7 Life Changing Benefits of Setting Career Goals

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Has your career stalled? Don’t have a clear view of your future?
You could do your job in your sleep? Maybe you should develop a written
career plan with clearly set out goals. If you have a career plan, with a
focus of something to aim for, something to work for, a method to
measure progress you’ll discover a variety of positive results.

There
is one thing you must do before starting your journey. Write down your
career goals. It can’t be emphasized to much that your career goals must
be written. They must be measurable and reachable. Don’t try to jump
the Grand Canyon in one leap. Keep the career goals in a series of
smaller steps. If you plan on reading, for example, 120 books in the
next five years, that’s two a month. Make your objective in your career
plan to read two books a month. This is much easier to achieve and keep
score.

Don’t forget to add a fitness component to the career plan.
How is your fitness level? See your doctor and then get started. A
physically fit person, knows their increased concentration and endurance
will allow them to perform their job at a higher level. Don’t neglect
this aspect of your career plan.

Also, when you draft up your
career goals, concentrate on the top three to five objectives. Write
them on a card. Put a copy in your check book, on the visor in your car.
Write them out on your laptop or computer screen saver so every time
you turn on your computer you read the career goals.

Setting career goals can provide you with the following series of benefits all which will help you grow and grow your career.

1.
Career goals will give you a focus, a picture of where you want to be.
With this picture firmly set in your mind, you will find ways to move
toward your objective.

2. Making progress toward a goal can be a
big motivator. As you reach each milestone it provides you with the
motivation to keep going, to keep improving.

3. Success comes to those who set career goals. Once
you begin working toward a written goal you have set the picture of the
planned result in your mind and you will set aside the time and put
forth the effort to reach the goal.

4. Your confidence will
increase as each step in your career goal is reached. Building on this
confidence will give you the effort required to work at and reach the
next in your career plan.

5. Each time we set a goal and reach it
we grow as a person. This allows us to build on our knowledge and
experience base to reach farther.

6. Reaching career and personal
goals will develop one of the most important attitudes that measure
success. As you become more confident, you will become more positive.
You view of the future will be more assured and this confident attitude
will attract more positive people to you and more positive things will
happen to you.

7. With one of your career goals to improve your
level of fitness, as you become more fit, your enjoyment of the world
around you will grow. Your ability, on occasion, to work longer hours
will not sap your endurance. You’ll be able to do things in your off
hours that will add spice to your life. You’ll have more balance in your
life and this will lead to even more interesting adventures.

So
the benefits of setting career goals are they give you a focus, they
generate motivation, they develop success, they increase confidence,
they allow you to grow as a person, they build a positive attitude and
they bring a balance and enjoyment into your life.

Now is the best
time to start your career planning. With written career goals you too
will begin experiencing these seven important life long benefits.

Posted in: Career \ Tagged:

Career Test – Taking Career Change Tests and Assessments

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Career test is a great tool to define your career choice. If you
are not satisfied with your job this tool can help. Since job
satisfaction is the way to a peak performance it is critical that you
choose a career that offers yourself every opportunity to excel. And
career assessments are the answer when it comes to selecting the perfect
career. Assessment tests use a series of questions about your
interests, about your style of working, and how you interact with other
people. Questionnaires are an important part of career assessment tools.
These questionnaires and their scoring system were rigorously designed
to provide the most accurate results.

Testing methodologies vary
but in general, career tests ask a battery of questions that attempt to
distinguish many things. They clarify your interests as well as match
your skills and competencies to specific fields. They try to identify
your strong points and individual work style to determine whether you
like certain jobs and if you will be successful in that position. One
popular type of tests is career aptitude tests. These tests measure your
skills you have learned so far in life and your areas of potential.

A
personality test is another type of career assessment tests. They help
discover what your work personality is and find a career for you by
performing a research on hundreds of careers. If you spend some time
taking a career personality test or two, you’ll get several career
options to help you consider how they may fit with your personality.

Career testing programs can assist young
professionals, mid-career professionals, seasoned professionals and high
school & college students to find the right career for each
individual. When you take a career quiz you may be surprised at what
your test reveals, especially if you have been in your current career
for many years. Quizzes cannot provide magic answers but they help you
to have a better understanding of your vocational identity and thus to
seek and generate additional career options. They help you scan a wider
range of possibilities than you might be able to imagine on your own.

If
you want to change career, taking some career change tests can help you
choose your ultimate career choice. Using many career options that you
get from various career tests you then search your soul and ask yourself
some tough questions to determine which career is right for you.

Posted in: Career

Why Is Alternative Medicine A Rewarding Career Option

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With the ever-increasing cost and undesirable side effects of the conventional Western method of medicine, we have witnessed a constantly increasing interest in alternative medicine system. While there is an alternative medicine school in almost every part of the world now, aspiring alternative medicine practitioners are still doubtful about this as a prospective career option. However, contrary to the standard notion, alternative medicine actually has much scope now as an effective career. The speed at which each new alternative medicine school is opening now is itself an indication of the future scope of this career.

The career you take up will depend on the level of education you obtained from your alternative medicine school. If you are business minded, you may get into selling herbal remedies, dietary supplements, and various other holistic products. If you belong to an agricultural background, you may get involved in cultivation of herbs. You will definitely have a never failing career as a massage therapist, as so many spas and gyms that are sprouting everywhere need the same. Even standard acupuncture clinics and Ayurveda centers are more interested in people who are licensed practitioners from some alternative medicine school rather than those with knowledge only and no degree.

If you take up alternative medicine as a career option, not only will your career be very financially rewarding, but your cost of education from an alternative medicine school will be very minimal as well. An alternative medicine schools gives you the provision of distance learning, whereby you can obtain your degree online, studying and researching in your own surroundings. This is particularly beneficial for students who want to study from a different country. You will not have to attend regular classes at an alternative medicine school, you can obtain your degree online wherever you are, and your graduation will be very speedy as well.

One country where alternative medicine has become a very flourishing and promising career option is India. India is the land where many traditional alternative medicine therapies like Ayurveda, Unani, and Yoga originated. Even today, most rural areas in India have alternative medicine in the form of traditional knowledge as the only form of treatment in their areas. In a developing country like India, where so many alternative medicine therapies have been practiced for years, this career is of enormous scope for it is not only very cost effective but also has no harmful side effects.

There are abundant alternative medicine schools in India offering degrees and diplomas in many alternative medicine courses. Students qualified from alternative medicine schools in India are getting employment in treatment centers, hospitals, training centers, resorts, spas and so on. And with the introduction of distance learning, many foreign students who acquire degrees online from the alternative medicine schools in India, are also being able to get various job opportunities in their respective countries.

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Careers After 50 – Valuable Tips to Manage Your Career Now!

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Four valuable tips to manage your career now to make you more
valuable to your current employer, prepare you for another job or build
you career foundation for a planned career change.

Careers after
50: it’s never too late to maximize your career opportunities. With
cutbacks all around us, outsourcing and tight budgets, even layoffs,
it’s vital you get the most out of your job and maximize your career
while you’re still employed.

Take a close look at your current
benefits. Are you maxing out your 401k? If not, get it done. How about
the medical plan? If you have elective surgery planned, now is the time
to get the knee fixed. Have a dental plan? Get to the dentist. Have
tuition reimbursement? Build up your career related skills. Is there a
valuable seminar or workshop you should be attending? Get it on your
schedule.

Beyond the company benefits the real advantages to your
career are not found in the employer benefit programs. By building on
your training and experience you can better manage your career by
acquire new training and skills that will add to your abilities in your
current career and could qualify you to additional career opportunities.

Here
are four tips to improve your current value to your company and boost
your worth for an internal promotion or add to your attractiveness by
managing your career and if you are in the market for a different
position or a career change after 50.

Build Your Achievement File: Go
back over your time with your current employer and list all your
responsibilities and achievements. Quantify every accomplishment. List
any promotions and how your achievements led to the move up the ladder.

List
the time, content and what you learned in all training completed. It
can be an in house training on a new system or software program up to a
credit course at a local college to distance learning on the internet.

Here’s
where many career builders drop the ball. Keep a record of all
thank-you comments both internal and external, handwritten complimentary
notes from the CEO or your boss on a project or exceptional action that
you did, positive notes from employees and other department heads all
should be in your “atta-boy” file.

This means you can look back
over your career development and management and if necessary draft a
current resume without missing something important.

Look For Chances to Grow and Shine: Look
for ways to do things better. Initiate actions to solve a problem,
reduce costs, improve customer service or increase sales. Volunteer to
work on projects, improve your team work building skills to be the go to
person when your boss needs something done.

Build your career
skills in areas you may be weak, like public speaking. Maybe a
toastmaster’s membership will help. Don’t miss an opportunity to
represent your employer to outside groups and customers.

Add to Your Education: Career
education is not restricted to formal education or something that only
directly relates to your career. It could range from in-house training
on functions outside of your career, systems and software, seminars and
workshops, self-study and a career planning reading program.

In
building your career; as you learn new skills and more about other
functions of your employer you spotlight you teamwork skills and
highlight your professional career development. All are valuable in
maximizing your position within the company.

Network Building is an Under-Used Career Benefit:
Building and managing your career skills that many do not take
advantage of is working with your network of contacts. Working with
coworkers in your career field, mentoring as appropriate, coaching, and
learning are but a few of the advantages to you as you make use of your
network contacts.

Your network should include friends and previous
coworkers, college contacts and customers of your employer. Making and
fostering new contacts should be an integral part of your career
building program.

Also, don’t overlook networking opportunities to
work with individuals in other departments on company charities and
other company related activities. It will just be added chances to
assist others and build your network.

These four tips on building
your current career will not only improve your position with your
current employer but will develop other skills that could be valuable if
you elect to change careers or need to move to another employer. Taking
advantage of the opportunities all around you is just good for your
personal development and good for managing your career.

Posted in: Career \ Tagged: ,

Career Change Coaching

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When I was a goal coach at lululemon athletica I had the
opportunity to do a lot of career coaching with people who were in
college, who were committed to taking on new roles in leadership and
one’s who needed to transition to another career.

Knowing how to
set goals during this period is vitally important and I cover that in my
book which you can find by clicking here. For today we are focused on
determining what your ideal career could be.

How many careers
should a person have on average in their lifetime? I have no idea
because all I care about is helping you find the right career for you.
That one career you want to stay at forever because you love it so much
you would do it for free (just don’t tell your boss that).

Career Clogs

My
theory about careers is that if all the people who were unhappy with
their career would just quit it would make room for the people who would
love that career. Then there would be careers open for those that quit
that they would love. Like a career exchange program.

Have you had
the experience before where you would love a certain career and you
know first-hand the person who has it could care less about it? You see I
believe that the right career is out there for everyone and unhappy
people are clogging up the career pipeline for everyone else.

These
career cloggers cost companies millions of dollars a year and potential
employees that could change the face of their organization. Don’t be
hard on them because you care most likely in the same position.

Before
we explore how you can discover the right career for you I want to
address something you may be doing either consciously or unconsciously
and it may not turn out quite how you think it will.

Career Suicide

I
want you to be proactive in determining the career you want to have and
not commit what I call career suicide. My definition of career suicide
is:

The act of consciously choosing to do things that you know
lower your personal performance, and purposefully go against the goals
of the company while blaming everyone else for your unhappiness to the
point where you force your leader to take action and terminate you.

People
who do this usually feel trapped in their career due to the external
obligations they feel they will fail to make if they leave. They believe
they cannot take the risk in quitting yet are setting themselves up to
be fired. Why not keep the control of when and how you leave your
career?

Start setting goals, researching and applying for other
careers. Acknowledge you have been choosing to do things you know could
get you fired. Just because you are unhappy with where you are is no
excuse to not perform with excellence.

Setting goals will honestly
improve your performance because you will start to create a plan on a
way out. This feeling of freedom will reflect on your happiness.

I
want you to control when your career ends so life doesn’t force you
into action by you getting fired before you were “ready” to leave making
you feel like you need to take the first career that comes along so you
can pay the bills. This almost guarantees you will end up in a career
you don’t love all over again.

There is the possibility you are
unconsciously behaving in ways that are not conducive to a long
prosperous career because if you tell yourself you hate your career
every day then you most likely act like you hate your career every day.

Identify What You Love vs. Don’t Love

Before
you decide to tell your employer to take their job and shove it let’s
take some time to discover why exactly you feel the need to do that. If
you don’t take the time to do this step you may find you end up in the
exact same style of career you want to leave.

How do you avoid getting the exact same career you
just left being that is the industry you were trained in? I mean if you
are a nurse just switching hospitals will not mean you won’t see blood
anymore.

You can clarify your ideal career by determining what you
love doing every day and what you don’t love doing every day. This
sounds simple because it is. Grab your journal and make two columns,
love and don’t love.

The key here is to not include your boss or
Negative Nancy on the list because you can’t control the people you work
with every day no matter where you go. Focus only on the details of the
career. If you are a nurse maybe your list looks like:

Posted in: Career \ Tagged: , ,

Career Services Professionals – Recklessly Running a $50m Business

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I have had extensive dealings with all types of career services
professionals and have, unfortunately for the students of the
universities, discovered that about only 1 out of 20 actually understand
their job and are effective at it. To be an asset to the students,
there are things that career services professionals need to understand:

The Students Are Clients of Theirs – They Are Clients That Pay A Lot of Money

The cost of a college education, before loan interest can run up to
nearly $250,000. This money is spent to ensure that sons and daughters
of hard working people get educated and, thus can contribute to society
in a meaningful way. To do this, the students need to begin by obtaining
a career that is right for them and is conducive to them being
successful. Seemingly, a lot of career professionals like to work 9 – 5
hours. Why not? In academics it’s hard to get fired. It seems as if a
lot of career services professionals expect some sort of accolade for a 6
o’clocker.

If a school has roughly 10,000 students and, on
average each student is paying $50,000 (this number factors in full
tuition students, scholarship and mixed) that career services
professional is carrying a client revenue stream of $50,000,000.
However, most career service professionals shrug off the fact that
companies 30% of this size have 24hr. support. The career services
employees work for the students and exist to obtain one goal and one
goal only – making the career goals of their clients a reality.

This
means even if the career services professional has to claw through the
dirt to get it done. Why are they different from the business world?
What gives them exemption from execution?

The Professors Are Clients of Theirs

Professors spend years preparing to be able to educate young minds
by obtaining MBAs and PhDs and, thus inspire the students to go out into
the world, make an impact and do their best to live ethical, productive
lives. Therefore, in this scenario, the professors are the sales
representatives that go out and find the “leads” only to have a 9 – 5
career services not close the account. Career services professionals
need to be very proactive and very appreciative of every single
professor within that university because that is where their “leads”
come from. No closer likes subpar leads. No lead generator can work with
a subpar closer. In any company, regardless of industry, subpar closers
see only one thing: the door.

Unfortunately, this mentality and
understanding only exists in 5% of today’s university career centers.
Moreover, to better service their clients (students and professors), the
career services representatives need to go to each class, introduce
themselves as the “account manager” who has personally been designated
to work with the clients (students) throughout the account cycle that is
4 or 5 years in this case.

For any good account manager who was
carrying a quota of $50,000,000 going to a class and, subsequently
servicing the two forms of clients they have at a single time is a no
brainer. Companies spend millions of dollars per year in R & D
attempting to figure out how to be this effective. Have most career
services personnel? Nope.

Budgets Are Budgets – They Must Make Due
with the Money Given Being underfunded is not an excuse. Companies are
under funded all of the time, however they make due and, upon doing a
stellar job for their clients (the students in this case) their
corporate division can make a strong argument as to why more revenue
needs to be diverted to their team because their success and client
execution needs more resources. They don’t understand it’s not the other
way around. Produce, then complain.

They Have Competitors

If
you were to ask 95% of career service professionals who their
competition was, they would immediately refer to their football rival
three states away. Their competition are the schools that are close by
and that have students that go up against their students for jobs. This
is their competition; it’s not another college due to the fact that they
can dunk a basketball.

Career services professionals need to stop
spending so much time living off a win in a sport done by actual
athletes that have no affiliation with them, but the name on a jersey.
Instead, they should analyze how the athletes accomplish what they do
and bring that model into the career center.

It’s just known that career services professionals
don’t do competitive analysis. They don’t follow up with companies that
interview their competition to see how their students stacked up against
the other schools. This should be done on a daily basis. Then, once
this knowledge is obtained, the career services professionals need to
use this information to better serve their clients.

Also, many
career services professionals have not, in their professional career,
done any competitive analysis on their competition’s career websites.
Thus, they can’t serve their clients are best as possible because they
don’t know how the other teams write resumes, answer certain interview
questions, approach the job hunt or just about any other aspect that
could be deciphered with a 2 minute analysis.

They Are In Sales and Need to Make Outbound Calls

Unless a school is an Ivy-League institution, career center
employees have to understand that the recruiting process is a 50 / 50.
This entails making outbound calls to companies that are currently
hiring or that are very reputable and are currently not looking at their
students.

Most career service professionals never make outbound
calls and, subsequently don’t service their $50,000,000 worth of
clientele to the fullest extent possible. Businesses, to sustain this
revenue, fight tooth and nail to keep their clients satisfied. To a
business, to ensure client satisfaction, getting their hands dirty with a
few cold-calls and, subsequently starting a sales cycle to better the
experience of their client is something they are more than willing to
do. Actually, in most cases, they enjoy the challenge. This is not
something that be done by someone who ducks out of the office at 5:30
because their TiVo is getting full.

It Is Their Fault If Students Don’t Come to the Career Center

Students are not just magically going to appear in the career
services center and a lot of career services professionals use this as
an excuse. There are no excuses when carrying a $50,000,000 quota. You
execute; you don’t leave at 5, you don’t get complacent with 20 people
showing up for your resume speech, you go out and hunt.

Most
career center professionals do a lackluster job of getting the students
in their office. In this case, their clients (the professors) need them
to do so. They have to close the deal, but don’t want to come to terms
with the fact that “sales” which is a bad word to most career services
professionals is part of their job description. However, with most
career centers, excuses are tossed around like pre-made pizza pies
regarding this aspect of their job.

Also, many don’t even think of
the fact that there are psychology professors steps away who exist and
could better help them understand as to why they are not getting the
students in their office. Career service professionals, the majority of
them, have access to hundreds of free consultants. How many companies
can say this? How many career services professionals can say that they
use their consultants?

The Career Website Should Contain No Less Than 100 Articles – Most Original

There are CEOs who run million dollar corporations and who, maybe
don’t type themselves, but write books. Presidents who run nations still
find the time to write memoires. I manage 14 people and still write for
marketing purposes. Most career service professionals, after 5 p.m.
have no loyalty to the needs of their clients. It’s as if they are a
call center employee who jumps out of their seat the minute the clock
ticks and their shift ends.

They don’t act like an executive
carrying this kind of quota. Their clients need resume help. How many
resumes (actual samples) for each kind of graduate does the career
services professionals have linked?

They Don’t Understand Basic Management Skills

Instead of forming a team, it seems that most career services
professionals like to be hung up on the fact that they have an
“assistant.” Instead of basic management 101 skills, these individuals
like to make it known that they think of their assistant as only an
assistant. When was the last time this “assistant” was given the
autonomy to help carry out the aforementioned activities for the large
account?

Posted in: Career

Thinking About A Career In Forensic Ballistics

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If you’re searching for a career in forensic ballistics you’re obviously interested in forensics itself and firearms. This exciting division of forensics was probably first employed in Court to steer towards a conviction in London in 1835. Since then, this science has certainly become considerably more challenging.

Forensic ballistics involves the collection, identification, classification and analysis of evidence in relation to firearms in criminal investigations. This may involve identifying tool marks (or breech marks) that can be transferred from the weapon to a fired bullet and bullet fragments as well as the trajectory of the bullets fired. Other areas include gun powder residue analysis, fingerprints, fibres and blood associated with the weapon or bullets. As with many areas of forensic science, ballistics works closely with other departments including the law enforcement agencies.

The firearm itself does not need to be located to obtain a match, and indeed, this match doesn’t always require a lot of effort on the part of the forensic ballistics expert. The FBI and the specialist Firearms-Toolmarks Unit, keep a fully integrated national database referred to as Drugfire. When facts are put into the database, it will seek a match with other information and flag this up to the user.

If you’re considering a career in forensic ballistics and expecting a top salary, forget it! Once you leave college, and depending on any past experience you may have, you may expect an average of between 22000 to 35000 dollars in the United States. Increments are typically paid every six months or so depending on how you advance. The income is low as you continue to be in training for a minimum of a couple of years after you start, so dont expect to be heavily associated with anything too serious to begin with.

Your on-going training will involve a considerable amount of further reading on all relevant areas of law such as identifying firearms, wound analysis, different ammunition etc. You will also need to attend seminars and courses to make sure you understand how to handle evidence, the best way to safety assemble and disassemble firearms and microscope techniques. You will end up amply trained in how guns and ammunition are manufactured, how to give expert testimony in court and also attend many more lectures and seminars – much like being back in college! As with any forensics career, learning is dynamic as new approaches and machinery is constantly evolving.

A career in forensic ballistics is just that, a career for life. If you’re a bit uncertain, think hard before going down this road as it is a long one. It will be your job to thoroughly investigate the evidence and try and keep a pace ahead, and when required, to give clear and explicate evidence in court.

Posted in: Career \ Tagged: ,

Consider a Career Coach

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My wife and I are sitting in a small coffee shop overlooking
Waikiki Beach as the young lady who is serving us is somewhat
complaining about her choice of careers. I take it she does not like
being a coffee barista!

So, how are you doing with your career?

Is
your career important to you? Do you want to be real high flyer in your
chosen field, or are you satisfied with being comfortably mediocre? If
you want to develop an outstanding career then you need to put effort
into it. Not just into your daily work, but into the development of your
career over time. You need to ask yourself this question – do you have a
vision for where you want your career to be in twenty years? How about
ten years? Or maybe just five years?

If the answers to the above
questions was no, then you are lacking in vision. This lack of vision
could cost you dearly in the long term.

You need to aim your career so that your life pans out the way that you want it to.
Your career has a central role to play in your life. It is the earnings
that you accrue through your career that allow your life to be lived
the way that you want it to. It is true to say that money cannot buy you
love, but it can buy you security, comfort and a great big house!

You
do not need a ten year plan in order to be average, but you do need
that kind of vision if you want to be exceptional. The trouble is that
it can be all too easy to get caught up in the day to day struggles of
life to keep an eye on the future, yet it is the future that our eyes
must be fixed on if we are to make it a successful life.

Career coaches give you the focus and drive to achieve greatness in your career. They are an essential part of life for many of the most successful individuals in industry and business.

A
career coach can help you secure your vision; help you cement it in
place in your mind and be a constant reminder of what you are working
for and towards. A career coach can make all the difference to your
career.

This is truer when it comes to a major career crossroads
such as when you are looking to secure a new job with another company;
or when your career is in trouble when things like a layoff strike.

Career
coaches have the experience to know that the best career move is not
always to follow the money trail, thus, possibly leading to a highly
stressful job. Ultimately the goal with any career is to earn more than
you perhaps thought possible. This is true in the long term, but it does
not always pay to hold to this view in the short term.

Early in your career the smart move is often horizontal rather than vertical. Career
coaches will be able to help you focus on gathering skills and
experiences earlier in your career so that as you progress in your
career you are able to secure the high profile positions that you will
eventually seek, thanks to your years of professional experience.

A
horizontal move is counter intuitive to most of us, which is why a
career coach would be a great idea. They will help you see each move as
part of a larger strategy to get you where you want to be, not next just
next month, but by the end of your career years down the road.

So often we cannot see the bigger picture, a career coach specialises in focusing you on the bigger picture and helping you plan to get there.

A
career coach can also help when you find yourself faced with
redundancy. This can be a hard time for the career minded amongst us. It
can be easy at this point due to the poor economy to get discouraged
and lose momentum in our career. A career coach can help us take the
most crushing of negative influences and create a positive strategy to
help move your career in a desired direction.

Career coaches do
not view being laid-off as a crisis but as an opportunity for change,
for growth and for development. This kind of input into your life at
such a crucial time is essential, and cannot be overstated.

A career coach helps to turn the mediocre career into the exceptional career.
This is all part of their offerings, and as such it is well worth
considering hiring a career coach to work through your career
dreams/aspirations and to help set a vision and realistic plan to help
get you there.

That’s what we do, we work with people just like
you, and the guy sitting across the hallway from you, in identifying
what the next best move would be for your career. We hope this post has
helped identify better what a career coach can do for you when the time
is right for you to make critical decisions on your career as well as
your financial future.

Posted in: Career \ Tagged:

Teachers and Counselors, Help Your Students Become Career Explorers

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Teachers and Counselors, Help Your Students Become Career Explorers

As teachers and counselors, you help students explore careers.

You aid your students as they search for meaning, purpose, and direction.

You see their talents.

You know their interests, abilities, and skills.

You help students plan for the future.

You understand students. You know that students -

  • Are curious

  • Love colorful, multimedia presentations

  • Use their senses and imaginations in career exploration

You have searched for tools that will help you unlock their potentials.

Tips for Finding the Right Career Tool

Career
tools help your students explore who they really are. Career tools
include career tests, assessments, games, web sites, and books. Career
tests answer the question “Who am I?” Career assessments point out your
students’ likes, dislikes, or interests. Kid career tools should be fun,
educational, and not boring.

Search for the resource that meets
your students’ needs. Look at the benefits. Find tests, assessments,
games, web sites, and books that are -

  • Eye appealing

  • Easy to use

  • Full of resources

With the right resource, students are ready and willing to -

  • Explore

  • Investigate

  • Learn

  • Ask questions

  • Enjoy discovering who they are

  • Gain knowledge, wisdom, and understanding

An effective career tool motivates your students to
explore careers. Creative career tools build a foundation for more
detailed career exploration.

Step One: Select a Career Test

How do you choose the right career test? Look at 3 major areas -

  • Format, e.g. Printed, CD-ROM, or on-line

  • Cost -$10, $12, $15, $20 or more

  • Resources – Information on interests, skills, and careers

When you look at a career test, ask yourself the following questions -

  • What do your students prefer? Printed or on-line career test?

  • What is your budget for the tests?

  • What resources do you have? Do you have a computer lab?

Find career tests that your students are interested in
and that provide valuable information about careers and your student’s
interests. Look at career tests that use well-known career models. Match
students’ interest clusters to career or job codes. Use newer
color-coded career tests that simply career models. The use of colors
improves attention span, concentration, memory skills, and
understanding. As students grow older, continue to use career models
expand their knowledge of careers and college majors. There are a
variety of career tests for youth, college students, and adults.

Step Two: Explore Career Web Sites and Books

Career
tests prepare students to explore careers. Gather information about
fun, informative, and attractive career exploration web sites and books.
Look for web sites and books that provide career information about -

  • Tasks

  • Wages

  • Career outlook

  • Interests

  • Education

  • Knowledge

  • Skills

  • Similar careers


Examples of kid career exploration web sites and books are -

  • Career Ship

  • What Do You Like

  • Eek! Get a Job

  • GetTech.org

  • LifeWorks

  • Young Person’s Occupational Outlook Handbook

  • Career Ideas for Kids Book Series

  • I Want To Be Book Series

Career exploration is a process. As teachers and
counselors, use resources that make your journey enjoyable, educational,
and effective. Plan successful kid career exploration expeditions.

Posted in: Career