ERIC ED400009: Career Options: A Self-Directed Career Planning Booklet. 1996 Update.

62 Pages·1996·0.83 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
JC 960 608
ED 400 009
Harr, Gary
AUTHOR
Career Options: A Self-Directed Career Planning
TITLE
Booklet. 1996 Update.
Florida Community Coll., Jacksonville.
INSTITUTION
PUB DATE
96
60p.; For the original guide, focusing on Florida
NOTE
Community College students, see ED 360 013.
Instructional Materials (For
Classroom Use
Guides
PUB TYPE
Learner)
(051)
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.
Career Awareness; *Career Choice; Career Counseling;
DESCRIPTORS
*Career Exploration; *Career Guidance; *Career
Planning; Community Colleges; Interests; Occupational
Clusters; Self Evaluation (Individuals); *Skill
Analysis; Two Year Colleges; *Two Year College
Students
ABSTRACT
Designed as a self-directed career planning resource
for students at community colleges, this booklet presents four
modules providing students with step-by-step career exploration
activities and information. The first module, Introduction to Career
Planning, discusses the effect of career choice on students' lives
and the reasons why people choose particular careers; reviews the
nature of changing career goals and the basic principles of the
career planning process; and encourages students to make a commitment
to actively explore their career options. The second module, Self
Assessment, includes a list of 46 sample occupational interests; a
skills evaluation exercise; a values evaluation exercise; a career
exploration chart for summarizing information gathered about
interests, skills, and values in six career clusters; a 3-step guide
to interpreting results; and a follow-up activity for the module.
Module 3, Career Exploration, is designed to help students translate
the career groups identified in Module 2 into specific occupations to
consider. Included in Module 3 are a description of the U.S.
Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook, an occupational
index and five related steps for using the index to choose a career,
sample blank career information sheets, and an interview form for
gathering information from individuals working in students' potential
careers. The final module, Academic Planning, discusses the levels of
study available to students; presents a list of university,
associate, and job training programs in the 6 career clusters;
provides 15 secrets to college success; and describes 7 other
resources for career exploration. (HAA)
*************************************************************
*******
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
***********************************************************************
CAREER OPTIONS
A Self-Directed Career Planning Booklet
(C) 1996 BY GARY HARR
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
CENTER (ERIC)
his document has been reproduced as
G. Harr
sieved from the person or organization
originating it.
C Minor changes have been made to improve
1=1
reproduction Qualify.
JEN=
Points of view or opinions stated in this docu-
ment do not necessarily represent official
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
OERI position or policy.
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
2
PREFACE
Career Options is a self-study booklet that will introduce you to the career planning
process. Since 1992, thousands of students have started their career exploration with this
easy to use booklet. There are four (4) modules in this booklet.
Module 1: Introduction to Career Planning provides information about why career
planning is important, measures your readiness to engage in career planning, and explains
some basic principles of career development.
Module 2: Self Assessment provides an explanation of how your personal characteristics
relate to career decisions. This module leads you through an informal evaluation of your
career interests, skills, and work-related values.
Module 3: Career Exploration shows you how to gather more information on
occupations that you have decided to explore as a result of your self-assessment. It
explains how to obtain information about typical work tasks for a given occupation, work
environment, training/educational requirements, typical starting salary, and employment
opportunities and outlook.
Module 4: Academic Planning provides some guidance on how to translate your
occupational options into a workable educational plan.
Career Options provides an introduction to the career planning process. If you want
more in-depth assistance, refer to the section of this booklet entitled "Career
Resources" (page 56).
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3
CONTENTS
Module 1: Introduction To Career Planning
PAGE
An Important Decision
4
Definition of Terms
4
Changing Goals
5
Myths
5
Readiness Factors
8
It's Up To You
10
Module 2: Self Assessment
PAGE
Overview
12
Career Interest Profile
12
Skills Evaluation
16
Values Evaluation
18
Career Exploration Summary
19
Interpreting Your Results
22
Want More Info?
23
Module 3: Career Exploration
PAGE
Overview
25
Information Resources
25
Occupational Index
27
Career Search Action Steps
32
Career Information Sheets
34
Worker Interviews
37
Module 4: Academic Planning
PAGE
From Here To There
44
Programs of Study
44
Educational Directory
46
15 Secrets to College Success
53
Career Resources
56
INTRODUCTION TO
CAREER PLANNING
5
AN IMPORTANT DECISION
"The human
race is faced with a cruel choice: work
or
...
daytime television."
- Anonymous
Choosing a career direction is one of the most important decisions that
you will ever
make. It can influence:
* your standard of living and your ability to provide for
your family
* your opportunity to meet others with
common interests
* your day-to-day sense of work satisfaction
* the nature of your activities during
a significant part of your life
* your personal sense of meaning and fulfilment
Work is important to different people for differing
reasons. Most people must work to
"put bread on the table"-- for financial rewards
-- but that is usually only one of their
reasons for working. For example, people also work in order to:
* contribute to the welfare of others
* get a sense of satisfaction from exercising their skills
* be able to engage in the challenge of problem-solving
* develop and use leadership abilities
* have an opportunity to meet others of similar interests
* be more self-sufficient and independent
* increase their sense of security
* develop expertise in a skill or
area of knowledge
As you conduct your own career planning,
you will explore why work is important to you
and clarify the values that you seek from
an occupational choice.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
As you begin the process of
career planning, definition of a few key terms will be helpful.
Your career is the path
you will take through the world of work over the course of your
lifetime. As a part of your
career, you will work in one or more occupations or fields of
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work. Within an occupation, you will have a series of jobs in specific settings involving
specific tasks. For example, you may have a career in Medicine, currently employed
as a
Physician's Assistant (your occupation) at Methodist Hospital, classified
as a 'TA III"
(your job classification). Keep these distinctions in mind as you complete this booklet.
CHANGING GOALS
Many high school students do not start college with a clear career goal; and those who do
have such a goal often change it based upon their college experience.
College is a unique opportunity for growth and change
-- a chance to expose yourself to
options that you may never have considered before. Because of this, change is to be
expected, even desired, as you continue your education. Career decision making is not
a
once-in-a-lifetime event; it is a process that you will repeat many times during
your life.
It may seem, at first, that your goals become less clear as you learn more about yourself
and the world of work. This will change as you learn to effectively explore
career
alternatives. You will learn to develop meaningful, realistic, and flexible goals
as a way of
guiding your direction through life.
EXERCISE Complete this sentence:
A clear career goal is important to me because
MYTHS
There are a number of common errors in the way most people think about
career planning.
Test yourself with the following exercise.
5
EXERCISE Mark each of the following items either True (T)
or False (F) by
circling the letter of your choice.
T
F
Career testing will tell me exactly what occupation is right for
1.
me.
T
2.
F
There is a single, perfect occupation for me.
F
T
3.
I'll only have to do career planning once in
my life.
T
4.
F
Career planning will change what I think I want to do.
F
T
5.
I already know everything I need to know about
my occupation of choice.
T
6.
F
I don't need to worry about making career choices until
my second year of
college.
T
F
7.
The best way to decide on an occupation is to just start taking related
courses and see how I do.
T
F
I don't have the time to spend on career planning right
8.
now.
In some sense, all of the above items are false. How
many did you get right?
Such
myths are often held as truth by many people. This kind of
common misunderstanding
makes myths hard to recognize as untrue, and
can create problems in the career planning
process. A few of these common myths are examined below:
MYTH 1:
"Career testing will tell me exactly what occupation is right for me."
FACT 1:
No test will tell you "what to be when you grow up." Test results
are
merely another form of information about yourself and must be carefully
interpreted as such. Similarly, a career counselor cannot tell
you
what occupation would be best for you; he
or she can, however, guide you
through the choice process.
MYTH 2:
"There is a single, perfect occupation for me."
FACT 2:
No single occupation is the perfect one for you; there
are many
occupations that have the potential to meet
your career goals. Career
choice also often requires the willingness to balance disadvantages with
advantages and to make choices between several appealing alternatives.
6
s
MYTH 3:
"I'll only have to do career planning once in my life."
FACT 3:
Career planning is a process that will continue throughout
your
lifetime. You will probably change jobs (or even occupations) several
times during your career.
MYTH 4:
"Career planning will change what I think I want to do."
FACT 4:
Your goal may or may not change. If it does, such
a change will be
based upon better information about yourself and the world of work. It
will not threaten plans that are realistic and well-informed; indeed, it will
serve to confirm such plans.
MYTH 5:
"I already know everything I need to know about
my occupation of
choice."
FACT 5:
Your knowledge may be incomplete. Media depictions
are often
distorted, glamorized, and unrealistic pictures of what is really involved in
a
given occupation. Also, there are often "hidden" parts of
a job that may
not be obvious at first glance. Fortunately, sources of reliable information
are readily available to help you find out about such things.
MYTH 6:
"I don't need to worry about making career choices until
my second year of
college."
FACT 6:
The longer you wait, the more likely that
you will have to take courses
above and beyond the minimum needed to graduate. Some
programs
of study prescribe courses to be taken during the first tmn of enrollment.
This could mean extending the time you spend in school, with the
greater
cost of doing so.
MYTH 7:
"The best way to decide on an occupation is to just start taking related
courses and see how I do."
FACT 7:
The "sink-or-swim try-a-course" method is not the best
strategy. It's
a better idea to do some exploration and then to see how you do in the
courses related to the requirements of occupations you are considering.
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9
MYTH 8:
"I don't have the time to spend on career planning right now."
In the long run, career planning can save you time and money.
FACT 8:
Unrealistic or misguided career plans may cause you to take unnecessary
courses, do poorly in courses not matched to your skills, and otherwise
extend the time (and money) needed to reach your goals.
READINESS FACTORS
There are many important factors that influence your readiness to effectively make
a
career decision. A few of these factors are briefly described below.
Motivation
To evaluate your motivation, answer the following questions (circle answers):
Do you feel it is important to make a career
decision at this point in your life?
No
Yes
Uncertain
Are you willing to make career planning a
high-level personal priority?
No
Yes
Uncertain
As the old saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but
you can't make it drink."
Unless you understand the importance of career planning and its relevance to
your
personal well-being, you are not likely to put the required time, attention, and
energy into
the process.
Self-Awareness
To evaluate your self-awareness, answer the following questions (circle answers):
Do you have a clear picture of your career
interests and skills?
No
Yes
Uncertain
Can you make a list of what's most important
to you, in priority order?
No
Yes
Uncertain
A realistic view of your interests, skills, values, and personality is
a vital part of effective
career planning. Without such information about yourself, you are likely to decide upon
an occupation that is less than satisfying or which may not truly match your personal
strengths.
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