Career Decision-Making Process: Steps to Choose the Right Career

1. CHAPTER 2 Getting to Know Yourself

2. A Seven-Step Process A decision-making process is a logical series of steps used to identify and evaluate possibilities and arrive at a good choice.

3. Using the Decision-Making Process to Choose a Career Step 1 Define your needs. Step 2 Analyze your personal resources. continued

4. Using the Decision-Making Process to Choose a Career Step 3 Identify your career choices. Step 4 Research your career choices. continued

5. Using the Decision-Making Process to Choose a Career Step 5 Evaluate your career choices. Step 6 Make your decision. continued

6. Using the Decision-Making Process to Choose a Career Step 7 Plan how to reach your goal.

7. Step 1: Define Your Needs Consider your hopes and dreams for the future. • Where do you want to live? • Do you want a job that allows you to travel? • Do you hope to marry and have children?

8. Step 2: Analyze Your Personal Resources Your personal resources are who you are and what you have to offer. continued

9. Step 2: Analyze Your Personal Resources Your resources include your • values, • interests, • aptitudes and abilities, and • personality traits and styles of learning.

10. Step 3: Identify Your Career Choices Select several possible careers that match your personal goals and resources. Keep your eyes and ears open to discover “what’s out there.”

11. Step 4: Research Your Career Choices Find out all you can about the careers you identified in Step 3.

12. Step 5: Evaluate Your Career Choices Look at your career choices in detail to see if they match your personal goals and resources.

13. Step 6: Make Your Decision It is important to make a decision and have a plan, even if you later change your career goal. continued

14. Step 6: Make Your Decision If you discover that your career goal is unrealistic or undesirable, you can repeat the decision-making process to arrive at a new goal. continued

15. Step 7: Plan How to Reach Your Goal Once you’ve reached your career decision, you can begin to plan how to reach your goal.

16. Graphic Organizer 2.1 Using the Decision-Making Process to Choose a Career Step 1: Define your needs. Step 2: Analyze your personal resources. Step 3: Identify your career choices. Step 4: Research your career choices. Step 5: Evaluate your career choices. Step 6: Make your decision. Step 7: Plan how to reach your goals. Chapter 2 • Getting to Know Yourself Succeeding in the World of Work

17. SECTION 2.1 REVIEW Key Concept Checkpoint Comprehension Explain the importance of having a strategy for choosing a career. continued

18. SECTION 2.1 REVIEW Key Concept Checkpoint Critical Thinking Why might you use the decision-making process many times before finding the right career?

19. Setting Lifestyle Goals Your lifestyle goals are the ways you want to spend your time, energy, and resources in the future. What kind of life do you want to lead? continued

20. Setting Lifestyle Goals • What do you want to accomplish in life? • Do you want to raise a family? • Where would you like to live—in a house or in an apartment? In a city or in the country? continued

21. Setting Lifestyle Goals • How would you like to spend your free time? • Do you want a high income or just enough money to be comfortable?

22. What Are Your Values? Your values are the principles you live by and the beliefs that are important to you. continued

23. What Are Your Values? Besides principles and beliefs, your values may also include concrete things, such as money and fine clothing.

24. What Are Your Values? Choosing a career that matches your values can help ensure that you enjoy your work.

25. Six General Values Your values may change as you go through life. However, you will probably keep a core set of basic values that you learned as a child.

26. Six General Values To help determine your current values, think about six main values.

27. 1. Responsibility Being responsible means fulfilling obligations in a dependable and trustworthy way. Can you think of any careers especially suited to someone who values responsibility?

28. 2. Relationships If you value relationships, your family and friends are important to you. Can you think of any careers especially suited to someone who values relationships?

29. 3. Compassion Compassion is caring deeply about people and their well-being. A compassionate person may choose a career that would better people’s lives.

30. 4. Courage Courage is the ability to conquer fear or despair. You use courage when you speak up for an unpopular cause.

31. 5. Achievement Valuing achievement means wanting to succeed in whatever you do. Can you think of any careers especially suited to someone who values achievement?

32. 6. Recognition If you value recognition, you want other people to appreciate and respect your accomplishments. You can be recognized with a good salary, through job promotions, or with approval and praise.

33. What Are Your Aptitudes and Abilities? Meet with someone you trust. Ask the person to write down what he or she thinks your aptitudes and abilities are. Does this person agree with your self-evaluation?

34. ETHICSin Action Calling in Sick You really want to go on the trip, and you have five sick days that can be used immediately. THINK ABOUT IT Should you call in sick and go to the beach? Why or why not?

35. Data, People, or Things? Identifying your interests can help you recognize whether you would prefer to work with data, people, or things.

36. Data, People, or Things? The data category includes information, ideas, facts, symbols, figures, or statistics. The people category includes people and animals.

37. Data, People, or Things? The things category includes physical objects of any size, such as instruments, tools, machinery, equipment, raw materials, and vehicles.

38. Aptitude is the potential for learning a certain skill. Ability is a skill you have already developed. Think of them as “before” and “after”.

39. Graphic Organizer 2.3 Aptitudes and Abilities Training and Study + = Ability Aptitude Chapter 2 • Getting to Know Yourself Succeeding in the World of Work

40. Aptitudes and Abilities There are many kinds of aptitudes and abilities, including: • thinking skills • personal qualities, and • physical attributes.

41. What Are Your Aptitudes and Abilities? Make a chart with the headings Mental, Social, and Physical. List your aptitudes and abilities in each category.

42. Matching Your Aptitudes and Abilities to Careers Review your list of aptitudes and abilities and try to think of at least one career that uses each of your skills. You will start to feel that you are really getting to know yourself.

43. Your Personality and Learning Styles Yourpersonality is the combination of your attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics.

44. Self-Concept Yourself-concept is the way you see yourself. Having a consistent self-concept means having a feeling that you know the kind of person you are.

45. Personality Types and Learning Styles Learningstyles are the different ways that people naturally think and learn.

46. Personality Types and Learning Styles When you are aware of your own learning styles, you can also find careers that use your strongest learning style.

47. Personality Types and Learning Styles Being aware of everything that makes you who you are will give you a great advantage as you explore career choices.

48. CAREER CHECKLIST To Learn More About Yourself… Identify your values and what is important to you. Keep an open mind to all ideas, people, and opportunities. Keep a journal documenting new experiences and things that you learn about yourself. continued

49. CAREER CHECKLIST To Learn More About Yourself… Make a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses and update it as you learn new things about yourself. Try something new that has always interested you, and don’t be afraid of failure. continued

50. CAREER CHECKLIST To Learn More About Yourself Focus on the positive aspects of your appearance and personality. View criticism as an opportunity to learn instead of as a source of discouragement.