7.2: The Decision-making Process

For major life decisions such as choosing a major/career or deciding on your transfer college, using a logical and ordered process allows us to make effective decisions. The decision-making process we will use in this class involves the following five steps (Martinez & Shaker, 2021).

• Step 1: Formulating a goal or goals
• Step 2: Identifying the background information needed for making decisions
• Step 3: Identifying alternatives
• Step 4: Performing analysis
• Step 5: Making a final decision

These steps provide structure and discipline for the process of making serious decisions. Each step requires you to be proactive while brainstorming, investigating information, collecting and analyzing data and then taking effective action (University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 2010).

Application of the Decision-making Process

Let’s apply the steps involved in this decision-making process:

Step 1: Formulating a goal or goals

This step involves assessing the current situation and defining your goal. Ask yourself:

• What do you want to accomplish?
• Is the current situation a problem to solve or an opportunity to pursue? Knowing the difference will help guide you through the remaining steps and will help you organize your support network.

Here’s an example that may reflect a student in this class: “I have finished my career assessments and taken time to conduct career research. I now have four career options I am considering but don’t know which to pursue. I learned I am passionate about pursuing a career in the helping profession but can’t decide between elementary school teaching, social work, nursing or school counselor. These all are possible opportunities for me to pursue!

My goal is to determine which career path is best for me and how I can get there.

Step 2: Identifying the background information needed for making the decision

This step involves doing research and gathering relevant information. Ask yourself:

• What information do you currently know about your options?
• What information is missing?
• What sources will help you learn more about your options and who can help you gather more information?

Applying Step 2 to the example above:

• I am familiar with online career research sites addressed in this text. I might consider putting together a chart where I can take notes and do a side-by-side comparison among these different occupations including duties and responsibilities, educational training, licensing/certification requirements, salary information and current labor market trends and job outlook.
• I can arrange for informational interviews with professionals in each of the careers I am considering to gain a more personalized perspective on each profession.
• I can meet with an advisor to get an overview of the different majors that may be a good fit, develop an educational plan and compare and contrast the different options as well as transfer options.

Step 3: Identifying alternatives

On a journey, usually there are many roads that get to one place. This step allows you to put together as many creative options as possible based on the information gathered in Step 2. As you develop your options, consider possible obstacles and challenges you may foresee so you can plan and seek necessary support to help overcome those obstacles and challenges.

Applying Step 3 to the example above:

As I conducted my research four options stood out to me:

• elementary school teacher
• social worker
• guidance counselor
• nurse

Step 4: Performing analysis

As you identify alternatives, assess yourself and your current situation to see which of the options seems most attractive to you at this time. This step allows you to dive deep and evaluate alternatives, assess the outcomes of each option and consider how they align with your values to help you narrow down your options. Consider ranking your options and focus on your first choice. Assess your likelihood of success toward each alternative and consider sacrifices you may need to make. Revisit any possible challenges or obstacles you may foresee and address any barriers that may affect your success.

Applying step 4 to the example above:

Now I can start putting together and analyzing how the information fits my current situation and needs. After gathering the career information and speaking to professionals in the field, I feel strongly that being an elementary school teacher best aligns with my values and allows me to focus on making a difference while helping children learn and grow. This career aligns nicely with my personality preferences, values, interests, character strengths, skills and abilities. My career assessments confirm this path is a suitable option for me. I now will pursue elementary school teaching as my focus!

My research also tells me that the most likely major is Early Childhood Elementary Education, but depending on my intended transfer college, I may want to major in General Education. I’ll check with my advisor about the best major at HACC to prepare me for transfer to my intended transfer college.

Step 5: Making a final decision

Now you are ready to establish a plan of action. This step involves putting together necessary steps to pursue your desired outcome. Set a date you will start and complete your plan of action. Be realistic as you develop your plan. Consider resources you will need to put your plan into action.

Applying step 5 to the example above:

After researching the classes required for each major, I decided to pursue Early Childhood Education because this major does not require as much science and allows me to focus on child growth and development and how children learn which is more interesting to me. Now that I have narrowed down my options and decided on a path, I am ready to develop my plan of action!

Next semester, I will:

• Enroll in EDUC 110 - Foundations of PK-4 Education and see how I like the class.
• Meet with an advisor to change my major, establish my educational plan and review requirements for my associate degree and transfer.
• Talk to my education advisor and start networking!

The decision-making model described above is linear in nature where one step leads to the next, but please note that you may revisit a previous step at any time throughout the process. For example, after completing Step 4 and analyzing the situation, you may realize the alternatives generated in Step 3 are not of interest to you anymore so you may need to go back to Step 2 and gather more information before moving forward ((University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 2010).

Be flexible and open to change. Be patient and know that you are not alone on this journey. There is a lot of support on campus to help you brainstorm, gather information and evaluate your options. You always have options!

Once you decide upon a career, your decision will guide the goals you set for yourself from your college education to your future career. For help to stay on track in this journey, you can seek assistance from the information and resources you learn in this class as well as advisors and Career Services staff at the college to guide your search.

Internal and External Factors that Affect Decision-making

There are many factors that contribute to making decisions, some internal and some external. Internal factors are those you control because they come from within you. Internal factors are influenced by your feelings and thoughts, both positive or negative. Positive thoughts will help you with decision-making, while negative thoughts most likely will hinder you. Fear is a common internal factor that negatively affects decision-making (University of Minnesota, 2010).

• Fear of failure
• Fear of making the wrong decision
• Fear of rejection
• Fear of letting others down

Unfortunately, fear can lead to paralysis in the decision-making process with “worse case scenarios.” To avoid this paralysis, remember FEAR is an acronym for:

False Expectation Appearing Real

Remember, you are in control of these internal thoughts and feelings in terms of your mindset (discussed earlier in this text). Your internal thoughts and feelings hold a lot of power over your actions so use that power wisely by maintaining a growth mindset. If you have a growth mindset, even though you may have fear, you will believe you are capable of making effective decisions.

Another internal factor that affects decision-making is self-confidence. Lack of self-confidence can make decision-making challenging and negatively impact your goals. Earlier in this text we addressed the importance of self-confidence in setting yourself up for success. You can be your best friend through the decision-making process or your worst enemy. The choice is up to you. If you lack self-confidence, the good news is you can work on building self-confidence and self-efficacy and developing your growth mindset.

External factors are those that stem from your surroundings. External factors may include expectations from your family, friends, cultural or gender stereotypes and family responsibilities. You also may need to consider factors such as your finances, where you live and the timing of this decision relative to other life goals and commitments. External factors can influence decision-making in a positive or negative way. Considering external factors when making decisions is important so you can absorb the positive support and create a plan to counteract the negative (University of Minnesota, 2010).

Also, remember the discussion of career priorities earlier in this text. Your career priorities involve both internal and external factors and guide your career decision-making. After making a decision about your career direction, you need to be mindful of the internal and external factors that may affect your next steps. Once you have narrowed down your career choices, you will set a long-term goal and develop a plan of action by setting effective short- and mid-term goals leading to the long-term goal.

Activity 7.1

My Decision-making Style

When it comes to making a decision regarding your career, what internal and external factors are affecting your decision process?

Internal Factors

1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________

External Factors

1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________