling. A specific twelve-month goal and a commitment to continuous learning turn that fit into a plan.
References
Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Psychological Assessment Resources.
National Center for O*NET Development. (n.d.). 29-2053.00 - Psychiatric technicians. O*NET OnLine. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-2053.00
Super, D. E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16(3), 282-298. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(80)90056-1
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Psychiatric technicians and aides. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/psychiatric-technicians-and-aides.htm
Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 302-314. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2012.722805
What the D572 Task 1 instructions ask
D572 Task 1 asks you to look inward and then outward. You typically complete one or more self-assessments of interests, strengths, values or personality, describe what the results say about you and back them with examples, then research career pathways that fit. Most versions want at least one career explored in depth, with duties, education, pay and outlook from credible sources, and a specific career goal at the end. Some versions include a reflection on lifelong learning or growth mindset. The task is personal, so it should be written in first person about your real situation, but it is still scored on evidence. A list of flattering adjectives, with no results and no research, will not carry it.
How this D572 Task 1 example is built
The paper starts with a short introduction that states the writer's age, program and current job, so the reader knows who is being assessed. Interests come from a named tool and a named theory, and each result is tested against real work experience. Strengths and growth areas are listed with evidence, including numbers from the writer's shifts. Values are ranked and linked to a family experience that explains the choice of field. Three pathways are researched with O*NET and the Occupational Outlook Handbook, and a comparison section weighs them openly, including drawbacks such as night shifts. The goal is written as a dated, measurable statement, and a closing section on lifelong learning cites growth mindset research.
Where the D572 Task 1 rubric puts the marks
Evaluators score D572 Task 1 one aspect at a time on WGU's scale of competent, approaching competence or not evident. An aspect on self-knowledge checks that assessment results are reported and interpreted, not only named. Another asks for career pathways researched with credible data, so pay, education and outlook should be sourced. A goal aspect looks for something specific enough to plan around, with a time frame. Where the version includes lifelong learning or growth mindset, that section has its own aspect. The final aspects cover professional writing and APA citation of the tools and data used. A self-assessment that never connects to the career chosen is the most common way to fall short.
D572 Task 1 help: what sends it back
The most frequent problem with this task is evidence. Saying you are a strong communicator means little; describing the Friday night you calmed an aggressive guest shows it. Give an example for each strength. Second, students often research one career briefly and stop. Comparing two or three pathways, and saying why one fits better, makes the choice look reasoned. Third, goals tend to be vague. Replace work in mental health with a role, a setting and a date. Fourth, cite the tools and data. The Interest Profiler, O*NET and the Occupational Outlook Handbook are all citable sources. Finally, be honest about growth areas, since the evaluator is looking for self-awareness, not a sales pitch.
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D572 Task 1 questions, answered
What assessments can I use for D572 Task 1?
Use the ones your course provides or recommends. Interest inventories such as the O*NET Interest Profiler, strengths assessments and values card sorts are common, and the sample reports its Interest Profiler result in Holland's terms.
Where do I find career data for D572?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook gives pay, education and job outlook, and O*NET OnLine describes tasks and skills. Both are free and citable in APA style.
How specific should my D572 career goal be?
Specific enough to plan around: a role, a setting and a time frame. The sample commits to a psychiatric technician job on an adolescent unit within twelve months.
Is the D572 student in the sample real?
No. She was invented to show how the task works, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures and career theories she draws on are genuine and cited.
Where can I find a free D572 Task 1 sample paper?
Every section of the self-assessment is reproduced here and annotated. Send your own inventory results, your goal and the D572 task, and the first custom version costs you nothing.