Creating Your Career Path

Did you know there are more than 30,000 possible careers? In this article, Part I of a two-part series, you will explore your interests and values to find the career path that is right for you. In Part II, which will appear in January 2002, you will set your career goals.

Simply put, a career path combines related occupations into a general category or cluster. Workers in these occupations share similar interests and strengths, but may have achieved different levels of education and training. For example, two of the occupations in the health sciences career path are pediatrician and medical assistant. While both professions require an interest in helping people get well, the specific job-related educational requirements differ. Doctors train nearly 10 years, but medical assistants sometimes enter the field after less than a year of specialized courses. The variety of job requirements and responsibilities within each career path will allow you to pick out occupations that fit you best.

Focus and Flexibility

Career paths provide other advantages too. First, you can more easily focus on areas that interest and motivate you to do your best. High school students in Michigan, for instance, choose from six paths, or clusters:

* arts and communication

* business, management, marketing, and technology

* health sciences

* human services

* engineering/manufacturing and industrial technology

* natural resources and agriscience

If you're enthusiastic about science, for example, you can focus on occupations in the health sciences and the natural resources and agriscience clusters. You can research the requirements for entering these fields, consult with a guidance counselor, and take recommended courses. You also can participate in related extracurricular activities--a smart career move because colleges and employers prefer students with work-related experience and vision. According to a study at the University of Arizona, extracurricular activities help teens set constructive career goals.

Connie Isenbarger, a counselor at Hillcrest Middle School in Glendale, Arizona, says that career paths help students see the relevance between their studies and the "real world." In seventh and eighth grades, students take a variety of exploratory classes.

Here's what Jonathan McDaniel says about his experience:

"During a social studies class I took in eighth grade, I took part in a mock trial, which helped me see how the criminal justice system depends on lawyers having good communication skills."

On-campus "Career Days" and guest speakers can also help you see the connection between school assignments and the world of work. And, some printed materials include sections on how you can use the same skills in different careers. For instance, picture framers and accountants both use math skills.

Career path experiences (such as worker interviews, job shadowing, cooperative education, volunteering, apprenticeships, and internships) help ease the transition between school and work. Participating in these activities can help you develop good work habits such as being responsible and cooperative.

Perhaps most important, however, career paths encourage flexibility. Although you may start laying the groundwork for a specific career, you still have the freedom to choose from many related occupations because the skills and knowledge you acquire are transferable within the paths. Students in the arts and communication path at Southfield Public Schools in Michigan, for example, take courses in creative writing, play production, animation, and TV production. If someone starts out planning for a career as a TV broadcaster and later decides against it, he or she still has the skills needed to enter the related fields of public relations, advertising, or journalism.

Not surprisingly, the exact number of career paths and requirements varies from school district to district. In any school system, however, a given career will fit into one of the categories. Students can expect to take career-specific classes and also have real-world opportunities, such as engaging in hands-on learning and attending courses that can earn them college credit

Get to Know Yourself

Another advantage of the career path process is that students get to know themselves better. As part of their action plan, they do a thorough self-assessment to learn about their strengths, talents, and abilities. In some schools, they use professional tests or inventories, such as the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, John Holland's Self-Directed Search, or the Michigan Occupational Information System Self-Assessment Career Survey. Another tool is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Ask your guidance counselor about these tools, or visit Internet Web sites such as www.ipl.org/teen/pathways/carchoice.html.

You also can conduct your own informal inventory. For example, to find out more about your temperament, ask yourself a few questions like these:

Do you--

* talk a lot during classroom discussions?

* work best with a group?

* have a lot of friends?

* consider yourself a risk-taker?

* go out with friends when you're feeling blue (rather than stay in by yourself)?

Answering no to the majority of the above questions probably indicates you are a more introverted person. You may like to do things your own way, work independently, and hang out with one or two best friends. Extroverted people prefer to socialize and work with others

Pick Your Passion

Determining your interests important part of any self-assessment. For this purpose, students professional tests such as Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (www.assessment.com/MAPPMembers/TakeMAPP.asp), the Michigan Occupational Information System Self-Assessment Career Survey (www.mois.org/moistest.html), or the Career Style Summary (http://services.review.com/registration/index.asp?body=login). To take your own interest inventory via the Web, log onto sites like the Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org) and www.myfuture.com. Ask your counselor about the Strong Interest Inventory, an evaluation tool that compares your interests to those of people actually employed in 109 different occupations.

People with similar interests often end up in the same or similar career fields. For instance, people in the human services path often say that as teens their interests revolved around helping others.

You also can quiz yourself with general questions such as these:

* What do I like to do in my free time?

* What school subjects or activities do I enjoy or excel in?

* What are my hobbies?

* Which of my achievements makes me the most proud?

* What makes me the happiest?

* If I could do whatever I wanted, what would that be?

* Do I like working with my hands? Using my imagination? Selling things? Observing? Helping others? Working with numbers?

When Wendy Biggs, a Michigan physician, reflects on her high school years, she remembers being interested in English and science classes. She enjoyed working with groups, being constantly challenged, and making decisions. It wasn't until college, though, that she opted for medical school. She now heads a family medicine practice and teaches at the University of Michigan.

Whatever interest assessment method you use, make sure you think hard about what makes you happy. "You'll start to see patterns and themes emerging," says Lynn Richardson, associate dean at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "Maybe it's working with animals or organizing events. Usually you can turn these things into a career."

Consider Your Strengths

Select a career path that utilizes your strengths, says Marcus Buckingham, co-author of Now, Discover Your Strengths. How? Start by examining your achievements and accomplishments because they exhibit your best skills. Also, ask yourself, "Where do I get my kicks?" "What am I naturally attracted to?" Another option is to ask your guidance counselor for an objective test, such as the Skills Confidence Inventory, which measures people's confidence in their ability to perform various activities.

Do some homework. List 10 of your personal successes. Perhaps you organized an all-day hike or won an award for best art project. Now analyze the skills you used to achieve these goals. Don't be afraid to ask family and friends for help or feedback. Did you problem solve? Show leadership? Communicate clearly by speaking or writing? Use computer know-how? Employ creativity? Use abstract reasoning? Did the task involve academic skills, such as math or foreign languages? Did it require mechanical ability? Listening well? Decision-making?

The average adult has acquired more than 24 job-related skills, a few of which are time management, teamwork, and interpersonal skills. Which skills do you learn most quickly? These indicate an inborn talent you can apply to a particular career path. As you navigate this career path and take advantage of work and school opportunities, you will be able to polish other important skills, such as being organized, doing research, and having the ability to analyze situations.

Tap into Your Values

Your values fuel your ambitions. Values are your most important beliefs. (See sidebar on page 8.) For instance, some people think security, money, and freedom make their life better. Others prefer excitement, independence, and variety.

According to Brent Roberts, psychology professor at the University of Illinois, people pursue goals that relate to seven values: economic, aesthetic (appearance), social, relationship, political, hedonistic (pleasurable), and religious.

Values can make a big difference in your choice of career path. For instance, students in Arizona who value financial security and relationships often choose the business, management, marketing, and technology path. Their interests and abilities may show they enjoy and are good at helping people. They also like making decisions, solving problems, or operating computers. Students in this pathway take core classes in history, English, and math, but also get training in interpersonal communication, programming, and sales and marketing.

Add It All Up

Through the use of various assessments, you may learn that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts When you total up your interests, skills; aptitudes, strengths, and values, you usually get more than just a personality profile. You gain insights that lead to smart choices. Maybe, like Jonathan McDaniel, 18, a senior at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona, you find you have leadership ability. Based on activities in middle school, such as participating in mock trials, making morning announcements over the PA system, and campaigning for election, Jonathan learned he was strong-willed and opinionated, and that he had leadership potential.

"I discovered I was thrilled about getting involved in anything that had to do with current events and government, such as Kids Voting," says Jonathan. "And when I took a 144question interest inventory called IDEAS[TM] (Interest, Determination, Exploration, and Assessment System), I found out that my areas of interest centered around writing and speaking, not construction or anything done in the outdoors."

Although he briefly considered a career in music, Jonathan is now focused on a career as an attorney. "During my involvement with mock trials, some of my coaches were lawyers," says Jonathan. "I talked to them a lot and used a computer program to find Out about specific aspects of the field of law, such as responsibilities and pay. The career path system got me on the right track." Jonathan sums it up this way: "It reassured me, narrowed my focus, but still gave me options. And for some of my 'clueless' friends, the tests woke them up."

Chart New Paths

Career path choices often change over time. As people go through different life stages, they sometimes discover new interests or strengths. Sometimes even their values change. Financial factors, physical health, job demands, or a rocky economy can also motivate people to choose different career paths.

When this happens, simply chart new career goals that take into consideration these changes. Get retrained or take additional courses. Volunteer. Find people to mentor you or to answer questions about your new career path. Take these steps to steer yourself in the right direction.

Freda Yawson: Preparing Her Future

Freda Yawson isn't worried about her future. She's too busy preparing for it. The 17-year-old chose the engineering and manufacturing sciences path--one of the four career paths available at Southfield High School in Michigan. Before

she graduated last June, Freda attended the Engineering Academy, which is located in the high school.

"I'm aiming for a dual career in automotive design engineering and automotive design," says Freda. How did she arrive at this decision?

As a high-school sophomore, Freda thought about what she enjoyed and did best. Then she tried out different things that interested her. "I gained a wealth of knowledge about these area," says Freda. She also asked for personal feedback about her strengths from her dad. Freda's conclusions? She excelled in math, science, and drawing, and she also loved cars. When her father showed her a copy of an automotive magazine, "I knew I had found a career," Freda recalls.

During her junior and senior years at the academy, Freda took specialized courses such as engineering technology, CAD (Computer-Aided Design), and manufacturing case studies. And she attended the Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences. She also built a robot in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, did job shadowing, consulted mentors, and completed summer internships with General Motors." At GM I was able to ask questions about different engineering aspects while getting a firsthand look at the automotive industry," says Freda. She also used her high school career center for researching college engineering programs.

Freda knows the career path system worked well for her. But she encourages students to get work-related experience too. "Most industries look for some kind of experience when hiring," she Freda.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Weekly Reader Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group