Career Decision Making
Gayle E. Wood, M.Ed.
Director of Access and Diversity
3-Steps to Career Planning
• Self-Assessment
– Evaluate your interests, personality and
values, skills and abilities.
• Career Exploration
– Evaluate career trends.
– Complete an information search.
• Put it Together
– Set a specific timetable for completing goals.
– Use your contacts.
Self-Assessment
•
Interests
– What sparks my interest?
– What activities give me the most
pleasure?
– What’s really important to me?
– What volunteer activities do I find most
enjoyable?
– What school subjects do I find most
interesting?”
Self-Assessment
• Skills and Abilities
– What are areas in which I excel?
– What are my special gifts and talents?
– What are some things I do for which I
receive compliments?
– In what subjects do I earn the highest
grades?”
Self-Assessment
• Personality and Values
– What are my lifestyle preferences?
– Do I prefer to be indoors or outdoors?
– Would I rather be with lots of people or by
yourself?
– Do I consider myself a quite, calm person or
an active person?
– Would I prefer a 9-5 work schedule or a
flexible work schedule?
Tools for Self Assessment
• Daydream about careers that
interest you.
• Review the classified section of the
Sunday Newspaper.
– Make a scrapbook of the job listings
you cut out of the newspaper.
– Pay attention to similarities in job
choices.
Tools for Self Assessment
•
•
Participate in a Shadow Program.
Review your Transcripts.
– Highlight those courses in which you
earned an A or B.
•
Take a Career Assessment.
– Meet with a counselor and take the
Campbell Interest Skills Survey.
Career Exploration
• Review Career Trends.
– Labor Market Trends
• Which employment fields will be dominant?
– Occupational Trends
• What careers are predicted for fast growth?
• What changes are occurring in occupational
trends?
• How has the work force changed in the last
few years?
• What significant work force changes will occur
in the next 5-10 years?
Career Exploration
• Complete an Information Search.
– Use the following Internet sites to research
specific careers.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook www.bls.gov/oco/
• Princeton Review www.princetonreview.com/cte/
• What Color is Your Parachute?
www.jobhuntersbible.com
• America's Career Infonet www.acinet.org/acinet/
• Tennessee Career Information Delivery System
www.tcids.utk.edu/
Career Exploration
•
•
Talk to people in the field.
Participate in an internship.
– Contact the placement office for more
information on internships.
Put It Together
•
Set a Specific Timetable.
– Write down long- and short-term goals
that guide you toward achieving the
career you want.
•
Teach K-5, graduation date, internship,
licensure, etc.)
– Periodically evaluate those goals.
Put It Together
•
Use Your Contacts.
– Network with people in your field before
you graduate from college, especially
during your last two semesters in
college.
Need Help?
• If you need assistance with career
planning, contact Counseling Services:
– Blount County Center - 981-5303
– Division Street Campus - 971-5218
– Magnolia Campus - 329-3113
– Pellissippi Campus - 694-6547