WHO Do You A Career Decision Guide Want To Be Y When You Grow Up? ou may have done a double-take at this title, or wondered whether the ì whoî should have been ì what.î After all, many of us were asked as a child ì What do you want to be when you grow up?î We chose ì whoî on purpose. ì Whatî often refers to a job title. Everyone is much more than just a job title, and we would like to encourage you and your teen to think in terms of who you are. What are the skills, aptitudes, values, unique personality, and (sometimes) quirks that make us ourselves? When you have encouraged your child to develop this kind of self-knowledge, she will have gained an understanding of herself that she can take with her into any situation during any time of her life and in any job or role she may hold. Copyright©2000, 2005 26 www.careervision.org TOO MANY CHOICES? It was simple for the adoptive parents of Harry Potter, the lead character in a popular series of books by author J.K. Rowling. One day, an owl flew in the window and delivered a letter announcing that Harry was a wizard. He was to show up at a certain time and place to begin his seven years of wizard schooling. All parents and teens should have it that easy! But we know it isn't. Each day there are more new job possibilities being created in the world of work. ì Dot-comî companies, specializing in marketing and transacting business in a virtual marketplace on the Internet, are becoming a significant segment of the business world and the global economy. New jobs appear as a result of new technology and new needs. What tools can you use with your teen to make informed career decisions? We offer you two: the 10 Key Steps to Good Career Decision-Making and the Career Decision Activity. CAREER DECISION ACTIVITY This activity can assist you and your teen to guide his or her exploration activities and evaluate job possibilities. As you can see, it combines self-knowledge with knowledge about occupations and work environments. Remember, the better the fit, the more a person is likely to find career success and satisfaction. INSTRUCTIONS. Evaluating possible jobs is a four-step process. Step 1. Gather and focus self-knowledge. Step 2. Decide on a few (3-4) potential jobs. Step 3. Gather information about the potential jobs. Step 4. Compare what you know about yourself with what you know about the jobs to see what looks like the best fit. 10 KEY STEPS TO GOOD CAREER DECISION-MAKING 5. Evaluate the options that remain in light of your self-knowledge. Consider whether each possibility is a good fit with your unique abilities, interests, values, personality and goals. 1. Think about and write down characteristics about yourself (abilities, interests, values, personality, and goals). 2. Learn about the work world through practical experience (part-time work, volunteering, apprenticeships, internships, service learning projects) and library research. Two great references to start with are the Occupational Outlook Handbook and The Complete Guide for Occupational Exploration. See the section on “Terrific Resources” later in this guide for more ideas. 6. Make an initial choice of a job or college major. 7. Plan milestones or goals in order to work toward that choice, such as choice of courses or training program. 8. Act on your choice. Apply for appropriate jobs, interview, and obtain a position. 9. Become thoroughly involved in the dayto-day activities of that job. 3. Narrow down options through weighing the positives and negatives of each possibility. 10. Re-evaluate your choice. If it is a good fit, continue to make plans to progress in that career. If it is a poor fit, recycle through steps 3-9 above. 4. Conduct more focused exploration with the remaining options, such as informational interviews. Copyright©2000, 2005 27 www.careervision.org STEP 1: SELF-KNOWLEDGE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF YOUR SELF: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF FOR MORE FORMAL ASSISTANCE IN FINDING OUT MORE, CONTACT A CAREER COUNSELOR OR SCHOOL GUIDANCE COUNSELOR TO: NOTE YOUR CONCLUSIONS ABOUT YOURSELF INTERESTS What do you LIKE to do? Think about classes, jobs, and experiences you have had. What did you like most, and why? What did you like least, and why? Take an interest inventory such as the Strong Interest Inventory, the Self-Directed Search, or many others. ABILITIES Take a test such as the Ball Aptitude Battery® if you want more objective information about your natural abilities. What are you good at? What kinds of things can you learn most quickly and easily? Where do you have the potential to really excel? What areas give you trouble? PERSONALITY Do you like lots of people contact, or do you prefer to work on your own? Do you like taking risks? Would you rather have a lot of room for creativity, or know exactly what is expected of you? Would you rather develop your own kind of expertise, or coordinate the efforts of others? VALUES Take a personality inventory like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. What is most important to you in life? For example: a sense of accomplishment, security, a good salary, the satisfaction of helping others, or intellectual challenge? How important is work compared to other aspects of life? Take a work needs or values inventory like the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Become informed about resources and regional support networks that are available to you. Special opportunities or limitations due to family situation, finances, geographical location, or other reasons. Note: If you are interested in taking any of the instruments listed above, call Career Vision at 1-800-469-8378 Copyright©2000, 2005 28 www.careervision.org STEP 2: IDENTIFY 3-4 POTENTIAL JOBS may be trying to choose between several specific opportunities: Job A with Company X or Job B with Company Y, or perhaps Job C in Department Q or continuing in your current job. Depending on your childís age and personal situation, this may be a long or a short task. Your child may already have had several jobs in mind before you both began this exercise. Or, if your child took an interest, ability, personality, or values assessment in Step 1, the results from those measures may have suggested possibilities. You could get some ideas by looking through a resource like the Occupational Outlook Handbook (See the ì Resourcesî section of this guide) or by skimming job ads in the Sunday paper or checking position descriptions on job bank websites. If you are completing this on your own, you For the rest of this exercise to be valuable, you and/or your child should try to be specific about the jobs you are considering. For example, instead of ì work with animals,î choose ì veterinary assistant,î ì dog trainer,î or ì pet store sales clerk.î Instead of ì work with computers,î select ì programmer,î ì network administrator,î or ì website designer.î STEP 3: INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL JOBS QUESTIONS TO ASK JOB 1 JOB 2 JOB 3 JOB 4 What kinds of tasks do people in the job spend most of their time doing? What kind of education or training is required? How hard is it to get started in this kind of work? Competition? What kinds of companies or organizations hire people to do this job? What does this job prepare you for? What is the next step after that? Any special considerations? (Overtime work, travel, geographic limitations, etc.) What rewards does this job offer? (e.g. salary, benefits, bonuses, perks, satisfaction, foot in the door for other opportunities.) Copyright©2000, 2005 29 www.careervision.org STEP 4: COMPARE YOURSELF WITH YOUR POSSIBLE JOBS HOW WELL DOES THE JOB MATCH … TO DECIDE, ASK YOURSELF… YOUR INTERESTS Would you like the day-to-day tasks? Is it a job you would really enjoy doing? YOUR ABILITIES• Does it use your strengths (what you do well)? Would you be able to easily learn the skills for the job? Would you be able to excel at the job? YOUR VALUES • Does the job let you do things that you think are important? Do organizations that you value hire people to do this kind of work? Does the job provide the kind of rewards you value? YOUR PERSONALITY PREFERENCES Would the job give you too much, too little, or the right amount of social contact? Does it fit with your needs for creativity, independence, or structure? YOUR LIFESTYLE PREFERENCES • Do the benefits and salary meet your needs? Is the location good for you? Do the working conditions and hours meet your needs? YOUR FUTURE GOALS • Is there a clear next step from this job? What will you learn from this job that you can take to your next job? YOUR MOTIVATION LEVEL Are you willing and able to sustain the level of effort the job requires? Are you willing to get the education or training required? “FUDGE FACTOR” (ADD EXTRA POINTS IF YOU WISH) • Is there something about this job that doesn’t show up in the previous factors that makes it more or less appealing? Do you have a "gut feeling" about it, positive or negative? TOTAL Add up points for each question Scoring for totals: Copyright©2000, 2005 ASSIGN EACH JOB POINTS FOR HOW WELL IT MATCHES YOUR INDIVIDUAL QUALITIES: 1 = PRETTY BAD 2 = OKAY 3 = GREAT JOB 1 JOB 2 JOB 3 JOB 4 30 www.careervision.org Score 19 - 24 The job is likely to be a good fit. Go for it! 11 - 18 Do a little more exploration, or see if you can adapt the job in some way. 7 - 10 Look for other jobs that may be related to this one but are a better fit for your requirements. It may be another job in the same industry. It may be a different level, such as a physician's assistant instead of a doctor. You may also think of ways that you can adjust the job to fit you better. For instance, an administrative assistant who has a creative and artistic flair may seek a new job where he can use desktop publishing software to design brochures and newsletters as part of his position. Donít take the total numbers too seriously. The value in this exercise is mainly in the process of thinking about the job requirements and your own requirements, and how well the two mesh (or donít). One important reason you might disagree with the ì totalî value for a job is that this simple totaling process treats all of the factors as though they are equally important, but they seldom are. For example: • You might be willing to take your ì dream jobî even if it doesnít pay well and the hours are dreadful because you think compatibility of interests and values matters most. Copyright©2000, 2005 • You might take a job that is a poor match to your aptitudes and interests because it gets your foot in the door of a highly competitive industry. In this case, you have valued compatibility with your future goals most highly. • Or if your Uncle Fred offers you the chance to crew on his yacht in the Caribbean next summer, you might decide to jump at the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even if you have no long-term career goals associated with tourism, international trade, or water vehicle maintenance. 31 www.careervision.org