How do you find the occupation that is right for you?
This may seem like a very simple question to answer, or it may be one of the most difficult and challenging problems you will ever face in your life. If someone were to offer you $10,000, do you truthfully believe you could invest it wisely? How would your values affect your buying decisions? Where would you use the money? Can you visualize yourself spending it on that new car, or putting it in the bank for your future educational expenses? Your "time" is like that $10,000. How you spend it will be your investment in your own future. Four years of high school will prepare you for, college, military service, the world of work or Career College. Your career decision is a serious one that takes 4 years in its development. High school is not the end, but the beginning.
The Process of figuring it out!
If you look at deciding and choosing a career as a problem to be solved, you will find there are many solutions. One potential solution is to ask friends, guardians or other people in your life. You could take tests to evaluate your values and skills. You could apprentice or job shadow. Another potential solution is to look at data to reveal where the jobs are and what sorts of things will be needed in the future. One of the best ways to solve this problem is to visualize yourself in your future career. You may find your individual solution; however, the following scenario could start you on your way.
One Possible Solution
The first thing to do is to consider all of the potential careers that are open to you. Think of yourself as being in an Italian bakery, and it has many desserts that you have never tried before. You are standing in the beginning of your life, and looking at all the careers before you. Which option is right for you? You must choose, but how do you know. How do you actually know which direction is the best path for your future.
Random Choice
Let's assume you search I, eight through two thousand careers and you select 100
careers that seem right for you. These 100 careers now represent your values and
beliefs. It is necessary to narrow these 100 careers down to just 10 so you can
completely research and evaluate them. After you have considered such things as
salary, job benefits, working conditions, health plans, work location, and many other
such areas, you should narrow these down to just three. Now you need to do some
more in-
Contact and Interviews
After you have researched these three careers, it is recommended that you contact someone in each one of your potential careers for an interview. Develop your questions for the interviews from the facts and research you have conducted. If you go into an interview with no preparation, your question might be one like this: "What kind of money do you make?" Now that you have done your research, your question may be something like this: "I understand you can make between $50,000 and $75,000 in this field. What kind of salary can I expect in this area?"
Time for the Decision
After all of your research and interviews, you are now ready to make your decision. Visualize yourself in your future career. Dream a little bit and imagine yourself in one of these future careers. What does it feel like? What do you visualize yourself doing, and becoming? What would your friends and family think of this career? When you think of some of the difficult things in this career, can you ultimately overcome these and live with them for the rest of your life? Are the people in your chosen career, the kind of people you want to be around for the rest of your life? If the answers to most of these questions are "yes", then you will know: this is the right career for you and you think you.
A Good Place to Start is the CAP Center
The “scenario” is a brief set of questions designed to get you thinking about the kind of career that is
right for you. The “Reflective Statements” contain a series of statements that you should identify with,
and then find answers to questions related to that statement. The “Career Slider” is a comprehensive
set of links about choosing a career, information about careers, education, and training beyond high
school, and many other things such as trends, and outlooks for careers in your future.
Three important questions to answer are: “Who am I?”, “Where am I going?”, “How do I get there?”.
These web pages contain links that help you to find answers to these questions.
Other web pages on the CAP Center site include specific subjects such as: scholarships, grants,
apprenticeships, fellowships, Internships, Military, and getting a job right now. And finally, there is a
link to a site for “Workplace Readiness Skills”. This site contains important information about the
workplace, and what will be expected of you.