Lesson
Career Pathways
1
Career decision and selection of career pathways remain to be a big problem for you,
your parents, and other authorities around you due to varied external factors, work
environments and interests affecting you in the process.
In this lesson you will explore all these factor and study the advantages and
disadvantages of different working environments that will help you in your career
planning and development.
What’s In
In the previous lesson, you explored the personal/internal factors and the career
interest areas affecting your career choices, in order to understand further the
concepts of career and life goals which are relatively important in the planning of
career development. To complete the whole process you need to explore the external
factors influencing career choices that may help you in career decision making, identify
the advantages and disadvantages of career options necessary to prepare for a career
plan.
What’s New
Activity 1.1 Essay Writing – A Puzzled Mind …
Directions: Write an essay by answering all the questions below in no particular order.
Create your own title and write your answer in your journal notebook.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What is it important to you?
What affects your choices?
What hinders you to choose
What would you like to do?
What are you interested in?
What do you need to know?
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(Essay Title)
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What is It
What influences Your Career Choices?
There are a lot of external factors to consider in career development. As you go
through the different factors below, you will see how they affect or influence your
career choices. You will also identify which among these factors have least and big
impact to your career options.
Skills and Abilities
Skills and abilities are the things you naturally do well, talents and strengths
that you possess. These can include natural capabilities you've always had or acquired
through experience and training.
Interest and Personality Type
Are your interests and personality type compatible with your career choice?
You need to know what makes you happy and be motivated every day. Learning about
your interest and personality leads you to better choose a working environment that
fits you.
Life Roles
You play multiple roles in your lives and that these roles change over the course
of time. How you think about yourself on these roles may influence how you look at
careers in general and how you make choices for yourself.
Previous Experiences
Having positive experiences and role models working in specific careers may
influence you on the set of careers you consider as options for yourself. If you have
proven success and achieved positive self-esteem in a particular area of work, more
likely, you will have it as a top career option.
Culture
Racial and ethnic background, as well as the culture of your local community,
and extended family, may impact career your decisions. Culture often shapes your
values and expectations as they relate to many parts of your lives, including jobs and
careers.
Gender
How you view yourself as an individual in terms of gender may influence both
the opportunities and obstacles you perceive as you make career decisions. Studies
of gender and career development are ongoing as the roles of men and women in the
workplace evolve.
Social and Economic Conditions
All of your career choices take place within the context of society and the
economy. Changes in the economy and the resulting job market may also affect how
your careers develop.
Childhood Fantasies
What do you want to be when you grow-up? You can remember this question
during your childhood years, and it may have influenced your thoughts about careers,
then, as well as in the present moment.
1. Department of Education, Republic of the Philippines, Personal Development Reader 1st edition, What Influences
Your Career Choice? by Melissa Venable (Quezon City: Sunshine Interlinks Publishing House Inc., 2016), 104105.
Activity 1.2
Reflectionnaire
Directions: In your journal notebook, answer the following questions.
1. What realizations do you have after reading the article on the external factors
affecting your career choices?
2. How do you think will this information be relevant to your career decision?
Activity 1.3 The Quick Job-Hunting Map: The Party
Directions: Below is an aerial view (from the floor above) of a room in which a party
is taking place. At this party, people with the same or similar interests have (for some
reason) all gathered in the same corners of the room. After looking over the room,
answer the following questions in your journal notebook.
Aerial View of Room
A
People who have
athletic or mechanical
ability, prefer to work
with object, machines, analyze, evaluate
animals or solve problems
C
People who like to work
with data, have clerical
or numerical ability, prefer to
carry things out in detail
or follow through
on others’ instructions
People who like to work
with people—influencing
persuading, performing,
leading, or managing
for organizational
goals or for
E
economic gain
People who
like to observe,
learn, investigate
tools, plants, or
or be outdoors
I
People who have artistic,
A
innovating, or intuitional abilities,
and like to work in unstructured
situations using their imaginations
or creativity
People who like to work
with people to
inform, enlighten
help, train, develop
or cure them
or are skilled
with words
S
1. Which group of people inside the party room would you choose to join and enjoy
for a long time? What are the traits do you like from these people you want to
mingle with?
2. After fifteen minutes of joining the party, everyone in the corner of the room
leaves to join another party, except you. Among the other groups in the corner
of the room who still remain, which of them you want to join as your second
option and why?
3. After another fifteen minutes, everyone in the group leaves again for another
party, except you. Among the other groups who are still there, which of them
you want to join for the last time and why?
4. The top three (3) chosen groups above, resemble of your career paths in the
future, cite the advantages and disadvantages to each of your choice.
5. What were your realizations after the said activity?
Psychologist John Holland classified jobs/careers/work environments into six:
1. Realistic (Do’er) – Prefers physical activities that require skill, strength, and
coordination. Traits include genuine, stable, conforming, and practical. Example
professions include architect, farmer, and engineer.
2. Investigative (Thinker) – Prefers working with the theory and information, thinking,
organizing, and understanding. Traits include: analytical, curious, and
independent. Example professions include lawyer, mathematician, and professor.
3. Artistic (Creator) – Prefers creative, original, and unsystematic activities that allow
creative expression. Traits include: imaginative, disorderly, idealistic, emotional,
and impractical. Example professions include: artist, musician, and writer.
4. Social (Helper) – Prefers activities that involve helping, healing, or developing
others. Traits include cooperative, friendly, sociable, and understanding. Example
professions include counselor, doctor, and teacher.
5. Enterprising (Persuader) – Prefers competitive environments, leadership,
influence, selling, and status. Traits include ambitious, domineering, energetic, and
self-confident. Example professions include Management, Marketing, and Sales
Person.
6. Conventional (Organizer) – Prefers precise, rule-regulated, orderly, and
unambiguous activities. Traits include conforming, efficient, practical,
unimaginative, and inflexible. Example professions include accountant, clerk and
editor.
You are most happy when you are placed in jobs that match your personality. When
personality and occupation are in agreement, employee satisfaction is high and there
will be less turnover.
Holland’s Hexagon of Job Personalities
Holland created a hexagon view to show the relationships of job personality
types.
Realistic
Investigative
Conventional
Enterprising
Artistic
Social
Notice that the job personality types closer to each other are more alike, while
the job personality types further away are least alike. You can see more clearly the
relationships of job personalities according to their placements on the hexagon. For
example, for Realistic and Social job personality types, you will see that they are
virtually the opposite of each other. On the other hand, Social and Artistic are located
besides each other. This shows that realistic and social job personality types are least
alike, while social and artistic job personality types are more alike.
What’s More
Activity 1.5 Graphic Organizer
Directions: How does each of the following factors influence or affect your decision in
choosing a career? Copy the format of the graphic organizer to your journal notebook
and fill in the boxes with your answers. Then answer the processing questions that
follow.
Me and
My Career
Abilities
Skills
Childhood
Fantasies
Culture
Personality/
Interests
Gender
Life Roles/ Social/Economic
Experience
Conditions
Processing Questions:
1. With the different factors affecting your career choice, which among them
do you think are less important and why?
2. Which of the factors do you consider has great impact to your career choice?
3. Which of the factors you need more time to work out in order to come up
with a decision on your career options?
4. What are your realizations after doing the activity?
Lesson
2
Insights Into One’s Personal
Development
Personal development plays an important role in setting your career and life goals.
The factors and insights in personal development may guide you in making important
career decisions as an adolescent. It is in this reason that this lesson is formulated for
your guidance and clarification of your personal mission relative to career options.
What’s In
In the previous lesson, you explored the external factors influencing your career
choices which may help you in career decision making, and identified the advantages
and disadvantages of the different career pathways in order to prepare for a career
plan. In this lesson, you will deepen your career and life goals with some insights of
personal development more particularly with your personal mission statement, goals
and aspirations.
What’s New
Activity 2.1 Personal Mission Statement
Directions: Compose your own personal mission statement with the following parts.
Then answer the questions below for reflection in your journal notebook.
My Personal Mission Statement
Your Name
•
•
Your general statement showing what you value most
Who inspires you and why
•
What qualities you want to have
•
What are your goals and aspirations
•
What beliefs do you hold
•
How you want to be known (legacy)
•
And others you might want to be included here
Reflectionnaire
1. How do you feel in the process of making your personal mission statement?
Have you experienced difficulty in formulating it? Support your answer.
2. Does your personal mission statement truly represent who you are? Why?
3. Is your personal mission statement an important factor in achieving your life
goals and career choices?
4. What are your over-all realizations after the activity?
What is It
What is a Personal Mission Statement?
Writing your personal mission statement is essential. It is more than your goals
and aspirations. As an adolescent, this will help you identify your priorities and reflect
on how you live life leading to the realization of your goals, be it short-term or longterm. Like a compass, your personal mission statement becomes your guide and
direction which comes from you and not from someone else.
Your personal mission statement shows your awareness and commitment of
your life long journey towards personal development, which is essential in setting
career and life goals.
There’s no right or wrong way to formulate a personal mission statement. As
much as, there are no limits on what should be included as part of it. What is important
is you write it down and be passionate on its realizations.
The content of your personal mission statement may include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Education
Career
Personal attributes, such as honesty, loyalty and dedication
Family and personal relationships
Lifestyle
Sports
Faith and Spirituality
Community service
How to Make a Personal Mission Statement?
1. Identify Some Past Successes
These successes can be personal or professional. Remembering past
successes is beneficial because it helps you reconsider the learnings in the past and
adopt the appropriate strategies necessary for success.
2. Identify Your Core Values
This highlights your best personal attributes, values, priorities and other things
you consider important as the heart or motivation of your personal mission, goals and
aspirations.
3. Identify Your Contributions
Make a list of the ways you feel you could make a difference. How do you
believe you can contribute to the society? Identifying your contributions can help you
best understand in what ways you can be of great influence to others.
4. Identify Your Goals
Consider your priorities in life and the goals you have for yourself and for other
people who important to you. Listing your personal goals is valuable in this step.
Writing your personal mission statement should now be easily formulated
following the four steps.
Why You Need a Personal Mission Statement?
Personal mission statement is an important guide in personal development.
They motivate you to reflect deeply about your life, its purpose, and identify what is
truly important to you. Personal mission statement also inspires you to express your
deepest values and aspirations. It traces your life values and purposes in your mind
so they become a part of you.
Why is a Personal Mission Statement Important?
1. It integrates who you are.
2. It provides focus.
3. It simplifies any decision-making processes.
4. It holds you accountable for your decisions and actions.
Writing a personal mission statement gives you sense of direction and
responsibility. Personal mission statement allows you to get to know yourself better
and discover your sense of purpose in life.
What’s More
Activity 2.2 Enhanced Personal Mission Statement
Directions: With the use of index card finalize your personal mission statement. It
may include the following information:
Card 1. Education: What do you see yourself accomplishing in the area of your
academic/education?
Card 2. Career: What kind of career are you seeing yourself doing with passion? How
would you know that you are successful in this career?
Card 3. Personal Attributes: What are the values, skills and personal attributes you
wish to develop in you? How would you like to be seen as a person?
Card 4. Family and Personal Relationships: How do you see the quality of your
family and personal life? What are the things that you would like to do or provide for
them?
Card 5. How you want to live your life: What kind of lifestyle you aspire to have?
Card 6. Faith and Spirituality: How do you see your faith growing in the years to
come? How do you intend to make sure that you will be able to deepen your faith and
spiritual life?
Card 7. Community Service: How do you intend to give back or “pay it forward” to
your community? What do you envision to be your contribution to the community?
Card 8. Free Card: Write anything else that you feel would be relevant and part of
your personal mission in life.
What I Can Do
Activity 2.4
Bucket List
Directions: Based from your Personal Mission Statement, make a list (as many as
you can) of the things you want to accomplish in your life towards the full realization
of your personal/career development. Arrange them according to your priority and
write your insights and reflections on how important these lists to actualize your
personal mission statement. Copy the format below and accomplish the task in your
journal notebook.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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My Insights and Reflections:
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Additional Activities
Activity 2.5 Personal Development: Hindsight and Foresight
Direction: Write an essay on your journey through this course on Personal
Development. How have you changed since the beginning of this semester? What
have you learned about yourself? What activities and reading were the most useful to
you? What can you do in order to continue your personal development after this
course?