Transcript Slide 1

Planning
Your Career
Agenda
• Importance of Career Planning
• Stages of Career Planning
1. Evaluating Myself
2. Exploring Options
3. Making Decisions
4. Setting Goals
5. Implementing My Plan
Career Planning is…
• An active, ongoing, & lifelong process
• More than just a job or series of jobs
• Responsive to other life roles
Importance of Career Planning
Career planning can help you to
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Enter the workforce
Plan for education
Deal with changing workplace demands
Anticipate trends or changes
Plan to upgrade or maintain your skills
Plan for career advancement
Stages of Career Planning
1. Evaluating Myself: learning about yourself
2. Exploration: learning about work opportunities
3. Making Decisions: deciding on your future path
4. Setting Goals: creating a plan
5. Implementing My Plan: carrying out your plan
1. Evaluating Myself: The Wheel
The top half of the Wheel includes
external factors (e.g. opportunities,
experiences).
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The bottom half of the Wheel
includes personal characteristics
(e.g. skills, interests).
Vision for My Future
• Reflect on your previous work
– What tasks get you excited?
– What would you like to be doing more of? Less of?
• Reflect on your life, outside of work
– What skills and talents would you like to use at work?
• Avoid thinking “That isn’t possible”
• Reflect on your “ideal” work environment
– Inside/outside; alone or with others
Work/Life Experiences
• What work/life experience could become a career?
• What does your work need to support?
Experiences could include…
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Hobbies
Sports or other leisure activities
Volunteer work
Paid work
Travel
Unpaid work
Learning Experiences
• What learning have you accomplished?
• What are your learning goals?
“Learning” could include...
• Formal schooling
• Informal education and training
• Learning from Life Experiences
Significant Others
• Who may influence your career decisions?
• Who is impacted by your career decisions?
• What support can your network offer?
Significant Others could include...
• Family
• Friends
• Colleagues
Personal Attributes
• Characteristics and traits that make us unique
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Detail-oriented, rule-bound, value traditions
Flexible, adventurous, optimistic
Curious, intuitive, inventive
Kind, loyal, generous
Work Values
• People work for a variety of reasons
– Money, personal satisfaction, to help others
• Some questions to ask yourself
– Why am I working?
– What is important to me about work?
– What do I value most?
Interests
• An interest may involve something
– You are curious about
– That is intriguing
• May be something active
– e.g. sports
• May be passive
– e.g. reading
• Helps identify occupational choices
Skills
• A skill is the ability to do something well
– Talent
– Specific training or practice
• Skills may include activities, you
– Can do well
– Can do, but not well
– Can do but dislike doing
• Skills can be developed over time
Types of Skills
• Employability
– communication, problem solving, adaptability
• Technical
– typing, fixing machinery, operating equipment
• Essential
– reading text, document use, numeracy, writing
Revisiting the Wheel
Reflect on your Wheel
•Were there any surprises?
•What patterns do you see?
oHelping people
oFixing things
•What else do you need to
know?
Reproduced with permission from Career Pathways 2nd Ed. (Amundson
& Poehnell, 2008)
2. Exploring Options
• Labour market information includes
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Occupational descriptions
Wage / salary lists
Employment requirements
Unemployment or labour shortages
Trends or outlooks
Sources of Labour Market Information
• Websites
– Manitoba Job Futures http://mb.jobfutures.org/
– Labour Market Information www.labourmarketinformation.ca
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Newspapers
Libraries
Personal and professional networks
Schools
People who work in the occupation you’re interested in
Career Opportunities
• Consider what work is available
– e.g. locally, regionally, nationally
• For each job that you research
– Identify three important highlights or trends
– Note if opportunity is good, stable, or poor
Ways of Working
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Full-time/Part-time
Seasonal
Telecommuting
Job sharing
Rotational
Contract
Self-employment
Portfolio career
3. Making Decisions
• Prepare for the unexpected
• Choose 3-4 possible options
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Compare your option
Outline concerns
Describe each scenario
Identify actions that you can/have to take
• Select the option that works best
• Be willing to change your mind
Identifying Barriers and Strengths
• Strengths can help you achieve your goals
• Barriers are obstacles to obtaining your goals
Scenario Planning
is a tool for helping individuals
to take a view into the future
in a world of great uncertainty
• The “what if” game at its best
• A willingness to look ahead and consider uncertainties
Taking it One Step at a Time
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland,
Alice asks the Cheshire Cat,
“Which path do I take to get out of here”?
The cat replies,
Which way are you going”?
Alice says,
“I don’t know.”
The cat answers,
“Well any path will get you there.”
4. Setting Goals
• Select a goal
• What tasks do you need to achieve?
• How much time do you have to complete each
step?
• What resources might you need?
– Remember…people can act as resources
MAJOR TASK 1
MAJOR TASK 2
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-Limited
GOAL
MAJOR TASK 3
MAJOR TASK 4
5. Implementing My Plan:
Action Plan Format
• Identify your support network
• Identify any barriers
Forcefield Analysis
My Vision
What’s
getting in
my way?
Where I am today
What’s
pushing
me toward
it?
Optimism
• Optimistic individuals have common traits:
– Faith and a sense of purpose
– Belief in future of their organization / industry
– Belief in themselves
• Optimism is an attitude
– It can be learned and practiced
– It can be “caught” from infectious people
Summary
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Take time to learn about and reflect on yourself
Research the job market
Evaluate career opportunities
Set short-term and long-term SMART goals
– Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-limited
• Find champions who can help you achieve your goals
– e.g. friends, family, colleagues