Career Exploration

Does the prospect of planning your future scare you?

Are you unsure where to begin?

Career satisfaction is crucial to match individual personality types with employment opportunities.

Each person needs, wants, and desires different things from a job.

•When planning for a career it is important to start out looking at yourself first not the career.

•Start by better understanding yourself.

•Be realistic

•After you determine what you need and want out of a career, begin investigating some of your possible choices to see how well they match.

Your career may not begin for awhile, but you can start planning for it now.

•Sure, what you want to do in the future may change several times.

•But by discovering your personality, interests, and hobbies, you’ll be on the right track to the right career.

Your personality plays a big role in what you want to do for a living.•Do you like working with people or do you prefer to work

alone?•Do you motivate yourself?•Do you look to others for help doing y our work?•Are you funny? Compassionate? Smart?•Do you like to do a lot of things at once or a little at a time?

The answers to these questions can help you better understand who you are and what kind of job would best fit your personality.

Your interests and hobbies are other important factors that can help you decide.

Think about what you like to do now and find ways to use these interests and hobbies to pick your career.

Step 1: Take some time to discover your personality.

Step 2: Identify your interests and hobbies.

Step 3: Explore career options.

Having a better idea about what you want to do will help you better prepare for your future.

Learning about careers•Make a lists of your potential choices

•Consider how the field is changing over time

•Develop some basic questions that are pretty common to most occupations

“Career” is a broader term that includes many specific “occupations” within each one.• Each career might include several disciplines, levels or both.▫Careers in Engineerng fall within many disciplines such as

Biomedical, Chemical, Nuclear, Aeronautic, Mechanical, Industrial, etc

▫Careers as a Medical Doctor fall within many disciplines such as Primary Care, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Cardiologist, Surgeon, Anesthesiologist, Emergency Room, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Internal Medicine, etc.

Things to think about…•Each career might have the potential to specialize in a

particular discipline or attain cross-training and become multidisciplinary.

•Multidisciplinary approach allows you more opportunities and variety, but keep in mind it also requires more education.

Careers also include different levels of educational requirements.

•On the job training•Certification – special training and testing required.

( 6- 9 months training in a vocational school setting)•Associate’s degree – 2 yr degree from a community

college•Bachelor’s degree – 4 yr degree from a university•Master’s degree – must have a Bachelor’s degree

with one or more years of schooling afterwards•Doctorate degree – must have a Bachelor’s degree

with 4 or more years of schooling afterwards ( PhD, MD, DVM, DDS)

Two things to remember:Do you fit the needs of the labor market

Do the career, disciplines, and occupations you are considering match your needs

Two elements that help in making career decisions:

•Knowing yourself

•Using good decision making skills

How can you choose a career that suits your skills and interests?1. What do you already know about the career?

2. What do you need to know to begin your investigation?

3. What do you need to know to determine whether or not you will be suited to this occupation?

4. What do you need to know to inform others about this career?

Gather information from a variety of sources

•Internet

•Career outlook books

•Articles

•Professional journals

•Job postings

•Library

•Teachers, counselors, professional in the career

As you read through your sources:

•Take effective, detailed notes•Write down your bibliographic information to

keep track of your sources•Paraphrase main ideas to avoid plagiarism

Analyze and Synthesize your research•Your are looking for insight:▫What have you learned so far?▫What more do you need?

Synthesize your findings by creating your portfolio cover and writing your research paper.

Decisions that are made today will impact your readiness for the world of work.

It’s now time to embark on the journey…