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A Career Decision Making Model Applied to

TASC Career and Life Planning

In their secondary years students make several decisions that can have a direct or indirect impact on the range of career and course options open to them in their early career after finishing their secondary education. Beyond secondary school, today’s students can expect to make multiple career decisions throughout life as they manage their career in a constantly changing world of work and respond to desired, planned, unexpected, or unwanted career transitions, new ways of working, fragmented career pathways and increased job mobility. Career and life planning, including the capacity to solve career problems and make career decisions is a life skill. Career decisions refer to choices that individuals make about occupations, education, training and employment throughout life (Sampson et al., 2004, pp. 7-8). Decisions about occupations may be about one specific occupation and back-up

occupations or about a career field that includes a group of related occupations. Decisions about education and training include choosing school subjects, type of

curriculum, post-school education or training options, tertiary education institutions, training delivery model (e.g., earning and learning though an apprenticeship, traineeship or cadetship versus completing a qualification followed by employment).

Decisions about employment include choosing and applying for positions such as apprenticeships, traineeships, part-time or casual work, volunteering or about creating work opportunities and entrepreneurship.

Making Career Decisions The basic elements of making career decisions are what individuals need to know to make career decisions. These elements are: 1. Self knowledge 2. Options knowledge 3. Knowing how to make important decisions 4. Thinking about how one is gong in the decision making process (i.e., metacognition) Career Problem Solving Making career decisions is part of a career problem solving process. The problem solving process is what individuals need to do with the self and options knowledge they have gained to make and implement good career decisions. The processes involved in solving career problems and making career decisions are illustrated in Figure 1 below.

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Students who are studying TASC [insert code] Career and Life Planning will: Develop their knowledge of self and their knowledge of options available to them at

school or college as well as post-school options and possibilities for their future. Learn how to use a career problem solving process to make, implement and monitor

career decisions and career decision making processes for an ever-changing world of work over the course of their lifetime.

Applying the Career Problem Solving and Decision Making Model

This section applies the career problem solving and career decision making process shown in the above model to TASC [insert code] Career and Life Planning Section A: Foundations for Career Building and Section B: Preparing to Transition from School.

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1. Knowing I Need to Make a Choice

Examples of career-related choices that Year 11 and Year 12 students may make include: 1. What subjects should I study this year to get my TCE? 2. Are there any prerequisite, assumed knowledge recommended or hepful sujects I

should study so I can get into post-school courses that interest me? 3. What type of curriculum should I study – academic, VET, combination? 4. What co-curricular activities should I sign up for (e.g., school/college sport,

school/college cultural activities, volunteering at school/college, student leadership roles, etc.)?

5. What extra-curricular activites should I undertake (e.g., part-time work and out-of-school activities such as comunity service, volunteering, leisure and recreational pursuits, spiritual/religious activities, etc.).

6. How much time and effort will I put into class work, assignments and exams? 7. How do I manage and balance time for study, sport, work, relationships and other

commitments? 8. How do I get a part-time job? 9. How can I get a school-based apprenticeship? 10. What other subject can I choose when I need to change a subject during the year? 11. What career options would suit me?

Examples of career-related choices specific to Year 11 students include: 1. Should I look for an apprenticeship or traineeship at the end of Year 11 or wait until

the end of Year 12? 2. What subjects should I choose for Year 12?

Examples of career-related choices specific to Year 12 students may include: 1. What are my options for next year? 2. What post-school courses should I apply for? 3. What is university like? 4. What university, other higher education, TAFE or RTO should I go to? 5. What are the entry requirements for courses I may be interested in applying for? 6. How do I apply for university, other higher education, TAFE and RTO courses? 7. What are the costs for university, other higher education, TAFE and RTO courses? 8. How do I pay for my eduction and training after leaving school? 9. What financial support can I get for studying or if I get an apprenticeship? 10. Where can I live if I have to move away from home for my post-school course? 11. Will I get a job after I finish my course? 12. What are my options if I want to take a gap break? For many students career decisions such as these become a career problem. A career problem refers to a gap between an indvidual’s current career situation and where he or she desires or needs to be. Each scenario listed below is an example of a gap between a current career situation and a desired career situation. Awareness of a gap such these is a prompt that a choice needs to be made.

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1. A student wants to choose subjects that will help her get an apprenticeship but she does not know what aprenticeship occupation she wants to do.

2. A student wants a part-time or causal job, but he doesn’t know how to get one. 3. A Year 11 student wants to pursue a university course that has Chemistry as a

prerequisite, but she is struggling with Physical Sciences and fears she won’t get into Chemistry in Year 12.

4. A Year 12 student wants to be an Occupational Therapist, but does not know where he can study Occupational Therapy or what ATAR he may need to achieve.

5. A Year student wants to know what subjects to choose to keep his post-school options open when the world of work keeps changing and he doesn’t know what jobs will be around in the future.

6. A Year 11 student enjoys the subjects of Health Studies and Physical Sciences. She thinks she might like to work in one of the allied health professions but doesn’t know which one. This is making it hard for her to choose her Year 12 subjects. She also wants to be fairly certain that she will get a job at the end of her university course, but doesn’t know what the job prospects for the different allied health careers.

7. A Year 12 student has to apply for a job or course for next year, but doesn’t know how to make a decision.

Relationship of Knowing I Need to Make a Choice to Section A: Foundations for Career Building Unit 3: Foundations of Career Building Topic 2 – Make career enhancing decisions 2.1 – Readiness for career decision making Relationship of Knowing I Need to Make a Choice to Section B: Preparing to Transition from School Unit 1: Personal Management Topic 3 – Change and grow throughout life Adapting to change

Unit 3: Career Building Topic 4 – Understand the changing nature of life and work roles Concern for personal and global future – What will I invest my time, energy, and

money into in planning my future? How do decisions I make now impact on my future and that of the community and more broadly the world?

2. Understanding Myself and My Options

Understanding myself involves ongoing exploring, gaining and clarifying knowledge about self, i.e., self-awareness. Exploring interests, abilities, values, skills and preferred aspects of work environments are the cornerstone of many career assessments. Identity, self-concept, personal circumstances and context, lifestyle preferences and the influence of life roles and experiences in giving shape to career possibilities are aspects of self knowledge that may be explored through qualitative methods.

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Understanding my options involves finding out factual about: Occupations and jobs Education and training courses, institutions, qualifications, entry requirements and

prerequisites, including prerequisite, assumed knowledge and helpful school subjects for ocupations and courses.

A scheme for understanding and organising occupational and course information (e.g., RIASEC, myfuture interest categories etc.)

Lifelong learning The world of work, different ways of working, different employment and work

possibilities, the labour market at national, state and local levels. What work might be like in the future. Labour market information.

Understanding myself and my options brings self and options knowledge together. It requires individuals to reflect on and integrate self knowlegde and options knowledge to gain a better understanding of their personal characteristics, situation and context in relation to occupations, jobs, courses, knowledge areas and the world of work. Relationship of Understanding Myself and My Options to Section A: Foundations for Career Building Understanding Myself: Unit 1 – Personal Management Topic 1 – Build and maintain a positive self-concept 1.1 – Interests, skills and attributes for work, personal life and learning 1.2 – Core skills for work 1.3 – Career interest inventories and vocational personality types 1.4 - Identity Topic 2 – Interact Positively and Effectively with Others 2.1 – Social and consequential awareness 2.2 – Resectful relationships Topic 3 – Change and Grow Throughout Life 3.2 – Career adaptability Unit 3 – Foundations of career building Topic 4 – understanding the changing nature of life and work roles Living and managing work and life in a changing world Reflecting on career assessements from previous years Understanding My Options Unit 2: Learning to Learn Topic 1 – Participate in lifelong learning The role learning plays Exloring options at and beyond school Types of learning Impact of change on education, transitions and strategies to deal with change.

Topic 2 – Locate and Effectively Use Career Information Identifying tools and resources Role and use of websites Being informed aout industry clusters/skill areas

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Invesigating career choices

Topic 3 – Understand how work contributes to our community and society Understanding the role of volunteering, work experience, enrichment activities. Unconventional jobs Unit 3: Foundations for Career Building Topic 4 – Understand the changing nature of life and work roles Living and managing work and life in a world of change Relationship of Understanding Myself and My Options to Section B: Preparing to Transition from School Understanding Myself Unit 1 – Personal Management Topic 1 – Build and maintain a positive self-concept Interests, values, skills and attributes Self-assessment of interests, values, skills and attributes Identity and self-management, personal branding and self-promotion, behaviours

that reflect a positive attitude, giving and receiving feedback to maintain a positive self-concept, self-reflection.

Topic 2 – Interact positively and effectively with others Interpersonal skills Nature of friendships and positive relationships, including impact leaving school

may have on social connectivity Common difficulties in relationships Collaboration and teamwork Topic 3 – Change and grow throughout life Developing resilience Seeking help Understanding My Options Unit 2: Learning to Learn Topic 1 – Participating in lifelong learning Value of lifelong learning in supporting career goals Role of formal and informal learning experiences Role of formal and informal learning in developing interests and career Process of identification of future knowledge required to stay competitive Alternative pathways to university and other course and career options, e.g., VET,

associate degrees and other pathway schemes, portfolio entry into courses. Topic 2 – Locate and effectively use career information to inform learning and employment opportunities Self-employment Location Growth areas Occupations/industry areas in decline Topic 3 – Understand how work contributes to our community and society Personal commitments impacting on work and study obligations

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Global trends impacting on the workforce Legal requirements of work Work commitments Unit 3: Career Building Topic 4 – Understanding the changing nature of life and work roles Relationship between education, qualifications, work and standard of living – impact

of studying vs going to work after completing school, impact of education on standard of living, how current decisions impact on the future, the community and world

Diversity at work - range of equity issues, which may include but are not limited to age, gender, ethnicity, physical ability, religion; need to adjust to diversity at school and work.

Topic 5 – Understand, engage in and manage the career building process Post school options – gap break, work, university study, VET, combination Identifying learning opportunities and links to career development

3. Expanding and Narrowing My Options

Expanding occupational, course or employment options assists in ensuring that no promising alternatives are missed, while narrowing the occupational, course or employment options involves screening out those that are least congruent with interests, abilities, skills, values, self-concept, identity and personal preferences. This screening out process helps to keep the range of options to a manageable number of 3-5 for further consideration. Expanding options can be facilitated with the assistance of: Career guidance tools that suggest occupations based a career interest profile. Occupation databases that list occupations and a range of related occupations. Tools that encourage consideration of non-traditional occuaptions and courses on

the basis of gender. Suggestions made by significant others. Possibilities generated from experiences such as visits to expos, open days, taster

events, etc.

Narrowing down options involves removing the least desirable options from further consideration until there are 3-5 options remaining that warrant further exploration. The Sequential Elimination process (Gait & Asher 2001) is helpful for narrowing down options when the list of alternatives is too long and overwhelming. This process is summarised below: 1. Clarify what you are looking for in choosing an option. For example, it may be that

ideally a student wants to choose an occupation that: Matches her interests Matches her abilities Does not require moving away from home to study a related course Will enable her to balance work and high performance sport training and

competition commitments.

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Has good pay. Along the same lines a student may want to study a TasTAFE course that: That matches his interests Involves a qualification that leads to higher level qualifications Can be studied at a local campus Leads to a job with good employment prospects in the local area

2. Rank the aspects you are looking for in order of preference. 3. Establish a tolerable limit for the most important aspect.

For example, a student may want to choose an occupation that is a perfect match for her top three career interest categories, but would consider an occupation that matches at least one of her top three career interest categories. Or a student may want to study a course at a local campus, but would consider a course that has a small component of online study.

4. Review each option to see whether it meets a tolerable level of the most important

aspect. If the option does not meet the tolerable level for the most important aspect, remove it from further consideration.

5. If the list of alternatives is still too long or overwhelming, repeat steps 3 and 4 with

the each of the next important aspects until there are 3-5 options remaining. Another way to help students to shortlist occupations to the top 3-5 involves creating a matrix similar to the Narrowing My Options Matrix (Appendix 1). Options being considered can be listed in a the first column. The aspects that are important in choosing an option can be listed across the top row. For each option, students tick each important aspect that the option satisfies. The total number of ticks for each option is computed. The 3-5 options with the highest number of ticks may be retained for further consideration. Relationship of Expanding and Narrowing My Options to Section A: Foundations for Career Building Unit 1: Personal Management Topic 1 - Change and grow throughout life Decision making and probem solving for life and career – exploring and identifying

possibilities.

Unit 2: Learning to Learn Topic 2 – Locate and effectively use career information Role and use of career websites Investigating career choices

Unit 3: Foundations for Career Building Topic 2 - Make career enhancing decisions Decision making realted to learning Career options reated to career assessments Role of interests and abilities in career and life

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Relationship of Expanding and Narrowing My Options to Section B: Preparing to Transition From School Unit 1: Personal Management Topic 3 – Change and grow throughout life Adapting to change, including planning and decision making, SWOT analysis Planned happenstance – right place at right time, direct approaches to employers Unit 2: Learning to Learn Topic 1 – Participating in lifelong learning Value of lifelong learning in supporting career goals Role of formal and informal learning experiences Role of informal learning in developing interests and career Process of identifying of future knowledge required to stay competitive Alternative pathways to university and other course and career options Topic 2 – Locate and effectively use career information to inform learning and employment opportunities Self-employment Location Growth areas Topic 3 – Understand how work contributes to our community and society Global trends impacting on the workforce E-commerce Outsourcing Unit 3: Career Building Topic 1: Secure/create and maintain work Personal branding and self-promotion – promoting a positive online image, utilising

networks Further education options required for work Topic 5: Understand, engage in and manage the career building process Reviewing career plans

4. Choosing an Occupation, Course or Work Opportunity

Choosing an occupation, course or work opportunity involves evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of the 3-5 shortlisted options from the perspective of onself as well as from the perspective of significant others and potentially one’s cultural group and community. These options are prioritised, resulting in a preferred option, and back-up options in case something changes. Relationship of Choosing an Occupation, Course or Work Opportunity to Section A: Foundations for Career Building Unit 1: Personal Management Topic 3 – Change and grow throughout life

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Acknowledging post-school direction Unit 2: Learning to Learn Topic 1 – Participate in lifelong learning Mentoring and coaching, including value of personal mentors to assist in learning

and development (i.e., consult with others who have successfully made career decisions)

Unit 3: Foundations of Career Building Topic 2 – Make career enhancing decisions Identifying future goals and aspirations Making the best choice rather than the right choice

Topic 3 – Maintaining balanced life and work roles Leading a fulfilling and happy life

Topic 5 - Understand, engage in and manage the career building process Owning your own career – decision making for next year, positioning yourself for

beyond Year 12. Career progression and career development – identifying future goals and

aspirations.

Relationship of Choosing an Occupation, Course or Work Opportunity to Section B: Preparing to Transition From School Unit 3: Career Building Make career enhancing decisions - making career decisions including consideration

of multipe life roles Career decision making difficulties, lack of readiness, lack of information,

inconsistent information

5. Implementing My Choice

When a decision has been made, flexible goals and plans must be made to implement them. The precise nature of the plan depends on whether the chosen option is an occupation, course or work opportunity. This phase may involve studying related school subjects, choosing and undertaking a course that leads to a chosen occupation, reality testing a career option through work experience or an internship, preparing job search documentation, enhancing job interview skills, etc. Relationship of Implementing My Choice to Section A: Foundations for Career Building Unit 3: Foundations for Career Building Topic 1: Secure/create and maintain work Impact of an individual’s digital footprint on career development when using social

media Responding to work opportunities Being enterprising

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Topic 2: Maintaining balanced life and work roles Leading a happy and fulfilling life Taking time off – gap year, using time differently, contract work Time management priorities and resource allocation Topic 4 – understanding the changing nature of life and work roles Developing a plan for the future Topic 4: Understand, engage in and manage the career building process Developing résumés – embedding competencies, skills statements, Applicant

Tracking Systems, video interviews Interview techniques – face to face, group, online Relationship of Implementing My Choice to Section B: Preparing to Transition From School Unit 1: Personal Management Topic 1 – Build and maintain a positive self-concept Identity and sef-management – personal branding and self-promotion, promoting

yourself to others, behaviours that reflect a positive attitude Giving and receiving feedback to maintain a positive self-concept Self-reflection Topic 3 – Change and grow throughout life Developing resilience – grit, dealing with adversity, strategies to cope, dealing with

unexpected events and work traumas Adapting to change – planning, action plans, planned happenstance (creating

opportunities to be at the right place at the right time (e.g., studying a VET course and doing related work experience at the time an organisation is considering recruitment)), making direct approaches to employers (e.g. informational interviewing, asking for a job), risk taking in career planning (less pay, interim job, gap break, training, etc.)

Help seeking – accessing help and support, advocacy and action Unit 2: Learning to Learn Topic 2 – Locate and effectively use career information to inform learning and employment opportunities Global trends impacting on the workforce – mobility, changing roles in families Legal requirements of work – awards, tax file numbers, contracts, unlawful acts,

regulations. Work commitments – hours shift work, overtime, on call, strategies for managing

work commitments to minimize stress, the impact of travel to/from work can have on personal life.

Unit 3: Career Building Topic 1 – Secure/create and maintain work Preparing job applications, résumés and cover letters – interpreting requirements of

an advertisement, job description, location, qualifications, selection criteria, expression of interest processes, deadlines.

Personal branding and self-promotion – personal statements, profile, promoting a positive image, promoting a positive image online, utilizing networks such as blogs and social media

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Further education options required for work. Topic 3 – Maintain balanced life and work roles Managing work/life balance The rewards of working Managing commitments over time – developing a timetable of commitments for

school, work, family and self, identifying priorities. Topic 4 – Understand, engage in and manage the career building process Targeting job searching and further education planning to match personal profile Identifying learning opportunities and links to career development Implementing post school plans, including applying for courses, apprenticeships,

traineeships, accommodation, scholarships, gap programs Paying for tertiary study – role of scholarships, VET Student Loans, HECS-HELP,

accommodation, transport.

6. Knowing I Made a Good Choice

At this stage students determine whether the gap they experienced when they entered the career problem solving process has been removed. If the gap has been removed, the career problem solving and career decision making process has finishied for the current time. If there is still a gap the cycle is worked through again. In reality students may go back and forth between stages of the problem solving process. For example, a student may choose an occupation and as part of the implementation stage reality test that occupation through work experience at which point they identify a gap because the work experience revealed that the occupation was not what they thought it would be. Believing he has a sound knowledge of his interests, abilities and values, how these relate to occupaitons, the student may review the 3-5 occupations shortlisted for further consideration and choose one of these to explore in more detail and reality test through a new work exposure activity. Relationship of Knowing I Made a Good Choice to Section A: Foundations for Career Building. Unit 1: Personal Management Topic 3 – Change and grow throughout life Decision making and problem solving for life and career, including confirming plans

acknowledging post-school direction. Career adaptability, including attitudes and traits that foster capacity to respond to

career changes and transitions throughout life, developing confidence about making choices, taking personal responsibility, taking personal responsibility of own future.

Unit 2: Learning to Learn Topic 1 – Participate in lifelong learning Impact unpredicted change has on lerning and career and life plans, particularly in

relation to education, transitions, strategies to deal with change. Unit 3: Make Career Enhancing Decisions Topic 3 – Maintaining balanced life and work roles Leading a happy and fulfilling life

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Topic 4 – Understand the changing nature of life and work roles Living and managing work and life in a changing world Relationship of Knowing I Made a Good Choice to Section B: Preparing to Transition From School Unit 1: Personal Management Topic 1 – Build and maintain a positive self-concept Identity and self-management – self-reflection Unit 3: Career Building Topic 3 – Maintain balanced life and work roles Managing work/life balance Managing commitments and time – developing a timetable of commitments for

school work, family and self, identifying priorities. Topic 5 – Understand, engage in and manage the career building process Reviewing career plans