Career Decisions Activities (docx 938KB)
In order to effectively make decisions regarding your career, you need to have an awareness of:
This is shown in the following Career Planning Model.
Some of these issues will have been covered in preceding modules:
If you have not completed the earlier modules, it would be a good idea to do so before commencing this one. That way you will get the full benefit of this career decision making module.
Once you have explored yourself, the world of work and influences, you are able to begin the process of decision making. When making a career decision, it is important to ask yourself the following questions:
The decision making process
This module will guide you through each of these steps.
Next »Gaining an understanding of yourself is the first step in considering which careers and roles would suit you. Some of the things you should consider are:
The decision making process
These factors would have been considered in the Self Understanding module. If you haven't completed this module, it would be a good idea to do so now.
You can also improve your career-decisions through self reflection, asking others how they perceive you, or undertaking some psychometric tests.
A useful website that offers activities and tests is My Future (My Guide)
Once you have undertaken the Self Understanding activities, review your responses. Next, complete the first activity of the Career Decisions module.
Generally, there are a number of alternatives available rather than one simple answer. To improve your chances of making the best decision, it is important to consider as many alternatives as possible. For instance, if you want to work in the law - do you want to be a police officer, a prison warden, a family lawyer, criminal barrister ….?
Refer to the Opportunities module for an idea of what opportunities are available to you.
In addition to there being many opportunities available to you, there may also be varied pathways to get you to your desired career. For instance, you might decide to continue studying, or to start working to develop a specialty in a particular field, or to get skills for future career advancement.
Rather than deciding on the first idea that comes to mind, identifying and looking at alternatives allows you to consider options you may not have considered.
Another important consideration is your decision making style. Are you someone who makes decisions quickly or do you procrastinate and spend a long time thinking about what to do? Whilst there is no right or wrong way to make a decision, there are advantages and disadvantages to each style.
Once you understand your decision making style, you will be able to adopt strategies to enhance your decision making abilities.
So, how do you find out what your decision making style is? Completing the following activity will give you the tools to determine your decision making style and important information, such as: what that style means; what influences your preferred style; the pros and cons; and how this affects your choices in life.
Highest Score in Column A = Analytical Decision Maker
Highest Score in Column B = Behavioural Decision Maker
Highest Score in Column C = Conceptual Decision Maker
Highest Score in Column D = Directive Decision Maker
Once you have identified a range of possibilities, the next step is to gather as much information as you can. There is no right or wrong way to gather information and your approach will depend on your preferred decision making style. However, try to gather information from many different sources by:
The decision making process
Make sure you keep a record of all the information you have gathered by writing down key points.
This section of the module will cover seeking information through speaking to people, reading job advertisements, and using the internet.
The first thing you need to do is identify WHO you can talk to about the career path/s you are considering. This can be: people who are actively involved in the field, such as a parent pursuing the same career or a career mentor; or someone who has information they can give you about your chosen profession, such as a university professor with industry experience or a friend who works in a related field. Even people with a loose connection to your industry may give you new insights into your considered field, or inform you of different opportunities you may not have considered.
Once you have identified some people you may be able to speak with, it's time to approach them. Although it can be daunting, most people are quite happy to be asked about their career and are willing to provide information. Treat it like an interview where you are asking for advice and guidance rather than asking for a job!
By reading a variety of job advertisements, you will gain an understanding of the type of jobs available in your chosen career area and what the conditions are. Gather as much of this information as you can.
First of all, you should make sure you are registered with CareerHub - UTAS Careers and Employment's online job site. The jobs listed here are specifically targeted at UTAS university students and so may not be advertised elsewhere.
Other online job listings include Seek and Career One. Whilst the majority of jobs are not advertised in the open market, reading about widely advertised jobs will also increase your knowledge.
Also, read the careers section in the local paper and The Australian on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Cut out any jobs that interest you and keep them for future reference.
Some very useful websites for job information include:
My Future - select "the facts" then scroll down to occupations and hit enter. Type in the name of an occupation that you are interested in to find out more. There are industry statistics, personal requirements, and much more. Links in the "further information" section (if there is one) often provide very useful industry specific information. The "related jobs" section can offer alternative careers in the same industry.
Graduate Opportunities - also has a career search site. By selecting the industry you are interested in, you will be provided with a list of companies that employ those occupations. Read the company profile and any job information to get an idea of where you might end up working.
Do a search for any organisations that might have information about careers in a particular field.
Find some that relate to your field and look for any information about jobs, including what the career involves.
Now that you have gathered information about a variety of options, you are ready to begin decision making!
« Previous | Next »The best way to make a decision is to follow a structured process and objectively consider all options.
Look at the immediate circumstances and focus on those. Future considerations are unpredictable!
Using intuition is fine – it gives a good guide of initial impression and shows an understanding of yourself.
Enacting your decision means setting a goal and developing an action plan to achieve it. For instance, if you have decided that you want to be an environmental lawyer - what are the steps you need to take to achieve this goal? It might be changing courses, finding a mentor, or obtaining work experience in the field. Action planning works best when specific steps are identified. Each time you complete one of the steps, you have achieved a part of your goal.
The commonly used model for planning introduced in Self Understanding is the SMART model represented again below.
SMART stands for:
You should be able to monitor your progress, which helps you stay on track, reach your target dates, and feel that you are achieving something. So, how will you measure your success towards your goal/plan?
The effort required to attain the goal should be manageable. Break it down into steps - each step should move you closer to that goal.
Personal and situational factors may influence your ability to reach your goal. For instance, if your goal is to become a pilot, but you are scared of heights, then the goal is not realistic. Make sure that your goal suits you and your lifestyle.
Time limits should be identified for each of the steps to achieving the goal. If goals are open-ended, we are less likely to achieve them. Define start points and end points to steps along the way and maintain commitment to these deadlines. Celebrate each time you have achieved part of the process.
Building Your Future is adapted from the Career Development Program of the Queensland University of Technology. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Australia License.