By Sue Campbell
Jane began her exploration by finding out what kinds of jobs were currently "out there." She started with newspaper and Internet classified ads. Here, she not only discovered various job employment titles (and what positions were currently being sought to fill), but she also learned some of the hiring criteria and responsibilities that went along with these jobs. She kept in mind that she wasn't looking for jobs for which she currently qualified, but just exploring the possibilities. She noted what types of jobs captured her attention, which sounded interesting, challenging, or fun to her. She wrote these job titles down on her "explore" list. Then she wrote down what it was about each of these jobs that interested her.
Next, Jane looked for career possibilities in her local Yellow Pages phone book. She flipped through the pages, looked at various companies, and the services or products provided, and found career job descriptions she had never considered before.
Jane took her list of job titles, and the reasons why they sounded interesting to her, to her local public library. She found the librarian and told him that she was investigating job titles, and wanted more information. The librarian directed her to various reference guides and books on careers, most notably the Occupational Outlook Handbook. The Occupational Outlook Handbook gave her information regarding what the different jobs entailed, what the work environments were like, what criteria she needed to meet for employment, and what kind of salary ranges she could expect. As she read through the various job descriptions, she found that some of the job titles on her explore list didn't really fit her interests, after all, so she crossed those off. At the same time, she located other positions that were more appealing to her than she would have imagined from the job titles alone, so she added those to her list. As her list grew, she again paid particular attention to what it was about each of these jobs that captured her interest. She thought about why she might enjoy them. She considered what natural skills and interests she already possessed that could be applied to these positions. She envisioned herself in one of these jobs, and felt her excitement grow.
With her list of possibilities to think about, Jane began an exploration within herself. She took the time to consider what was important to her in matters of: work environment, work function, and levels of responsibility that she was willing to manage or accept. She considered issues, such as, "Do I prefer working alone, or in a team?" "Do I prefer to work with few functions and little change, or do I want variety?" "Do I like quiet environments, or are active ones better for me?" "Do I aspire for a leadership role, or do I want to support the leadership?" "Do I enjoy creative work?" These issues were important to her happiness and success within the positions she might someday accept, and helped her to better judge her choices in her explore list ~ how these possible career selections measured up to her real interests and needs.
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