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What is Career Planning?
Career planning is a lifelong process, which includes choosing an occupation, getting a job, growing in our job, possibly changing careers, and eventually retiring. The Career Planning Site offers coverage of all these areas. This article will focus on career choice and the process one goes through in selecting an occupation. This may happen once in our lifetimes, but it is more likely to happen several times as we first define and then redefine ourselves and our goals.
Career Planning: A Four Step Process
The career planning process is comprised of four steps. One might seek the services of a career development professional career to help facilitate his or her journey through this process. Whether or not you choose to work with a professional, or work through the process on your own is less important than the amount of thought and energy you put into choosing a career.
Self Assessment
Gather information about yourself
· Interests
· Values
· Roles
· Skills/Aptitudes
· Preferred Environments
· Developmental Needs
· Your realities
Value Inventories
Value inventories measure how important different values are to you. Examples of these values, which play an important role in one's job satisfaction, include autonomy, prestige, security, interpersonal relations, helping others, flexible work schedule, outdoor work, leisure time, and high salary.
Interest Inventories
The questions in an interest inventory ask about your likes and dislikes regarding various activities. The premise of this self assessment tool is that people who share similar interests will also enjoy the same type of work. Examples of interests are reading, running, playing golf, and knitting.
Personality Inventories
A personality inventory looks at one's individual traits, motivational drives, needs, and attitudes. The most frequently used personality inventory is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI).
Skills Assessment
In addition to determining what you're good at, a skills assessment also helps you figure out what you enjoy doing. The skills you use in your career should combine both characteristics. You can use the results of the skills assessment to make some changes by acquiring the skills you need for a particular career.
Explore the occupations in which you are interested
Research the industries in which you would like to work
Research the Labor Market
Get more specific information after you narrow down your options by:
Job Shadowing
Part time work, internships or volunteer opportunities
Written materials
Informational interviews
Match
During this phase of the process, you will:
·Identify possible occupations
·Evaluate these occupations
·Explore alternatives
·Choose both a short term and a long term option
Action
You will develop the steps you need to take in order to reach your goal, for example:
Setting and Reaching Your Goals
·Break your goals down into short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals are goals you can reach in one year or less. Long-term goals are ones that are attainable in one to five years.
·In order to reach your goals, you will have to get around any barriers you may face. List those barriers and your solutions for dealing with them
Options
·Investigating sources of additional training and education if needed
·Developing a job search strategy
·Writing your resume
·Gathering company information
·Composing cover letters
·Preparing for job interviews
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