Career Decision MakingGayle E. Wood, M.Ed.

Director of Access and Diversity

3-Steps to Career Planning

• Self-Assessment– Evaluate your interests, personality and

values, skills and abilities.

• Career Exploration – Evaluate career trends.– Complete an information search.

• Put it Together– Set a specific timetable for completing goals.– Use your contacts.

Self-Assessment

• Interests– What sparks my interest? – What activities give me the most

pleasure? – What’s really important to me? – What volunteer activities do I find most

enjoyable?– What school subjects do I find most

interesting?”

Self-Assessment

• Skills and Abilities– What are areas in which I excel? – What are my special gifts and talents? – What are some things I do for which I

receive compliments? – In what subjects do I earn the highest

grades?”

Self-Assessment

• Personality and Values– What are my lifestyle preferences?– Do I prefer to be indoors or outdoors?– Would I rather be with lots of people or by

yourself?– Do I consider myself a quite, calm person or

an active person?– Would I prefer a 9-5 work schedule or a

flexible work schedule?

Tools for Self Assessment

• Daydream about careers that interest you.

• Review the classified section of the Sunday Newspaper.– Make a scrapbook of the job listings

you cut out of the newspaper. – Pay attention to similarities in job

choices.

Tools for Self Assessment

• Participate in a Shadow Program.

• Review your Transcripts.– Highlight those courses in which you

earned an A or B.

• Take a Career Assessment. – Meet with a counselor and take the

Campbell Interest Skills Survey.

Career Exploration

• Review Career Trends.– Labor Market Trends

• Which employment fields will be dominant?

– Occupational Trends• What careers are predicted for fast growth? • What changes are occurring in occupational

trends? • How has the work force changed in the last

few years?• What significant work force changes will occur

in the next 5-10 years?

Career Exploration

• Complete an Information Search.– Use the following Internet sites to research

specific careers. • Occupational Outlook Handbook www.bls.gov/oco/

• Princeton Review www.princetonreview.com/cte/

• What Color is Your Parachute? www.jobhuntersbible.com

• America's Career Infonet www.acinet.org/acinet/

• Tennessee Career Information Delivery System www.tcids.utk.edu/ 

Career Exploration

• Talk to people in the field.

• Participate in an internship.– Contact the placement office for more

information on internships.

Put It Together

• Set a Specific Timetable. – Write down long- and short-term goals

that guide you toward achieving the career you want. • Teach K-5, graduation date, internship,

licensure, etc.)

– Periodically evaluate those goals.

Put It Together

• Use Your Contacts. – Network with people in your field before

you graduate from college, especially during your last two semesters in college.

Need Help?

• If you need assistance with career planning, contact Counseling Services:– Blount County Center - 981-5303– Division Street Campus - 971-5218– Magnolia Campus - 329-3113– Pellissippi Campus - 694-6547