Career Planning

Career Development Centre 2015 - 2016

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the value of understanding myself as a key step in the career planning process

• Understand the need to ‘put into words’ my skills, strengths and preferences as they apply to careers

• Know how to gather relevant career information to assist in career decision making

• Know how to begin generating a list of possible careers to research

• Be aware of the career planning resources available through the Career Centre

Career planning process model

SELF-AWARENESS

EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION

GOAL SETTING

CAREER IMMERSION

CAREER AWARENESS

RESEARCH

CONNECT EXPLORE

REFLECT

ACTIVATE

Career Planning Effective career development involves:

• Gathering, assessing and understanding information about yourself, and your options

• Why? To make the best decisions and take the most effective actions as you move toward selecting your career path

Career planning is an ongoing process where answers do

not occur overnight

Career Planning

Have you ever asked yourself:

“What can I do with my degree?”

Career Planning

• Megan Harris • Director, Communications & Marketing

History

Career Planning • Aislinn Clancy • Social Worker

Economics

Career Planning • Alan Kwan • Director of Executive Recruitment

Political Science

Career Planning • Brock Warner • Development Manager (Fundraising)

English

Career Planning

• This is a commonly asked question: “What can I do with my degree?”

• A more meaningful question to ask is: “What are my skills, interests and personality and how does this translate into a meaningful career path?”

• Employers hire people, not degrees!

Career Planning: Self Awareness

SELF-AWARENESS

EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION

GOAL SETTING

CAREER IMMERSION

CAREER AWARENESS

Self-Awareness - Explore

• Self-awareness is something you will continually revisit

• This includes: understanding yourself; your preferences, needs, aspirations and your work self; work environments you prefer, teams you work best within

• Often overlooked or superficially managed

YOU are the most important part of the process

Values What is important to you

• For example, autonomy, independence, security, etc.

Interests What you enjoy doing

and learning • For example, international

development, children, government policy, sports, etc.

Personality

What drives and motivates you, communication styles,

and attitude

Skills

What you are good at • For example, public

speaking, problem solving, co-ordinating events, etc.

Self-Awareness Goals

• Understand yourself in the context of career selection, planning and development

• Gain the vocabulary to ‘put into words’ your skills, strengths and preferences as they apply to careers

• Develop the ability to evaluate your options based on an understanding of your career preferences

Self-Awareness Activity Identify a situation you have participated in where you felt a sense of accomplishment, pride, utility, and/or where you believe you made a contribution • Write down some of the things that come to mind when you

think about this experience: – What was the situation? What

tasks were involved? What did you do? What was the result?

– List 3 skills you used in this example. And how did you use them?

– What connections might this have to your career?

Self-Awareness is a Lifelong Goal

• Meet with a Career Consultant to discuss your individual situation

• Consider if career assessments would be helpful

– Personality (TypeFocus, MBTI)

– Interests (Strong Interest Inventory, CareerLeader College)

“The assessments and debrief helped me better understand my personality characteristics and what I should be looking for in a career.” -Mehak Bhatia, Health Science Student

Career Planning: Career Awareness

SELF-AWARENESS

EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION

GOAL SETTING

CAREER IMMERSION

CAREER AWARENESS

Career Selection

• What was involved in selecting your major or university?

• What do you think you can do to select your career?

Career Awareness - Research

• Knowing what careers are available and understanding what these careers involve

• Not choosing a career based on a limited amount of information and little personal experience

• Expanding your knowledge of what is available before you narrow your options

Career Awareness Two major questions to ask yourself:

1. What careers/jobs have I never even heard of which may be a great match for me?

2. What careers/jobs or industries/sectors have I heard of but do not realize would be a great match for me?

Remember: A good understanding of yourself will help you conduct effective

career research

Generate Career Options

• Career Overview handouts

• The Career Resource Centre offers many types of career books such as, “Great Careers For People Who Like…”

• Results from Career Assessments: Your results will profile careers that may be a good fit

• LinkedIn research and alumni search

Generate Career Options by Researching Laurier Alumni on LinkedIn

• Where they live • Where they work • What they do • What they studied • What they’re skilled at • Connection level

Remember:

You are gathering information and generating a list of possibilities!

Career Statement

Conducting Career Research

What things do you want to know about the occupation(s) you are considering?

Key Factors To Research: • Job details - what does a ‘typical day’ look like?

• Key qualifications (skills and knowledge required)

• Education and training required

• Entry-level requirements for a job

• Salary and salary prospects

• Future job growth prospects and trends

• Pros and cons of a job

• Lifestyle implications

Conduct Career Research The N.O.C (National Occupation Classification System) • Explore 1000s of occupations to understand the work settings

and what skills, aptitudes and education are required Job Bank (Government of Canada) • Search ‘Explore Careers’ for job requirements, main duties and

salary rates, or use the ‘Career Tool’ for additional career information and options related to your field of study

Career Cruising – Username: wlu Password: laurier • Includes over 500 career profiles and a comprehensive

database to search for further education programs

More Career Research Sources Career Profiles • Learn more about over 100 potential careers by reading about

the paths of fellow Laurier alumni. • Gain inside information on a day in the life of the job,

educational requirements and tips from those who have been through it.

Social Media • Twitter, blogs and LinkedIn

Key Career Research Goal Can you complete the following chart thoroughly for 3-5

different careers of potential interest?

Career Type of

Daily Activities

Skills, Education, and Training

required

Salary Prospects

Future Job Growth

Prospects and Trends

HR Social Work Teaching Event Planner Public Relations

Labour Market Awareness Being aware of the impact of the changing labour market:

• Provides you with valuable information when considering, or ruling out career options

• Allows you to learn about the opportunities being created or removed from the workforce Labour market information is part of the equation, but should

not be the deciding factor in your selection of a career path

Staying on Top of Labour Market Trends Some labour market resources: • Commit to reading the careers and business sections of the

national and local newspapers (Toronto Star, Globe & Mail) • Subscribe to industry magazines and e-newsletters • Review reports available through the Job Bank– offers reports by

region and provides salary information • Datamonitor – comprehensive industry, company and country

information • Scott’s Info - reliable up-to-date information on Canadian sectors • Social Media • Graduate Survey Data research findings

Career Planning: Immersion

SELF-AWARENESS

EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION

GOAL SETTING

CAREER IMMERSION

CAREER AWARENESS

Narrow your multiple options down to a manageable number and move into the immersion phase of your planning.

Career Immersion - Connect

Before you commit to any course of action, how can you learn even more about a career field?

• Spend time with a professional • Identify career related volunteer opportunities • Research internships and/or co-op opportunities • Identify related part-time and/or summer jobs • Attend related training or educational opportunities wherever

possible • Participate in informational interviews and job shadow

experiences

Career Immersion

• Initiate Informational Interviews • Talk to people who are currently working in the field to gain a

better understanding of an occupation or industry

• Build a network of contacts in the field

The Career Centre has created an ‘Informational Interview’ booklet to help you prepare.

Career Immersion Search for contacts using: • Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) feature alumni for you to

contact. Search by their current occupation, program of study, or where they work.

• LinkedIn (Join the Laurier Alumni Group) • Professional Associations – many organizations have student

memberships. See examples listed on the ‘Career Overview’ handouts.

• Warm/Cold Contacts – use your existing connections to create new contacts

• Employer Events/Career Fair/Job Fair – stay plugged into our Event Schedule

Strategic Volunteering Strategic volunteering allows you to ‘try out’ a career and build your skills and resumé

Tips for strategic volunteering: 1. Be clear about your goals for volunteering 2. Identify valuable opportunities 3. Research specific organizations

Find a volunteer opportunity: • wlu.ca/volunteer • volunteerkw.ca • Take courses with Community Service-Learning • Review lists of not-for-profits (Blue Book)

The Value of Volunteering

Volunteer Profile Anthropology & Global

Studies Graduate

Career Immersion

Choosing a career without initiating informational meetings or engaging in strategic volunteering is like buying shoes without trying them on.

Career planning process model

SELF-AWARENESS

EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION

GOAL SETTING

CAREER IMMERSION

CAREER AWARENESS

RESEARCH

CONNECT EXPLORE

REFLECT

ACTIVATE The next two stages (Reflect & Activate) will become much more focussed if you have spent quality time on the initial three phases

Next Steps…

• Continually invest in your career by looking ahead and identifying your options

• Set goals, develop an action plan

• Meet individually with a Career Consultant

Connect with us! www.wlu.ca/career Waterloo Brantford 192 King St. N SC Johnson Building, Room 112 519.884.0710 x 4495 519.756.8228 x 5726 careercentre@wlu.ca careerbrantford@wlu.ca facebook.com/lauriercareercentre Laurier Brantford Career Centre @WLUCareerCentre @careerbrantford Laurier Career Centre Group