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Creating A Career Exploration Assignment

This guide will walk you through creating and setting up career exploration assignments to help undecided students identify career directions.

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Overview


A. Overview

The Career Exploration Assignment helps undecided students identify career directions aligned with their interests, strengths, and values. Students leave with concrete next steps. There are three structured components to the assignments which include:

  1. Discovery - Assess Students Interests & Strengths

  2. Exploration - Compare career paths

  3. Action Plan - Concrete next steps

This assignment is best used for:

  • First-year foundations and career courses

  • Orientation and transition programming

  • Students feeling overwhelmed by options

B. Steps to Create a Resume Assignment

1. Start from Home

  • Log into your InStage account.

  • From the Home page, click Create Assignment.

  • You can also use the left-hand sidebar to access Create Assignment directly.

  • On the Create Assignment screen, select Resume Assist to begin setting up your assignment.

Ref Image 1: Home page Overview: Shows the main dashboard with "Create Assignment" as the primary action.

Ref Image 2: Highlights the left-hand menu with quick access to "Create Assignment," "View Assignments," and "Practice Mode".


2. Configure Career Exploration Assignment

Once you select Career Exploration you’ll see a multi-step setup flow:


Section 1: Career Path Dates

Step 1: Assignment Due Dates


Choose a due date format:

  • Fixed Due Dates: Set specific availability and due dates

  • Rolling Due Dates: Dates adjust based on when students are added to the assignment

Step 2: Set the call duration for Career Path Discovery

The Career Path Discovery call allows students to discuss their upcoming experiences and set goals in this initial Voice AI call.

Enter:

  • Available Date (when students can begin)

  • Due Date (final submission deadline)


    EXAMPLE:

  1. Career Path Discovery Call → Available: Feb 9, Due: Feb 16

Step 3: Set the call duration for Career Path Progression

The Career Path Progression call allows students to provide updates and receive guidance during these Voice AI check-in calls.

Enter:

  • Available Date (when students can begin)

  • Due Date (final submission deadline)

  • Important Note: You are able to add additional Progression Calls depending on the total number of check-ins, you would like your student to experience.

    EXAMPLE:

  1. Career Path Progression Call(s)→ Available: Feb 16, Due: Feb 23

Ref Image 3: Highlights the initial setup interface for creating a Resume Assignment, starting with Step 1: Job Position and Step 2: Assignment Due Dates.


Section 2: Career Path Setup

Step 4: Customize Your Interview Details

After completing the Dates step, click Next. You’ll then configure the Interview details, starting with the Career Path Discovery call.

Customize the details of each selected interview stage. You can adjust the question lists and set the interviewer's attitude. You can delete and add new questions. You can also change the question order.

Ref Image 4: Highlights the Discovery call question set.


Section 3: Assignment Details

Step 5: Finalize Your Assignment Details


After completing the Career Path Setup, click Next. You’ll then configure the Assignment details.

  1. Enter Assignment Name

  • Enter a clear, descriptive name (e.g., Career Path Discovery - February 2026).

  • This is a required field.

2. Enter a Description

  • Provide a short description that appears in the student’s enrolment email and on their start page.

  • Example: This career path assignment helps student explore and plan their career paths. Through regular check-ins, students will discover possible career paths, progress through a roadmap, and get guidance when needed.

  • This is a required field.

3. Add Groups (Optional)

  • Add groups to organize students into sections or cohorts.

  • If you add 2+ groups, students will be prompted to select their group when joining the assignment.

Enter a group name (e.g., Section A, Cohort 1) → click Add Group.

Ref Image 5: Highlights the Assignment Details section to be completed.

4. Select Grading Options


Select how you this assignment to be graded.

  • No Grading

  • Pass or Fail (with an option to show or hide the grades to students)

Ref Image 6: Highlights the Student Grading options.

5. Report Content

Choose what information to include in reports:

  • Include Student Name and Email (important to include for reporting and completion purposes)

  • Include Transcript

  • Include Audio

Ref Image 7: Highlights the Report Content options.

6. Student Notifications & Summaries


Choose which automated messages and summaries student receive:

  • Automatic Notification:

    • Enrollment notification email (sent by default)

  • Optional Notifications:

    • Availability window open notification

    • 24-hour reminder email (This is recommended to be selected)

  • Due date reminder email

These optional notifications help reduce missed deadlines and keep students informed throughout the assignment window.

  • Session Summaries: show previous call summaries (This is recommended to be selected to help see previous call information and progression)


7. Admin Report Options

Customize how and when you receive aggregated reports:

  • Report Frequency:

    • Send a report 24 hours after each due date (This is recommended to be selected)

    • Send a report only after the final due date

    • Do not send email reports

  • Select additional email items, such as:

    • Link to admin summary

    • Include a PDF summary in the email

  • Noteworthy Comments

    • Email assignment faculty members if a student statement, comment, or question is labelled high priority

Ref Image 8: Highlights the end of the assignment details, with the option to move forward by clicking Next, or Back.


Section 4. Review Details & Deploy Assignment

After completing all setup fields, click Next to reach the Review stage. This is your final checkpoint before launching the assignment.

  • You’ll see a summary of everything entered:

    • Dates (availability and due dates)

    • Assignment Details (name, description, groups, grading)

    • Report Content (student info included in reports)

    • Student Notifications & Summaries (emails and reminders)

    • Admin Report Options (frequency and format of reports)

Ref Image 9: Highlights the Review section, before the Assignment is deployed.,

  • If you need to make changes, click Back to return to the relevant section.

  • If everything looks correct, click Deploy to launch the assignment.

⚠️ Important: Once you click Deploy, you will not be able to make any further changes to the assignment. Double‑check all details before finalizing.


C. Share Assignment / Add Students

Once the Assignment has been created you have two options to include Students in the assignment.

  • Option 1: Share a direct link for Students to join the assignment.

  • Option 2: Add Students

Students will automatically receive notifications based on your chosen settings.


Option 1: Share Assignment Link

Option 2: Add Students

  • Paste student emails manually

  • Upload a CSV file

  • Share a unique enrolment link (also available after the assignment has been deployed)


6. Add Additional Faculty Members


D. Important Note and Notice of Data Collection

  • InStage is a third-party tool, and to access it for use in this course, you need to create an account on their platform. The institution has reviewed the security, data and privacy policies of the platform and has approved the use of InStage for this course. Please understand that by creating an account with InStage, you are consenting to the platform's use of your personal data and agreeing to their Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

  • Please be aware that the AI functionality of the InStage platform utilizes processing by OpenAI's API to generate interview feedback. If you have any concerns, please review OpenAI's Privacy Policy and Security Policies. InStage has made it clear that user data is not used in the training process of their AI tool. Only the pre-trained models provided by OpenAI are used, and no additional user data is incorporated into training. If you disagree with involvement with any of the platforms above, you may choose to decline account creation. In this case, please contact us immediately and inform us of your decision, and we will get back to you with an alternative assignment option.

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