Homework. There are hundreds and hundreds of careers to choose from

Prepare a task.

MY FUTURE CAREER

Introduction

There are hundreds and hundreds of careers to choose from. How do you understand which careers you might like to try? It takes some thought, creativity and research. In the following problem-based task you will have the opportunity to learn about yourself and the world that surrounds you.

The Task

Learn about yourself. Research a career field and make a presentation to your group-mates.

You should find what work is interesting to you, what abilities you have and what's important to you in a job. After analyzing this, choose one career that you want to learn more about. For this career, find the answers to these questions:

• What do you do in this job? What is a typical day like?
• What skills are necessary?
• What training and/or education are required?
• What kinds of job opportunities exist? What is the employment outlook?
• What is the average salary? How much can you expect to earn?
• Describe the work conditions (indoor/outdoor, travel required, work with people or machines, etc.)

Describe how the above information relates to you personally:

Do you feel you have the skills needed or could learn them? Is the training/education required consistent with your future plans? Will the salary and work conditions support the kind of life style you envision for yourself?

Imagine yourself in the career you researched. Prepare a presentation that will illustrate your career to the class. Include in your presentation what employment trends may affect your business or field. It can include imaginary:

• resumes
• brochure or ad selling your company's services
• a web page or Power Point presentation

Resources recommended

• Career Assessment Tools - http://www.jobweb.org/Catapult/Assess.htm
• Career Planning Site on the Mining Company - http://careerplanning.about.com/mlibrary.htm?PM=61_707_T&cob=home

Process

One fourth of your grade will be on your use of references. You are required to use a minimum of 3 to 5 different sources of information to do your career research.

1. Find and take at least 2 different career interest surveys. Analyze the results and summarize. What general career clusters predominated (i.e. scientific, social services, management, clerical, etc.)? What skills or abilities were suggested? What did the surveys tell you about your personality traits and work values? Based on the careers suggested by the interest inventories, choose one to investigate further.
2. Picture yourself in the future employed in the career that you researched. Prepare a presentation to explain your career to the class. As part of your presentation, include an assessment of how employment trends will affect your career field.

Conclusion

Successful career planning requires knowledge about the many careers that exist in today's world and insight into what your interests, abilities, and work values are. The more you know about the world around you and about world within you, the easier it will be to make wise choices about your future.