The Value of Career Knowledge
Students who are able to identify their life interest and career aspirations are more likely to connect their current academics to their future aspirations. These students are more likely to graduate from high school, earn more money, and be more involved in their community (Stam, 2011). This is why we want you to have all the resources necessary to succeed no matter the path you choose.
Knowing What You Want to Do!
The majority of your life will be spent working, that alone should be enough to make sure you make the right choice. It is not an easy choice that is to be understood, but there are thing you can do to help in the process including but not limited to:
- Take an assessment
- Understand what excites you
- Don't pretend or be pressured
- Find out your natural abilities
- Explore unconventional careers
- Find a mentor
Assessments?
Assessment can help you choose a good career fit. Career assessment is a way to learn more about how well a variety of careers might suit you. Assessments can help you learn more about occupations and also decide where you need more training and/or experience. An assessment cannot guarantee that you will like a particular career.
Try these assessments to start:
Values Assessment- A quick assessment that helps you categorizes your values. This assessment provide perspective when it comes to choosing a career based on your values. More on work values
Interest Assessment- a quick assessment that identifies your interests and matches them to careers. (answer question from an interest perspective not if you have the skill or not)
Skills Matcher- identifies your skills and matches them to careers that use those skills
Aptitude Test- Determine your natural abilities
Interest Profiler- a vocational interest assessment that helps identify work-related interests
Exploring Careers
Career clusters are seen as a tool for career guidance, a platform to explore your learning and how it relates to various careers. The state of Arkansas has adopted a state policy that supports Career Clusters. You will see this in the form of your courses offered in the CTE Hall at El Dorado High School. (see CTE)
Resources to Explore
Bureau of Labor Statistics- This resource is generated from your government. This database houses all information on employment and unemployment , wages by area /occupation, economic statistics, and so much more. This is a great resources to understand almost anything you want to know about a particular career field. The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is a part or the BLS as well. The handbook can help you find career information on duties, education and training, pay and outlook for hundreds of occupations.
CareerOneStop- This is a valuable resources for career exploration. There are a number of assessments and inventories you can take to understand who you are and careers that relate to your personality, your skills, and your abilities.
What My Major Can Do? This resource will allow you to explore occupations from the perspective of your major. This resource would be good for someone that knows exactly what they want to study but not what they want to do for a career. For example You may love math so much that you have decide that is what you would like to earn a degree in. This tool would help find occupations where having a math degree would land the job.
CareerOneStop- This is a valuable resources for career exploration. There are a number of assessments and inventories you can take to understand who you are and careers that relate to your personality, your skills, and your abilities.
What My Major Can Do? This resource will allow you to explore occupations from the perspective of your major. This resource would be good for someone that knows exactly what they want to study but not what they want to do for a career. For example You may love math so much that you have decide that is what you would like to earn a degree in. This tool would help find occupations where having a math degree would land the job.
Career Planning
An important part of the career planning process is creating a list of short and long terms goals and action you can take to achieve them. Set SMART goals. Career plans help you make decisions about classes to take, and identify the extracurricular activities, research, and internships that will make you a strong job candidate. There are a number of effective steps you can take in creating a career plan, here a few to ponder:
- Prioritize- You have to prioritize what is important to you. Is it family, maybe you are only concerned about a big paycheck, or does your personality require you to have work that is intellectually challenging? These are important things to consider when researching jobs in specific careers.
- Make Comparisons- This is all a part of your research compare your most promising career to your list of priorities, interest and values.
- Consider Factors- How is this field growing, where are jobs in this field located, does this field require a lot of experience, Is it difficult to enter this field once you are trained and qualified?