Career Planning
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Understanding yourself is critical in your career decision making. What do you enjoy doing? What do you want to do? What are you prepared to do? What is important to you? What are your goals? If you don't know the answers to some of these questions, that's OK for now, but you will need to know yourself before you begin a job search. Self-assessment is important, both in choosing a major and in conducting a job search. You will want to choose a major that fits your interests and that will help you achieve your career goals. How can you seek a position if you don't know what you want from a job and what you have to offer prospective employers? When it comes time to interview, you must be able to describe yourself and express your goals clearly and concisely. This is an area that is often ignored by many students. Once we enter the professional working world, we spend at least 50% of our waking hours in our work environments. (Therefore, you'll be spending as much or more time with your coworkers than your spouse or significant other.) If your values and interests are not compatible with your job, you probably will not be happy. Finding your niche is a highly individualized process - taking the time now to truly understand your experiences, skills and what you have to offer will spare you difficulties in your job search. Setting career goals gives you the focus you need to find a job. How do you begin setting goals? First of all remember that goals must be SMART.
An example of a goal statement would be " I will (state what you plan to do) by (specify a date)" The list the steps you will take to accomplish your goal, what you hope the results will be, and how you will know whether you have been successful. Writing your goals down will help you strive to achieve them. As you move through college and through your career, review your goals periodically and revise them as your experience grows and interests change. Ask yourself the following questions to get started:
SKILLS: Skills fall into three categories: technical or job-specific, like computer or foreign language skills, usually require special training or education; self management, like punctuality, reliability, and adhering to deadlines, which pertain to your work style, and transferable, like leadership, problem solving, decision making, communication and team player skills, which are useful in a variety of work settings. Think of examples of how you have used your skills. You will need this information as you write your resume and when you prepare for job interviews. A logical follow-up step is to review your activities, class projects, and work experiences and develop a written list describing your experience and skills you believe you developed. Writing it down will give it a sense of legitimacy and help you organize information. You can also analyze any achievements you are proud of. Break them down into the skills that you used. Include the problem, the action you took, and the result. If possible, use numbers to quantify your accomplishment. Consider how you know or measured it as an accomplishment. VALUES:
As you consider questions like these, begin to weigh them against one another: INTERESTS : The following activities can help you assess your interests, strengths, skills, abilities, and values. 1) Explore a variety of subjects through introductory courses and research to fulfill general studies requirements and broaden your experience,
Proceed to Step Two: Explore |