Unit 2 Career: Labor You Love

1. Unit 2Career: Labor You Love Step 1: Your Career

2. Objectives • In this unit you will learn: • How career choices affect your income • What an employer expects from you as an employee • The benefits of education and training • Some of the characteristics of an entrepreneur • Some of the benefits employees want from an employer

3. Overview • You have advantages in high school • You can consciously begin now to choose the career you want • Time and opportunity are on your side • Your choices include training for a job now, going into a training program after high school, and college • The choices are yours to make • Your greatest assets include the skills and talents you learn now Take the Career Assessment Online Print your results and place it in your notebook.

4. Your Career • Difference between a “job” and a “career” • Job—short term work that pays the bills • Career—chosen profession that provides an income • There is a planned sequence of jobs that builds to a career • Analogy: In high school you take classes (jobs) to achieve a goal (diploma=career); some classes you enjoy, some you endure, but all are necessary to achieve your goal

5. Your Career • All jobs provide skills that you will use later in your career of choice • Discussion Question: What kind of skills can you learn flipping burgers that might help you in a career as a doctor? • A positive attitude is the key to success on the job • Discussion Question: Besides making you happier on the job, what impact can such an attitude have on an employer? Write the questions and group answers in your notebooks.

6. Your Career • What Employers Want for a High-skill, High-wage Job • Basic skills: reads, writes, performs basic math computations, listens well, and speaks clearly • Thinking skills: creates new ideas, makes decisions, solves problems, organizes information, learns efficiently, and can reason things out • Personal skills: goal driven, positive self-image, sociable, realistic self-assessment, and demonstrates honesty Take the Values Assessment Administered by Your Instructor Score the Assessment and place it in your notebook

7. Your Career • What Employers Want for a High-skill, High-wage Job • Resource management: makes good use of time, money, materials and employee resources • Interpersonal: team player, able to teach and lead other employees with diverse backgrounds, meets customer expectations,and negotiates well • Information management: acquires and organizes information, and has solid computer skills • Systems: works well in a system (organizational and technological), can monitor and correct performance, and suggests improvements to the system • Technology: selects, sets up and operates tools and equipment (including computers), and maintains and troubleshoots equipment

8. Your Career Personal Skills Assessment Directions: Copy this chart to a page in your notebook. Select your strongest and weakest skills from the list on the previous two slides. Complete the chart.

9. Your Career • Money • “Ultimately all workers trade their time for money in the form of wages” • Time is a limited resource, so make it count • Earn a large enough wage that you feel fairly compensated Watch the Video Best Jobs of the Future Make a list of jobs that most appeal to you.

10. After High School: Then What • The Costs and Benefits of a College Education • Education is the amount of formal knowledge and training you need for a certain job • Data shows that the more education, the higher the salaries • The downside is that education costs a lot of money, plus the opportunity cost is the loss of 4 years of wages while you are in school

11. After High School: Then What So what are the benefits of a college education? Answer the following questions based on the article “College Education Benefits Some More Than Others” What group of students benefits most from a college education? Students from what background were most likely to attend college? Why did they not show as much gain? In what ways does the level of college or degree affect the costs? What is the earnings difference between a bachelor’s and a high school degree? Why do you think there is a difference in earnings between men and women? Write and answer the questions in your notebook. Be sure to cite your source and indicate how the data was acquired.

12. After High School: Then What • Other Education Options • Technical and trade schools and some two-year college programs take 1-2 years in a variety of fields, including computers and mechanics • A general rule of thumb is that the less training a job requires , the less it pays • Even lower paying jobs offer opportunities for growth in job skills and performance • Many jobs offer on the job training for higher level positions • With this training comes higher responsibility Watch and discuss the video: City Room: Trading College for Trade School Write some ideas or feelings in your notebook. Which kind of school do you think you might prefer and why?

13. After High School: Then What • Entrepreneurship • Entrepreneur—a person who creates a business from scratch • Pluses: • You are your own boss • You set your own hours • You have an idea that fits a niche or a need • You can keep the profits for yourself • Some minuses: • No guarantees • No regular paycheck • You need start-up money • It’s risky—you could lose everything.

14. After High School: Then What Characteristics of a Self-Employed Person Independence Positive attitude Creativity and talent Risk-taker Good work ethic Honesty Hard worker Organization and planning skills Self Confidence Good listener Team worker Decision maker Motivated Salesmanship Follow through In your notebook, make a list of the skills you possess. Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

15. After High School: Then What • Starting a business requires three steps: • See an opportunity to provide a service or goods not yet present in your community • Take the initiative to learn about competitors and discover what the customer really wants • Develop plans to market your business, analyze potential profits and losses, and how to produce the product/service.

16. After High School: Then What Should I be an entrepreneur? Directions: Copy the chart into your notebook. On the left side write 5 activities or talents you enjoy. On the right side, brainstorm the types of businesses you could create with each activity or talent.

17. BIBLIOGRAPHY TEXT AND ASSIGNMENTS NEFE High School Financial Planning Program, Student Guide. National Endowment for Financial Education. Greenwood Village, CO. 2001. Page 4: Career Quiz for Students and Adults Page 9: Best Jobs of the Future: Kiplinger.com Page 11: Kent, Mary Mederios. “College Education Benefits Some More than Others.” Population Reference Bureau. 2008. Page 12: “City Room: Trading College for Trade School.” New York Times.

18. Bibliography IMAGES Page 1: TechLink: IT Consulting and Staffing Services Page 10: Hammond, Betsy. Oregon Live. “College Less Affordable…” October 22, 2013. Page 14: MISB Bocconi Student’s Blog