CHOOSING A CAREER

​CHOOSING A CAREER

​After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• ​Examine your career goals and abilities.

• Choose a career you’re interested in and might want to explore.

• Develop an educational or vocational plan for your career.

• Define the benefits and drawbacks of your future potential career.

​What do you want to do when you grow up? You’ve probably been asked this question a few times in your life. You may not have a clear answer for this question yet, and that’s ok. Maybe you’ve gotten some ideas of careers that might be good for you during this course. Maybe you have always known what you wanted to do and now just need to learn how to get there.

Open Ended

List one to a few jobs or careers you are interested in.

​Personality is the group of characteristics that makes an individual unique.

Personality traits identify different parts of a person’s personality. The following can be personality traits, as well as lots of other qualities.

-Caring -Honesty

-Good listener -Responsible

-Thoughtful -Friendly

-Practical -Dependable

-Logical -Resilient

-Creative -Polite

Think about the ways you describe yourself and who you are. This can tell you a lot about your personality.

Open Ended

What is one personality trait from the previous slide that fits you?

​Personality Traits

​In order to choose a career, you need to know yourself. Quizzes and tests are often used to help people decide what jobs would be best for them. Think of these as a way to learn about yourself or as a game—there are no wrong answers!

​The Holland Code is a test to help you find the right career. It uses job clusters, personality types, interest clusters, and work environment to help you find the right career.

Realistic. Realistic people are doers. They like to see a finished product and accomplish goals.

Investigative. Investigative people are thinkers. They like to solve problems and understand how things work.

Artistic. Artistic people are creators. They like ideas and enjoy working in the arts.

Social. Social people are helpers. They like to improve the lives of others in different ways.

Enterprising. Enterprising people are persuaders. They can convince people to buy or do things.

Conventional. Conventional people are organizers. They like to maintain order and are good at filing and office work.

Open Ended

Use the link (Holland Code) from the following slide and take the test.

What was your highest score(s)?

REALISTIC INVESTIGATIVE ARTISTIC SOCIAL ENTERPRISING CONVENTIONAL

Multiple Choice

The Holland Code matches up personalities and careers.

• TRUE

• FALSE

• ​REALISTIC: Careers in engineering, construction, information technology, agriculture and food and hospitality are all suited to realistic people. All of these jobs let you make something or put something together. You can see results and often work in a hands-on way.

• INVESTIGATIVE: Careers in engineering, science, mathematics, and research are all suited to investigative people. Some careers in medicine are also a good choice. All of these careers let you solve problems.

• ARTISTIC: Most of these people work best in the arts and communication cluster. They may be writers, artists, or designers. They might also be architects, or work in radio and TV. They are happiest in creative careers where they often work independently.

• ​SOCIAL: People who score high in the social section of the test may work best in health and human services careers. They make excellent nurses, counselors, therapists, and social workers. They can also work in education or even in hospitality. They’re good with other people and work well when they work closely with others.

• ENTERPRISING: Enterprising people often work in business and finance or in marketing and public relations. They are good at sales and at persuading people to do what they want. They may become business owners. Enterprising people like careers that let them be successful.

• CONVENTIONAL: Careers in office work, banking, accounting, and record keeping are ideal for conventional people. These careers require you be well-organized and like working with information. You may work with people or independently, but you often work with information and help to support

Open Ended

What was the result of your color test (the one I gave you in class)?

​Realistic/Green-Careers in engineering, construction, information technology, agriculture and food and hospitality are all suited to realistic people. All of these jobs let you make something or put something together. You can see results and often work in a hands-on way.

Investigative/Blue-Careers in engineering, science, mathematics, and research are all suited to investigative people. Some careers in medicine are also a good choice. All of these careers let you solve problems.

Artistic/Purple-Most of these people work best in the arts and communication cluster. They may be writers, artists, or designers. They might also be architects, or work in radio and TV. They are happiest in creative careers where they often work independently.

​Social/Red-People who score high in the social section of the test may work best in health and human services careers. They make excellent nurses, counselors, therapists, and social workers. They can also work in education or even in hospitality. They’re good with other people and work well when they work closely with others.

Enterprising/Orange-Enterprising people often work in business and finance or in marketing and public relations. They are good at sales and at persuading people to do what they want. They may become business owners. Enterprising people like careers that let them be successful.

Conventional/Yellow-Careers in office work, banking, accounting, and record keeping are ideal for conventional people. These careers require you be well-organized and like working with information. You may work with people or independently, but you often work with information and help to support others as they work to achieve a goal. These types of workers are needed in many different career fields.

Multiple Choice

Everyone fits into only one personality type.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Multiple Choice

Personality type doesn’t matter when choosing your career.

• TRUE

• FALSE

​Making a plan can help you make the best choices

​Choosing a career means setting goals.

In order to succeed, you need to set goals.

Goals are desired results that you plan for and make happen.

Setting goals gives you motivation and can break something big, like a career, down into manageable and actionable steps.

Actionable means there is something you can do to make your

goal happen.

Manageable means that the steps are small and something you

can achieve.

Multiple Choice

Goals should be manageable and large.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Multiple Choice

Breaking down goals makes them harder to achieve.

• TRUE

• FALSE

​For career development, you can think of your goals in four parts:

• Career: What do you want to do for a living? What level of achievement do you want in your career?

• Financial: How much money do you want to make? How important is financial wealth to you?

• Educational: What do you want to learn? What degrees or certificates do you need to achieve your goals?

Multiple Choice

Which is the best definition of manageable?

• asking for help from others

• making a plan

• breaking a boig goal down into smaller pieces

• creating multiple goals

​Are you ready to make a plan for your career?

Your plan starts now!

You can think about what you can do in high school to prepare for your career.

That might mean getting good grades.

It might mean volunteer work, an internship, or a part time job.

These can help you experience what a working day is like in your career field, so you can get a better idea about whether or not this career is what you want to do.

Multiple Choice

Which of these is NOT a goal?

• becoming a doctor

• writing a novel

• getting an A on a test

• staying at home sick

​ It’s okay if your plan changes. In fact, it probably will! It might even change a lot. While your plan may change, and you’ll grow up, some of the traits and interests you have now will stick around. You might find your career plan ten years from now and see that it was surprisingly close to your actual career!