A Career Is a Journey, Not a Destination

"A Career is a Journey, Not a Destination"

Matching "YOU" with work or learning options is an important part of the career-planning journey. Why?
The skills you have, your abilities, your interests and your values strongly influence the work that you choose and your success while doing the job.
Consider these scenarios. You like to doodle, spend hours at the computer, like to spend time on your own and are quick with a joke. You have a passion for music, like working with numbers, like to be with people and are good at being a group player.
What do these two scenarios have in common? They mean potential work opportunities.
Think about it, the person who likes to doodle, might just make a great animator, the person who likes music, might just make a great music producer.
Identifying what you are good at and then matching it to work/career options begins with conducting a self-assessment. It also gives you a starting point from which to evaluate various work and learning options that best match and meet your personal characteristics and life/work goals.
If you have no idea of the kind of work you want to do or learning options that are right for you, start here. Below are some definitions of personal characteristics that will help you think about your strengths, interests and skills. As well, there are some reading articles your can look through to help you put self-assessment into perspective.

"Your Personal Characteristics"

• Interests – Interests include activities, pastimes, and subjects that you enjoy. Interests can be categorized in terms of information (working with facts, data, numbers), people (helping and working in groups) and things (working with tools, computers or machinery). Interests are the things we enjoy doing. They give meaning and richness to your life and add dimensions to your personality.

• "I like to do……"

• Skills and Achievements – Skill is defined as the ability to do something well, especially as a result of experience. Most skills are transferable to other work settings and can be grouped in many ways. One way is to show functional skills of working with people, data or information, and things or objects. Another way is to look at intellectual, attitudinal, creative, leadership and problem-solving skills.

"I am good at doing….."

• Aptitudes and Abilities - Aptitude is your capacity to learn particular skills, while abilities are the skills you possess that allows you to do certain things. Your aptitude and abilities will affect the level and length of occupational training that you can accomplish and are related to the level of job responsibility you may reach. Thinking about your aptitudes and abilities will help you make more realistic occupational choices

• "I can easily do….."

• Values/Beliefs - Your values are the ideals that you have established in your life. They help determine your lifestyles and play an important role in developing your personality. Values are particularly important in decision making, because they often become the criteria by which you make decisions. When you learn more about your values, you can use them to narrow youir occupational choices.

• "Before I make a decision I consider….."

• Attitudes –How you feel about your roles and responsibilities in the workplace indicate work attitudes. These attitudes influence the amount of energy that you are prepared to invest in planning for, and working at, an occupation. As you gain an understanding of your attitudes toward work, you learn better ways to approach tasks, improve relations with others and make more informed work- and life-related decisions.

• "I approach work or new situations………"

• Occupational Specific Skills - Occupation-specific skills are those skills needed to work in a particular occupation such as knowledge of how to use specific tools. These skills are obtained through on-the-job training and experience as well as specialized education or training.

• "Through my work I have developed the ability to…"…

• Employability Skills - These core skills are ones that you "carry" with you from work situation to work situation that are often generic in nature. All, some, or combinations of them are referred to as, generic skills, transferable skills, basic skills, core skills, core competencies, critical workplace competencies, workability skills, non-technical skills, soft skills, and essential skills.

• "I get along well with others so at work I ……"

• Knowledge – Knowledge is gained through formal and informal channels. In terms of career planning, it relates to what you have acquired intellectually and then can demonstrate in a work related setting.

• "The area I know most about is…….."

• Can you think of at least two characteristics for each section above that might help you identify work or learning options and opportunities?

"If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path."

CanyonCrestAcademyName: ______

Senior Projects

Personal Characteristics / NetworkingTeacher: ______

Interests – “I like to do……”

Skills and Achievement – “I am good at doing ……”

Aptitudes and Abilities – “I can easily do ……”

Values / Beliefs – “Before I make a decision I consider ……”

Attitudes – “I approach new situations ……”

Occupational Specific Skills – “Through my work I have developed the ability to ..”

Knowledge – “The area I know most about is ……”

Areas of Interests

Network / Contacts / Organizations