Introduction: Exploring Yourself to Plan Your Career
“We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.” --- Mary Dunbar
“There are dreamers, and there are planners; the planners make their dreams come true.” --- Edwin Louis Cole
In most cultures of the United States, what we do for our careers is thought to be a direct reflection of our identities. When you meet someone new, after learning your name and perhaps where you live, what is usually the next question? “What do you do?” This question means “what is your job or occupation,” but most people associate the answer (your job or occupation) with you as a person; hence, what you “do” becomes what you “are.”
Have you ever had difficulty feeling motivated to attend or do the work in a certain class? If so, perhaps you were not able to make a connection between the class and your career goals or plans. Maybe you’re not sure of your career plans yet, and therefore, most or all of your classes may not hold much interest for you. As we learned with mindset and motivation, you will be more likely to succeed at tasks you believe you can accomplish, and those tasks must be relevant for you. In other words, the tasks must be connected to your future plans. Therefore, exploring possible careers and designing an academic plan will enable you to succeed in your college classes, even the difficult or less-interesting classes.
You also learned how to set effective goals in an earlier chapter. Your career dreams are just that – dreams – which are intangible and ethereal until you place a tangible, concrete foundation of goals and plans under those dreams. When you explore career options to plan your career then implement steps or short-term goals on the way to your long-term goal, you will achieve a sense of accomplishment as you accomplish each step or small goal on the way to your long-term career goal. Planning your academic and career path also helps ensure you’re taking the appropriate classes to earn your educational credential (diploma, certificate or degree).
Many people hesitate to make a career decision because they are afraid of choosing the “wrong” major or career. We’ve all heard stories of people who went to college for a certain major and now don’t work in that career field. You also may have heard that people change careers (not just jobs, but whole careers) many times in their lives. You want to be sure you’re choosing correctly so you don’t waste money and time taking classes you don’t need or spending years in a dead-end or soul-killing occupation. The good news is your first career decision really is just that – a first decision. You will make new career decisions throughout your life, and you aren’t confined to staying in only one career forever. Unlike the 19th and first half of the 20th century in the U.S., having only one career for our entire professional lives no longer happens, and the vast majority of us will need to make a series of career decisions.
7.1 The Path to a Career Decision
Where are you on the path to a career decision? Are you undecided and still exploring any and all options? Have you thought of several options but haven’t yet decided? Have you decided upon a specific major? Regardless of where you are on your path, the first step in career exploration actually is self-exploration. You need to discover your values, personality traits, interests and skills so you can use those personal elements as “filters” through which you view potential careers. Learning about yourself and then using what you have learned to filter career options will reduce the chances of choosing the “wrong,” less-rewarding career.
One resource HACC offers for exploring your interests is Career Coach (used for the Career Exploration Assignment in FS 102). Career Coach includes an assessment based on the career interest theory of John Holland, a well-known psychologist who specialized in career theory23. The Holland theory indicates we have career interests in six areas: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional. Our top interest areas lead to certain occupations that may be more rewarding for us because our interests are reflected in those occupations.
HACC also offers the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (which assesses personality traits) and the Strong Interest Inventory (assesses interests – similar to Career Coach), both for a small cost and available through HACC’s Career Services.
Link to Career Coach: Career Coach [hacc.emsicc.com]
The U.S. Department of Labor publishes free assessments about interests, values and skills under the O*NET (onetonline.org). You can browse careers using several different filters. See the following links:
Once you have explored your values, personality traits, interests and skills, research about potential careers becomes important. If you were purchasing your first new car, which is a sizable investment, what research would you do? What questions would you ask? Would you want to know about costs, gas mileage, safety and warranty coverage? Similarly, when you are deciding upon a career to pursue, you need to ask many questions and do research. Research consists of academic or scholarly research and hands-on experiential activities. Academic or scholarly research means looking at data and information, and hands-on experiential activities means speaking with people in careers you’re considering (networking and informational interviewing) and experiencing potential careers for yourself (shadowing, internships, volunteering).
What’s Your Brand?
As you travel down your career exploration path, be careful of what image you’re projecting to the world on social media. You have a “brand” just like consumer products such as cereal and tissues. People with whom you network and potential employers will search for you on social media so you need to ensure the brand you’re creating reflects your positive qualities and achievements and doesn’t show potentially negative elements. Are your social media accounts locked down so that only your contacts can see what you post? What do your posts look like? What images and memes do you post that others can see? Since you are in the process of self-discovery, ensure what others discover about you reflects your positive potential as a student and employee.
23 Nuata, M.M. (2010). The development, evolution, and status of Hollands’s Theory of Vocational Personalities: Reflections and future directions for Counseling Psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(1), 11-22. https://doi10.1037/a0018213.
