CHOOSING A CAREER

Navigating the journey

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

What is a career? 3Where to start 4

Self-awareness 5

Your interests 5Your values 6

Your personality 7

Your skills 9Personal circumstances 10

Career exploration 11

Researching careers 11Networking 11

Work experience 12

Decision making 13

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INTRODUCTION

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Reading this booklet willnot help you to make animmediate career decision!Choosing a career is aprocess, not an event; ittakes time and thought.What this booklet aims to do isto help you make a start in thisprocess by outlining thedifferent stages of makingcareer choices, the issues thatstudents should think aboutduring this process, and someresources that will help you tofind out more about yourselfand your options.

Think of this booklet as anintroduction and use theresources it suggests to followup and learn more. After youhave

have done this, you may wantsome personal guidance basedon your own individual needsand interests. Career counselorsare available at all stages of yourstudies to provide this: see page16.

What is a career?A career is more than just a job!

The word “career” used to beassociated with paidemployment in a singleoccupation or job. Today, werecognize that a career is madeup of many stages: it couldinclude further study, time out(including for parenthood orother caring responsibilities aswell as gap years), volunteering,part-time work, or self-employment

employment. An individual islikely to undergo many changes,voluntary or otherwise, in theirwork, work status, andemployer during the course oftheir career.

The changing and uncertainnature of careers means thatyou are not choosing a “job forlife;” your first job role aftercollege is just a step on a pathwhere you will have to beprepared to take new directionsand make decisions on a regularbasis. To manage these changespositively, you need to beprepared to keep learningthroughout your life and take anactive role in building yourcareer. The following principlesof career planning, created byCanadian career developmentspecialists, provide a usefulguide to help you understandthe implications of thischanging world of work:

1 Change is constant

We change constantly, and sodoes the working world aroundus. Most people now encountermany jobs during their lifelongcareer journey. Those who aremost aware of change, inthemselves and the worldaround them, are able to makeproactive choices and benefitfrom change – rather than resistor complain about it.

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2 Learning is lifelong

When change is constant,learning needs to be ongoing.Learning does not end when yougraduate. Opportunities tolearn, formally or informally, areeverywhere!

3 Focus on the journey

Life is a journey. Identifyingyour goals and purpose givesyou direction. However, don’tget too fixed on a singledestination. This lack offlexibility can prevent you fromadapting to the changes,challenges, and opportunitiesthat are happening right now.

4 Access your allies

You do not take your journeythrough life alone. Friends,relatives, teachers, neighbors,and colleagues can all be willingand helpful allies in helping youtake the next steps on thisjourney.

5 Follow your heart

It’s important to work atsomething that makes you feelhappy and productive. As thingsaround you change, knowingand believing in yourself willhelp you stay your course. Yourvision for the future gives youthe energy to go after what youwant. That vision may changeover time, but if you stay intouch with yourself, you’ll beable to see your destination.

Where to startThe following three-stagemodel is commonly used incareer planning:

Self-awareness. Understandingyourself – your interests, values,skills, personality traits, goals,aspirations, and what reallymotivates and drives you – is themost vital part of making careerchoices. Nobody else can tellyou what to do because nobodyelse knows you as well as youknow yourself! The followingpages give suggestions for howyou can increase your self-awareness and gain a greaterunderstanding of what’simportant to you.

Career exploration. What careerchoices are available now, andmay be available in the future,in the industries and professionsin which you are interested,experienced, or qualified? Whatis the job outlook for thesechoices? What do these jobsactually entail on a daily basis?Learning more about youroptions will help you determineif one (or more) of these optionsis right for you.

Decision making. Once you havecompleted the prior two steps,you can bring them together tohelp make decisions. While noone can make your careerdecisions for you, drawing onother people’s professionalknowledge, reputation, andskills when planning your careercan be invaluable. Working witha mentor or seeking 1-on-1career guidance from a trainedcareer counselor are both waysthat can help you through thedecision making process.

“You helped me get toknow who I am and whatI want to do with my life!”

(Career counseling student at EKU)

The rest of this booklet will lookat each of these stages in moredetail.

SELF-AWARENESS

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Your interestsMost people will say, “I want todo a job that interests me.” Yourinterests have alreadyinfluenced many of your lifechoices to date: choosing whichuniversity to attend, workexperience you haveundertaken, how you spendyour spare time, where you havespent your holidays, etc… Theymay have been responsible forfriends you have made andhelped you to develop yourskills. These interests willprobably have a similarinfluence on your career.

For some people, an interest isso important that it is the maininfluence on their career choice.A gifted athlete, for example,may be able to use their interestand ability to succeed as aprofessional athlete. Many morepeople will be content to playtheir sport at a recreational levelbut will still take this interestinto account when selecting acareer or an employer. Somemay enter sports-related careersin leisure management, sportsadministration or promotion,retailing sporting goods, orteaching P.E. Others will seekout careers in different fieldsthat offer similar opportunitiesfor physical activity, teamwork,competition, or challenge.

John Holland developed atheory about individuals’interests and categorized theminto six different theme areas:Realistic, Investigative, Artistic,Social, Enterprising, andConventional. Typically, one, ora combination of up to three, ofthese theme areas cancharacterize a person’s interests,as well as occupationalenvironments. The combinationof interest areas is referred to asa Holland Theme Code. The ideabehind this theory is that peoplesearch for occupationalenvironments that match theirinterests. Holland’s theory hasbeen used in the development

of several vocational interestinventories. MyPlan is an onlineresource you can use to assessyour interests and discover yourHolland Theme Code. View thisvideo on Interests, and thennavigate to MyPlan to createyour free account. Whenprompted, input the codeUHYKL3EK, which allows you totake the assessments for free.Afterwards, read the InterestInventory Report and take noteof words or phrases with whichyou resonate. The last page ofthe report takes you toCareerMatch, where you can seewhich careers might match yourinterests.

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Your valuesWhat are your values?Your values are those things inyour life that you consider to beimportant and that give youmotivation. In relation to work,values are what give purpose toa job in the eyes of theindividual who does it. Theeffort, commitment, andmotivation that a person bringsto a job is usually in directproportion to the values thatthey perceive in it.

Examples of work-related valuescould include:

• Creativity: engaging increative work or create newideas, programs, etc…

• Influence: being in a positionto change attitudes oropinions of other people

• Leadership: having theresponsibility of managing orsupervising others

• Helping others: eitherindividuals or groups, orsociety

• Independence: workingautonomously or with littleto no supervision

• Change and variety: havingwork responsibilities thatchange in their content andsettings

• Challenge: performing tasksthat are difficult

• Risk-taking: taking actionsand making decisions thatpotentially involves danger

• Recognition: receiving creditfor achievements

• Prestige: having respect andhigh standing in others’ eyes

• Profit/Gain: salary, bonuses,pension schemes, and otheremployee benefits

• Advancement: having a clearcareer path and promotionstructure

• Security: a strong likelihoodof staying in that job as longas you want

• Stability: having a predictablework routine

• Competence: having thenecessary knowledge andskills required to do the job

• Achievement: doing workwith tangible results

• Clear Expectations: havingwell-established procedureswith specific steps and well-defined outcomes

• Location: finding a place ortown that is conducive to thelifestyle you want to live

• Work/life balance: havingadequate time to pursueinterests outside of work

Think about how importanteach value on this list is to you.Perhaps use a rating scale from 1(not important) to 4 (extremelyimportant). Reflect on whythese values are important toyou. Imagine a career in whichyour top values would never befulfilled. How do you feel? Now

imagine a career in which yourmost important values arefulfilled. How differently do youfeel now?

Some careers instantly call tomind a particular set of values. Asocial worker will probably givehelping others priority, perhapsalong with independence andchallenge. Meanwhile, valuessuch as profit/gain andadvancement might bedismissed as irrelevant to his orher career choice.

In many cases, a single careerfield can offer scope forsatisfying many differentvalues. For example,

• A CPA working in a largeprivate practice may valueprestige, profit/gain, andsecurity…

• One who has left the samefirm to set up her ownpractice may enjoyindependence and risk-taking…

• While a third, who works fora nonprofit, may gain hismain satisfaction fromhelping others…

• But all of them may equallyvalue the variety,responsibility, andintellectual challenge of theirday-to-day work.

Your values are likely to play akey role in your career choiceand to be the main factor indeciding on a career or a careerpath within a particular field ofemployment.

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Your personalityYour interests and values aretwo of the factors that make youan individual and will influenceyour career choice. What otheraspects of your personality needto be considered?

Understanding your personalitycan help you think about howyou prefer to approachproblems, plan your time, andrelate to people. You can alsogain insight into the workenvironments that will best suityou, as well as the types of workthat might be most rewarding.

Personal characteristics mayhave a strong influence on yourchoice of career. Anybody whofeels that terms like “outgoing”and “assertive” are the completeopposite of their personality isunlikely to be happy, forexample, in sales or arguing acase in a courtroom. They mayfind their niche, however, in aninformation or research focusedrole.

You may think that certainpersonal styles, such as beingreserved and cautious, might beseen as negative, but beingcautious is a valuable quality infinancial jobs and crucial formany medical occupations. Doyou want a surgeon who isn’tcautious?! Similarly, beingreserved may be linked toenhanced ability to concentrateand attention to detail, whichmay be important in scientificand computing fields.

Before relating your personalstyle to careers, though, youneed to make sure that youunderstand what a particularcareer demands. If you aremethodical, cautious, andreliable, you could certainly dowell as an accountant – but atthe same time, you need to beadaptable, persistent, andconfident to deal with the rangeof clients you are likely toencounter.

Although personality is acomplex attribute, there is oneaspect known as personalpreference that has been studiesthoroughly and which hasproven relevant to the careerdecision making process. If youhave never explored yourpersonality preferences, itwould be beneficial to have alittle background on personalitytheory.

The theory of personalpreference is based on the ideathat we seem to be born withpreferred ways to obtain ourenergy, take in information,reach decisions, and deal withthe outside world. Thesepreferences lead to 16 differentpersonality types, each of whichis characterized by preferredbehavior patterns. These caninfluence many of the choicesthat we make in life, includingour choice of career.

“To thine own self betrue.”(William Shakespeare)

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There are many personalityassessments that can help youto discover and understand yourpersonality type, how it affectsyour behavior, and how itrelated to career choice. Thebest-known assessment tool isthe Myers Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI), which looks at yourpreferred ways of interactingwith others, taking ininformation, making decisions,and working.

It is based on four sets ofpreferences, relating to how youprefer to:

• direct your energy(Extraversion-Introversion)

• take in information (Sensing-iNtuition)

• make decisions (Thinking-Feeling)

• live in the world around you(Judging-Perceiving)

The end result is one of sixteenfour-letter codes thatsummarizes your personalitytype. You can take a similarpersonality assessment onMyPlan. View this video onpersonality, and then navigateto MyPlan to take thepersonality assessment. Readthe Personality Test Report andtake note of words or phrasesthat describe you or how youmight prefer to be at work. Youcan then click on CareerMatch tosee careers that your personalitytype may enjoy.

It is important to remember that no career assessment can tell you what career you “should” do or what to do with the “rest of your life.” These assessments serve as guides

for brainstorming. Career choice is ultimately your decision based on a combination of factors, including interests, values, personality, and skills.

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Your skillsIn the process of careerexploration, it is important toassess your skills and realizeyour talents. When yourecognize your talents, yourskills, your education, and yourexperiences, you candetermined your strengths.Taking the time to recognizethese areas, and combining thisinformation with your interests,values, and personalitypreferences, will lead you toexplore career areas that will bechallenging and satisfying.

Consider that skills are easier todevelop if you have the talent tolearn them; course work is easierto accomplish if there is interestand a natural ability. How doyou begin to learn about yourown skills and talents? It is often

difficult to distinguish a talentfrom a skill. Skills are somethingyou have acquired or learned.They are defined as the ability todo something well, especially asa result of experience. A talent isa natural ability.

To begin recognizing your skills,think about youraccomplishments andachievements. What skills haveyou already developed throughcourse work, part-time jobs,volunteer work, and schoolactivities? For example, you mayhave been a member of theyearbook staff: what were yourtasks; what is oneaccomplishment you achievedduring your time on the staff? Ifyou worked a part-time job:what were your tasks; what wasa difficult situation you handled;what did you enjoy; what didyou dislike?

It is one thing to have a skill atwhich you excel. It is quiteanother to have a skill at whichyou excel and actually enjoy it.Can you think of a skill you’reperfectly capable of doing butbores you? Cleaning a toiletcomes to mind! Now, can youthink of a skill at which youmight not be quite as proficientbut you enjoy doing it? Perhapssinging in the shower is yourhidden talent! Whenconsidering which skills youwould like to use most often in acareer, keep in mind those twoimportant factors: (1) how goodare you at the skill – or howgood do you think you couldbecome at the skill, and (2) howmuch do you enjoy doing theskill?

Consider the list of skills on thefollowing page:

“Once you know yourskills, you have thebuilding blocks of youroccupation, and withthese building blocks,you can define anoccupation you love todo.”(Richard Bolles)

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• Agriculture

• Landscaping

• Working with animals

• Working with machinery andtools

• Athleticism and physicalcoordination

• Knowledge in a particularsubject, such as math orscience

• Researching, investigating,and analyzing

• Critical thinking andproblem-solving

• Reading and writing

• Creativity and innovation

• Artistic skills

• Performing

• Designing new products orprocesses

• Providing practical help

• Teaching

• Medical skills

• Verbal communication

• Listening

• Providing emotional support

• Counseling

• Selling and influencingothers

• Budgeting and financialmanagement

• Leadership and management

• Decision-making

• Computer skills

• Accuracy and attention todetails

• Planning and organizing

Which of these skills are yougood at? How do you know? Ofthose skills at which you excel,how much do you enjoy thoseskills? Are there skills you enjoythat you perhaps need to workon a bit to increase your level ofproficiency? Ideally, you want touse those skills at which youexcel and find enjoyable in yourideal career.

Personal circumstancesAs well as your interests, values,personality, and skills, theremay be external factors – somebeyond your control – that youmay need to take into accountwhen making career decisions,such as a disability, financialrestraints, familial obligations,or even your partner’s careerchoices.

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CAREER EXPLORATION

Researching careersCareer research is a veryimportant of your careerplanning. It will help you toexplore possible careerpathways, get behind thesuperficial popular impressionof a career, and identify anypotential issues (e.g.,qualifications, experiences,skills, and personal qualities)that you may need to consideras you pursue your goals. Theearlier that you can identifythese issues, the more preparedyou will be to tackle them andimprove your chances ofsuccess.

Examples of things that areuseful to know include:

• What does the job reallyinvolve?

• What skills and qualificationsdo employers look for?

• Do I need further educationor training?

• What is the job outlook?

• What is the average salary?

• What occupations are similarto ones in which I’m currentlyinterested?

• How can I gain some relevantwork experience?

You can get answers to most ofthese questions through the jobprofiles/job descriptions on thefollowing websites:

• Career One Stop

• Occupational Outlook Handbook

• O*NET

NetworkingTalking to people, ornetworking, can be a key tool inyour career research anddecision-making. Most peopleenjoy helping others and talkingabout their jobs. Networkinginvolves using your contacts tomeet people who can give youinformation about the job inwhich you are interested or refer

You may feel that, at themoment, you have no contactswho are likely to be able to helpyou begin networking…but juststart to think about all thepeople you do know – friends,relatives, professors, past andpresent employers – and all thepeople they might know.Remember the “six degrees ofseparation” theory that any twoindividuals are linked by anaverage of six acquaintances.

Social media is a valuable tool increating and developingnetworks. If you follow andinteract with professionals inyour area of interest viaLinkedIn, Twitter, and evenFacebook, you will be able tofind out what is going on in thisarea, demonstrate your interestand motivation, showcase yourskills, and keep up to date withjob opportunities.

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Work experienceWork experience can beanything from a day’s work jobshadowing to a semester longplacement in a co-op orinternship. It can includevolunteering, part-time work,holiday jobs, and campus roles.Any work experience can bevaluable in helping you assesswhether a role or a sector is oneyou would want to work in as along-term career and to narrowdown your career options.

Finding out what is not right foryou is just as valuable asdiscovering what is suitable; if itturns out that the role is not agood fit for you, then it’s betterto find out on a short placementthan after you have started afull-time job.

Work experience will help youto become more realistic andinformed about future careerchoices. You may also realizewhich sort of activities youvalue, what work environmentis most comfortable for you,how you work in teams, andhow you respond to colleagues.Any work experience – even apart-time casual job – can helpyou to learn about yourself andthe world of work.

It is a useful exercise to reflecton any work experience that youhave had - what you learned andwhat else you gained from it.

• What skills did I use?

• What motivated ordemotivated me about thework?

• What did I find most/leastinteresting?

• Did the organization andwork fit with my values?

• Did I enjoy the work? If so,why? If not, why not?

• What was the culture of theorganization like?

• What makes theorganization different fromits competitors?

• What did I learn about theorganization as a whole, itsclients/customers, and therole of the more senior staff?

• What would I have donedifferently if I had been incharge?

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DECISION MAKING

The final stage inchoosing a career is tobring everything thatyou have learned aboutyourself and youropportunities together.There are manyopportunities open tograduates, and it cantake time to find yourway through them alland begin your jobsearch in earnest.This booklet and the onlineresources referred to are goodstarting points, but it’s a goodidea to talk these issues overwith a qualified human being!

A career counselor will not tellyou what you “should” do – this isyour decision!

Some of the things they can doinclude:

• Listen to you and understandwhat is important to you

• Help you explore youroptions and consider the prosand cons

• Help you identify your skillsand interests

• Offer advice on how toresearch your optionsfurther, including careers,postgraduate study, and gapyear options

• Explore themes that appear

• Guide you through thedecision-making process.

These appointments are totallyconfidential and are available toEKU students at all stages ofyour studies – and even your lifeas an alumnus!

For further help with your decision making, you can make an appointment to speak to a career counselor by emailing career-coop@eku.edu

or calling 859-622-1296.