Choosing a Meaningful Career: Tips and Resources for Success

1. Choosing a Career One of the hardest—and most exciting—choices you’ll ever make is your career. Although chance may play a part, come prepared! Rule#1: Choose a career that is something you really like to do. Rule#2: Do your research and choose carefully and thoughtfully. Rule#3: Make it meaningful to you. You owe it to yourself to look for work that is meaningful and rewarding!

2. Choose Career Options That Match Your Values • Knowing what you value most will help you refine your career search and choice: • Helping others • Prestige • High income • Flexible work hours • Establish and align values, career choice, and career goals for motivation. There is no substitute for "knowing yourself."

3. Surviving in a Fast Economy • You will always have some control over your career. • You must accept risks and plan for the future to advance your career. • A college degree does not guarantee employment. • A commitment to lifelong learning will help keep you employable. The more you know, the greater your marketability.

4. Do: explore a number of careers and majors get involved Get advice from people in your target occupation follow your passion Dare to try something new Don’t: focus on a major just to get a career out of it select a major just because it is “cool” or seems to promise prestige let someone else push you into a job Assume that you have it all figured out Factors to Consider

5. Interests Skills Aptitudes People skills Experience Family traditions Personality Life goals and work values Factors Affecting Career Choices

6. Exploring Your Interests Holland’s Hexagonal Model of Career Fields Realistic Investigative Where are you? Artistic Conventional Enterprising Social

7. Where to Go for Help • Career center • Faculty • Upper-class students • Student organizations • Placement services Ask someone in your chosen field: How did you find your job?

8. Become Knowledgeable About Careers • Explore the Occupational Outlook Handbook at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ • Research several careers, not just one • Browse the Careers section of a local bookstore • See a career counselor • Scope out Internet resources • Network--many people love to talk about their jobs! Know your options...

9. Explore the Occupational Outlook Handbookhttp://www.bls.gov/oco/ • Keep up with the occupational outlook for various fields. • Get to know which ones are adding jobs and which ones are losing them. • The Occupational Outlook Handbook is an excellent source, and is updated every two years. • Good news! Over the next few years, jobs requiring college degrees will be the fastest-growing and highest paying.

10. Major career field target Preferred type of work Income requirements Geographical requirements Special needs Industry preferences Stress level Level of interaction with other people Indoor vs. outdoor Amount of independence Balance between creative and conventional tasks The type of people you would interact with Physical requirements Local/national/international organization Benefits and perks Advancement opportunities A good boss Training Industry outlook Reputation of the firm in the industry What to Look for in a Career

11. Select Several Careers,Not Just One • It’s a good idea to have several careers in mind rather than just one in your first year of college. • Approximately 60% of students change their major at some point during their college career. • It pays to be knowledgeable about more than just one career field. The average graduate changes their job seven times in their life. • It also pays to develop a wide variety of general skills, particular those related to communication. Keep your options open...

12. Network • Check with people you know about career information. • Networking can lead to meeting someone who may be able to answer your questions about a specific career or company. • It is an effective way to learn about the type of training necessary for a particular position, what it took to get into the field, and the positive and negative aspects of the work. • More andmore professionals are active on online networks such as LinkedIn.com and Doostang.com. Some professionals even use Facebook to get in touch with others in their field…as well as research potential candidates.

13. Assess Your Skills • Academic Strengths • Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening • Math • Creative Thinking • Problem Solving and Decision Making • Personal Qualities • Self-Esteem, Self-Management, Responsibility • People Skills • Social, Negotiation, Leadership, Teamwork

14. See a Career Counselor • The career counselors at your college are trained professionals who can help you • discover your strengths and weaknesses • evaluate your values and goals • sort through what type of career you want • They will not tell you what to do, they will simply help identify what factors may lead to successful and interesting career options.

15. Questions for Academic Advisors • What classes should I take this term and next? • What sequence of classes should I take? • Am I taking too many difficult classes in one term? • What electives do you recommend? • What career • opportunities are there if I study mainly _____?

16. Getting Experience • Volunteer or service learning • Study abroad • Internships/co-ops • On-campus employment • Student projects/competitions • Research • On-the-job training • Apprenticeships Nothing teaches like experience.

17. Research the Job How big will my office be? • Identify the skills and experience necessary to perform the job you want. • Determine the general requirements of the job. • Learn about the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities. • Research the company and employer. • Determine the company’s philosophy. • The more you know about the job, the stronger the candidate you will become.

18. Know What Employers Want • Potential employers will look for evidence of your accomplishments and experiences. • Did you hold leadership positions? • Were you active in campus organizations or extracurricular activities? • Did you have relevant experiences in co-op, internships, or part-time work? • Did you make good grades? • The more you have of these experiences, the better. • Go by incognito and get the “lay of the land.” • How do the employees dress, interact with each other, look for company policy wall signs and so on. First things first Be prepared!

19. Building a Resume • Put contact information at the top. • State an objective if appropriate. • List education to date. • State accomplishments succinctly using action verbs. • Separate work experience related to your major from other work experience. • Include interests you want to talk about—they are often used to begin an interview. • Even if the job isn’t related to your major, employers will want to see how your experience is relevant to the job.

20. The examples you give of your past experiences is critical. Be able to show how past experiences relate to this opportunity. Résumés are important in getting you an interview in the first place. Make yours organized and clear. Prepare for the interview: research your prospective employer. Anticipate what you will be asked and practice interviewing. Ask appropriate job-related questions. Keep your cool. Remember, employers are looking for competent people with whom they want to work. Knock ‘Em Dead in a Job Interview

21. Be able to answer basic questions: Why do you want this job? What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? What sets you apart from other candidates? If you decide you want the job, you may want to ask for it at the close of the interview. Type a brief follow-up letter to mail within 24 hours. Follow-up is key! Job Interviews (cont’d) What are other interview questions you’ve encountered?

22. Explore Relevant Part-Time and Summer Jobs • Students benefit when their jobs are on campus. • Investigate if there exists a part-time job in the department of your major. • Advanced planning will help you obtain a summer job with a company related to your field. • If you can’t find a related job, you can still demonstrate work-related skills and a work ethic that will impress prospective employers.

23. Get A Job--Activity 13.1 • In your group, create a classified ad for the “job” of college student. • For example, “_______________________ College/University is seeking applicants with excellent skills in oral and written communication, problem solving, time management, and technology for positions as professional students preparing for a variety of future opportunities…” • Ads should list particular job requirements, benefits, information about your institution and so on, and be transferred to a large sheet of paper to present to the group.

24. Internet Career JourneyActivity 13.2 Research a potentially desirable career via the Internet. Your goal should be to build a portfolio that includes: • a printout or description of a career field of interest from the online Occupational Outlook Handbook • a description of ten things you have learned about yourself and your career choices based on what you find • a projection of your lifestyle twenty years into the future, including the career necessary to sustain that lifestyle, and other career-related factors of interest such as preparation required, necessary skills, additional training after college, pros and cons, entry salary range, advancement opportunities, personality characteristics of those in the career field, impact on family life, etc. • Starting websites are shown on the next slide.

25. Occupational Outlook Handbook 11_Careers_new.ppt Career Resource Center http://www.careers.org/ Job Hunt http://www.job-hunt.org The Catapult on Job Web http://www.job-hunt.org/ The Riley Guide: Employment Opportunities and Job Resources on the Internet www.rileyguide.com Monster.com http://www.monster.com/ Quintessential Careers http://www.quintcareers.com/index.html Internet Career JourneyActivity 13.2 --Web Resources