Career Focus Report

Name ______

CAREER FOCUS REPORT

Career Focus Area:

1.List the job titles included in this area (list those that interest you).

2.Select one job title from your list and find out as much as you can about that job. You can find information by reading materials; interviewing workers; talking with your parents, instructors, and counselors; and viewing videotapes and films. Write a report about the job you choose that includes the following information:

Title of job

Number of workers in this job in your area

Number of workers in this job nationally

Average earnings

Education and training needed to get a beginning job

Education and training needed to advance in this job

Extent to which this job involves working with people, data, and/or things

Features of this job that appeal to me

Features of this job that do not appeal to me

Do you think you would like to work in this job? Yes No Unsure

Why do you feel this way?

Name ______

PLANNING YOUR CAREER

The activities that follow will conclude your present career planning effort. As you complete your career project, be on the alert for newspaper clippings, booklets, pictures, and other items relating to your occupation. Collect and use these materials in this project.

PERSONAL QUALITIES IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESS IN MY OCCUPATION

Specific physical, emotional, and social abilities are often necessary for success in a chosen career. Some careers involve a large amount of lifting, walking, or physical exertion. Others require a good speaking voice or a temperament that allows one to work closely with many people. Other jobs involve high levels of stress and require calmness, patience, and determination.

Think of personal qualities that are needed in order to be successful at the career you have chosen and list them in the first column below. Then indicate whether you possess that quality or need to improve by checking the appropriate column at the right.

PERSONAL QUALITIES OF IMPORTANCE

(Check one column for each quality)

IN THE OCCUPATION OFI AM STRONGI NEED TO IMPROVE

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

SELF-IMPROVEMENT IN PERSONAL QUALITIES

Identify below by number the qualities from the section above in which you consider yourself to be weak. After each number, write one or more ways in which you can seek improvement. Be specific.

NUMBER FROM ABOVE LISTSUGGESTIONS FOR SELF-IMPROVEMENT IN EACH QUALITY

PREPARATION NEEDED FOR MY OCCUPATION

You are ready to investigate special training you may need and educational requirements you must fulfill in preparation for your career. Outline the specific preparation needed. Use additional sheets if needed. Also consider where it may be obtained: in your high school, in a junior college, in a college, in a technical school or an area vocational school, by apprenticeship, or on the job.

Name______

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO A COLLEGE OR TRAINING PROGRAM

You have determined the type of training you will need to prepare for your career. You will now obtain information describing requirements for specific programs you could enter after graduating from high school. Your instructor, counselor, or librarian will assist you in obtaining school bulletins and other literature. Contact schools and ask for materials for your career project. Make a report below on your findings: list school names, programs offered, and requirements for admission. Then make a special note regarding any requirements you have not yet met.

DESCRIBE ACTIVITIES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR CAREER PREPARATION

Describe hobbies, part-time work, books you are reading, and other activities that may contribute to your career preparation.

PREPARE TO INTERVIEW A WORKER IN YOUR CHOSEN FIELD

In order to learn more about your selected occupation, it will be helpful for you to talk with someone who is now engaged in this kind of work. The person whom you plan to interview is probably a very busy person. Before arriving for the interview, you should have in mind some of the questions you wish to ask.

You will need to decide for yourself what information you want, but the following questions may be helpful to you.

*How did you become interested in this kind of work?

*What personal qualities does a person need to be successful in this occupation?

*What are some of the more satisfying features of this work?

*What disadvantages are there in this type of position?

*What are some things I can do now to prepare for this kind of work?

*What future training or education will I need?

*In what special skills or procedures should I be proficient?

*What opportunities are there for advancement?

*Does this work involve any special expenses, such as dues, equipment, and uniforms?

*What are the beginning and the top salaries in this occupation?

Other questions may come to mind as well. Think about what you want to learn. In response to many of the questions you ask, remember that the person will be expressing his or her own opinions about the occupation. You must make up your own mind about this field, but listen carefully to what is said and give the information serious thought.

Write below additional questions that you wish to ask.

REPORTING YOUR INTERVIEW

On separate sheets of paper, make detailed notes of your interview. These notes need not be handed in. Use them to prepare an outline summarizing the main points. Write the outline of your interview on this sheet, using major headings and subheadings.

PLAN YOUR NEXT STEPS

Now that you have made an extensive study of your occupation, what are the next steps that you need to follow to qualify for entry into and success in this occupation? It is suggested that you set up a schedule of the overall plans you will follow to prepare yourself for your occupation. You may wish to describe your tentative general plans for each of the coming years in which you will be in school and in training programs. Use additional sheets to describe your plans if necessary.

ORGANIZE YOUR CAREER REPORT

Throughout this course you have had opportunities to collect materials and to prepare reports related to your career goals. You will want to keep many, if not all, of these materials for future guidance and reference. Organize, classify, and assemble these materials in an orderly manner. You may wish to prepare a Personal Career Binder with the contents divided into selected chapters or parts. For this total report you may wish to prepare an attractive cover, a title page, a table of contents, and an appendix. Your instructor will give you additional suggestions. Be creative, imaginative, and neat. Prepare a final report that will be of value to you and that you will be proud to keep!