Career Planning and Career Choices

Career Choice Quiz

What are your interests?

What are your unfulfilled dreams?

Which jobs suit those desires?

Follow the questions below to find your ideal career.

What are your skills?

  1. Educational skills
  2. Practical skills
  3. Conceptual skills
  4. People skills
  5. Organizing skills
  6. Problem solving skills
  7. Transferable skills. Transferable Skills examples
  8. Fixing skills etc.

List you skills in order of preference under categories of Information, People and Things. The more skills you list and the higher the level the more opportunities are possible.

If you need help with creating the list write a page on several or your achievements in terms of goals hurdles description result and outcome. Read your page to colleagues and have them list the skills used.

For each skill write a sentence describing how the skill was applied. Focus on your top 10 skills.

Where is your major field of knowledge and where do you want to apply it?

What are the subjects and language you are most familiar with? Would you be happy to use this ability at the workplace? Your knowledge can be gained from school university books associations etc.

List multiple fields of knowledge or interest.

 

How to find a suitable career?

Match you skills with job titles

Example categories: Executive Engineers Scientists Social Workers Teachers Health practitioners Nurses Therapists Writer Artist Entertainer Technologist Marketing Sales Administrative occupations service occupations Agricultural occupations Production occupations transportation occupations and labourers.

Match your knowledge with industry fields

Example categories: Manufacturing Agriculture Information industry and service industry.

Once you have the job titles and field consider if you like working with people data/information or things.

Search for organisation with the appropriate jobs field and activities.

Speak to people in the industry to gain the latest knowledge and possible leads into positions.

Where can your skills be applied to most use?

Start your search with places that forfill most of you favourite skills and fields and then work outwards.

Research the organisation and find out the staff positions and names of those who can hire.

 

See more industries at https://www.myfuture.edu.au - The Facts - Industries

See I Choose Technology I Choose Technology study and career pathways website.Career Pathways or Profiles.

Career skills values interests goals education vision

What is the ideal job?

  • Ideal Location
  • Industries
  • Using my favorite skills ...
  • Working in my favourite subjects ...
  • With co-worker like ...
  • With clients like ...
  • In a salary range of ...
  • The career goal being ...

 

Career Choices

  1. List of your 10 best career titles
  2. List the expected growth occupation categories
  3. List the largest occupations by size
  4. List the fields expecting growth
  5. List occupation by salary
  6. List the area with the lowest unemployment

Find people in your target occupation and ask to volunteer to truly find out what they do hour to hour. Ask about the process used to get into to position thier job likes and dislikes. Is there is a large industry demand for the position?

 

Finding the right Job

  1. Use and build a network of people to look out for positions.
  2. Visit companies of interest
  3. Phone companies of interest in your local area using a phone book for subjects
  • Do an inventory of your skills
  • Research and talk with people in your desired position
  • Ask how they got to their position
  • Research organisations in detail
  • Learn about the personnel
  • Ask your network if they have had any dealing with your target organisation and discuss it.
    1. Find out the organisations goals
    2. Show the right people you can help achieve their goals
    3. Use methods above in combination to improve your changes.
    4. Look beyond individual career descriptions and previous job description.

     

    Apply a full time effort in finding the right job.

    Consider full time, part time, contracts self employed and temporary jobs. Temp agencies are a great way to learn about organisation in your fields of interest.

    Expect the process to be in the order of a month to complete.

    Approach places for positions even before any vacancies are listed to improve your chances greatly.

    Small business that are growing can be the key to finding a new position.

    Speed up the job hunt by visiting 4 employers per weekday face to face.

    Some positions may take several other job steps to reach. What is required for each step. Can the training and positions be gained in stages? Build your network to help find the next position.

    https://www.seek.com.au/Used for finding positions online.

     

    How to get an interview?

    Large Organisation

    1. Learn the name or the person with the hiring power.
    2. Research the person in detail.
    3. Research the company in detail including thier needs.
    4. Use your network for contacts with the hiring person. LinkedIn may help.
    5. Work out how you can help the organisation in advance and use this information in your contact dealings.
    6. Ask you contact to arrange an 20 minute appointment with the hiring person. This may be a multiple step process to get to people who know the hiring person personally. Sent a thank you note to your contact/s.

    Contacts include: everyone your know all your family everyone on your address book any salesperson you deal with your teachers doctor religious leader service association members and new names that you meet during your job research.

     

    Small Organisation

    1. Most new jobs come from small organisation with less than 20 staff.
    2. No Human Resources to worry about.
    3. The boss is usually the one who does the hires. A phone call ahead can get the person's name.
    4. Work out how you can help the organisation in advance and use this information in your contact dealings.
    5. Use your people network and research to arrange a 20 minute appointment. Sent a thank you note to your contact.

    What to do for the interview?

    • Learn as much as possible about the employer and company. Ask for company information before an interview.
    • Learn about the organisations challenges and they type of skills being used to address them.
    • Research the likely salary range in advance.
    • Bring a list of questions to work out if the job fits you. E.g. job activities responsibilities training needs staffing structure work group size.
    • Keep answers between 20 seconds and 2 minutes.
    • Show that you can help the organisation's effectiveness and profitability.
    • Illustrate how your have achieved goals in previous work activities. Use pictures examples diagrams etc.
    • Send a thank you note/email after the interview.
    Job Interview Review

    Sample Interview Questions

    1. Tell me about yourself?
    2. Why are you applying for this job?
    3. What do you know about the company?
    4. What can you achieve for the company?
    5. Can you work successfully with the staff and customers?
    6. What makes you stand out from the rest?
    7. How does your education skills experience relate to the position?
    8. Where do you see yourself in the future?

     

    End of Interview Questions

    1. Can you offer me this job?
    2. Would you like another interview?
    3. When will I expect to hear from you?
    4. Can I contact you if I do not here from you by date X?

    Skill smart for the future.