Self Exploration - Method 2
The very best way to pick a career = Careful Research
This second option for career exploration is more open ended than the first method. It is also more comprehensive. It
will require more of your time, but will reward you in the end with a solid base for exploring different career options.
Sometimes, people who go through this self exploration exercise are frustrated because it doesn’t provide a final
solution for their career plan. In fact, the purpose of this exercise is NOT to provide you with a career option, but to
help you identify the expectations you have for a career.
This exercise, will help you take what you already know about yourself and apply it to your career search, saving
yourself a great deal of time when considering your options.
Many people make impulsive career choices based on the allure of money or because someone told them they
should go in a particular direction. Often they spend years in school and find themselves in a job that they consider
unfulfillling or perhaps too stressful. Usually at that point they begin to think about what they really want out of life,
and out of their job. That is the point of this particular exercise, to get you thinking about what you really want before
spending time and money on an education and career that are a bad fit.
This exercise has three-steps. By the end you should find it easier to focus on best-fit career options when conducting
your career exploration.
s3ELF%VALUATION - Knowing your interests, values, skills, and personal traits will dramatically increase your odds of
finding a satisfying career.
s#AREER%XPLORATION - What career possibilities are out there? And how do you find out which occupations you
will like?
s#HOOSINGA#AREER - Perhaps the toughest part of the whole process.
3TARTINGTHE0ROCESS
The first step in choosing a career path is to learn a little more about yourself. What do you like? What is important to
you? What are you good at? Before you can find a career that is right for you, you need to know who you are.
The next few pages contain some tools that will help you in your self-exploration. The more of these activities you
complete, the clearer will be the picture of who you are.
A Note About These Tools: A common misunderstanding about assessment/inventories is that they are similar to
personality indicators, or that they will tell you what you should do. That is not the purpose of these exercises. These
inventories will not suggest a specific career (i.e. “You will be a nuclear physicist”). They are tools to help you gather
information about yourself.
After competing the exercises, the next step would be to consider the answers given when exploring potential jobs.
It is easier to match your values to a job when you have gone through a deliberate process and have the results as a
reminder. It is less likely that you will remember all of the things that are important to you during a job hunt if you
have not spent the time to fully consider your interests and values beforehand.
The reliability and validity of the “results” will be entirely dependent upon how honest you are when completing the
checklists. Career Planning is very much a process that will continue throughout your life. The more work and research
you put into it now, the better off you will be in the future.
Step 1 - Interests
Read Carefully To Get Best Results.
It only makes sense that your career will provide more enjoyment and a greater sense of fulfilment if you find the work
you do interesting. So, it’s a good idea to begin your self-exploration by finding where your interests lie, which is a
great start to discovering what is going to make you happy.
Before you begin, here are a few tips to make this a more successful experience.
1) Share your findings with someone. A friend can help you see things about yourself that you might miss.
2)There are no right or wrong responses, just be honest with yourself.
Now...
1) Go through the list below and place a checkmark beside the activities you enjoy.
2) Go through the list again and underline your Top 5 interests from those you chose in Step 1.
3) When you are done, continue with the next exercise - 2) Work Values.
c Organizing people
c Teaching
c Cooking
c Music
c Child care
c Decorating
c Outdoor activities
c Drawing/Painting
c Reading
c Writing
c Mathematics
c Working with cash
c Acting
c Keeping things orderly
c Making things
c Designing
c Using tools
c Working with facts
c Inventing
c Dancing
c Fixing things
c Entertaining
c Solving problems
c Collecting information
c Being expressive
c Science experiments
c Learning
c Making money
c Environmentalism
c Being imaginative
c Crafts
c Volunteering
c Selling
c Gardening
c Helping people
c Being sociable
c Working with animals
c Religion
c Collecting things
c Public speaking
c Managing a project
c Starting a project
c Using office equipment
c Travelling
c Sports
c Listening
c Exercise
Step 2 - Work Values
Everyone has values. Values are our beliefs and principles about what is really important or worthwhile, and they
guide our behaviours and the choices we make throughout life. Our values are influenced by a number of things, such
as upbringing, family, home life, culture and education.
The following activity will help you determine some of the work values that are important to you. Knowing your work
values is important, because they will affect the amount of satisfaction and fulfillment you receive from whatever
occupation or career you pursue.
Directions:
1) Select five (5) values (or add your own) that you would most want to be a part of any occupation you choose.
2) Be as open and as honest as possible.
3) Share your findings with a friend, parent or someone you feel comfortable with.
4) When you have completed this exercise, continue with exercise 3) Lifestyle Values.
c Working alone
c Achievement
c Security
c Independence
c Helping Society
c Stimulation
c Money
c Creativity
c Decision Making
c Variety
c Stability
c Competition
c Belonging
c Excitement
c Recognition
c Status
c Power
Do you have some different choices you'd like to include?
Enter them below.
(Your choices should still total no more than five)
c Helping Others
c _______________________________
c Being an Expert
c _______________________________
c People Contact
c _______________________________
c Precise Work
c _______________________________
c Responsibility
c _______________________________
Step 3 - Lifestyle Values
What do you want to get out of life?
Work values are those values that relate specifically to the amount of satisfaction we get from our career. But our
values pervade all aspects of our life. We don’t leave them at the office when our work day is done.
To help you think more about what is important to you, we’ve listed nine common values below. Some of these values
you will notice from the previous exercise. In this exercise, think of these values in terms of your entire life, and not just
as part of your work. Describing what each of these values means to you and rating their importance in your life will
help you get a clearer picture of what type of career will bring you satisfaction and fulfillment.
Directions:
1) Rate each value from 1 to 5, with a rating of 1 being very important to you, and a rating of 5 being unimportant.
2) Describe what each value means to you.
3) Be as open and as honest as possible.
4) Share your findings with a friend, parent or someone you feel comfortable with.
5) When you have completed this exercise, continue with exercise 4) Transferable Skills.
Rank (circle your choice)
Value
What does it mean to you?
1
2 3
4
5
Independence
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Power
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Health
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Security
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Love
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Success
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Adventure
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Comfort
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1
2 3
4
5
Knowledge
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Step 4 - Transferable Skills
Your skills are the abilities that you have gained by practice or by knowledge. Talent refers to your “natural” abilities;
skills refer to your learned abilities.
If you are like many other people, you may have trouble identifying your skills, or think that you don’t really have many.
But we all have them. In fact, we all have hundreds of them! We’ll help you identify some of these by looking at two
main types of skills:
Transferable skills - these are skills that you have been developing throughout your life and that you would use in a
wide variety of situations.
Job-related skills - also called technical skills, these are skills that are used in a particular job or cluster of jobs.
Directions:
1) Go through the list below and select the skills you possess with a checkmark beside each choice.
2) Now, go through the list again and underline your Top 5 skills from those you chose in Step 1.
3) When you have completed this exercise, continue with exercise 5) Job-Related Skills.
Key Skills
c Meet Deadlines
c Supervise Others
c Solve Problems
c Understand/Manage Budgets
c Instruct Others
c Manage People
c Organize/manage projects
c
c
c
c
c
c
Speak in Public
Accept Responsibility
Plan
Increase Efficiency
Manage Money
Work with the Public
Using my hands/Dealing with things
c Assemble/Construct
c Grow Plants
c Draw
c Operate Tools, Machines
c Move Things
c
c
c
c
c
Raise/Train/Tend Animals
Drive/Operate Vehicles
Observe/Inspect
Repair
Make Things
Dealing with Data
c Analyse Data
c Budget
c Check for Accuracy
c Compare/Compile
c Memorize
c Investigate
c Organize Information
c Observe/Inspect
c Inspect
c Synthesize
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
Audit Records
Calculate/Compute
Classify Data
Order
Evaluate
Keep Records
Manage Money
Schedule
Research
Take Inventory
Continued on next page ->
Step 4 - Transferable Skills (continued)
Working with People
c Administer
c Coach
c Care for Others
c Enforce
c Confront Others
c Persuade
c Counsel
c Serve
c Demonstrate
c Sensitive
c Present
c Entertain
c Help Others
c Listen
c Instruct
c Interview
c Understand
c Co-operate
c Teach
c Inspire
c Mentor
Using Words/Ideas
c Articulate
c Explain
c Communicate Verbally
c Promote
c Correspond
c Read
c Create new ideas
c Public Speaking
c Design
c Remember Information
c Write Clearly
c Edit
c Summarize
c Translate
Creative/Artistic
c Design
c Perform, Act
c Draw/Paint
c Present Artistic Ideas
c Improvise
c Dance
c Rhyme
c Sing
Leadership
c Arrange Social Functions
c Negotiate
c Facilitate
c Plan
c Decide
c Supervise
c Delegate
c Initiate
c Direct Others
c Conduct Meetings
c Explain Things to Others
c Lead
c Mediate
c Motivate
c Solve Problems
c Run a Business
Step 5 - Job-Related Skills
Job-related skills are technical skills that are used in a particular job. For example, a secretary needs to be able to
type, a mechanic must be familiar with a variety of tools and repair procedures, and a cashier needs to know how to
make change and operate a cash register. Job-related skills might be applicable to several different jobs or a cluster of
related jobs, but they are not transferable to as wide a variety of jobs as are transferable skills.
Even if you have not yet worked at the job you want, you probably have some experience and skills that are needed.
These can come from several sources:
sCOURSESYOUHAVETAKEN
sOTHERJOBSORVOLUNTEERWORK
sHOBBIESFAMILYACTIVITIESANDOTHEREXPERIENCES
Every occupation will have different job-related skills. Later, when you start researching different career options, you
will find out what technical skills are needed for each occupation. The exercise below will help you determine which of
these skills you already possess, and which you need to acquire. If you already have a career option in mind, you can
try the exercise now, or you can come back to it later when you start to identify some career alternatives.
Directions:
1) Type the name of the occupation you are interested in.
2) List some job-related skills you have already acquired for that occupations
3) When you have completed this exercise, continue with exercise 6) Personal Traits.
Job you are interested in.
_____________________________________________ (write job here)
Job-related skills I have gained from my
school courses or vocational training:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Job-related skills I have used in other work __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
or volunteer experiences:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Job-related skills I have gained in hobbies, __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
family activities, or other experiences
__________________________________________________________
outside of work or school:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Step 6 - Personal Traits
Your personal traits refer to the style or manner in which you interact with the world. They refer more to how you
do things rather than what you do. For example you may have chosen the ability to persuade others as one of your
transferable skills. The personal traits that help you accomplish this may include self-confidence, assertiveness, and an
emotional style. Or you may use a completely different set of traits, such as being rational, logical, and trustworthy.
The following checklist will help you identify some of your personal traits.
Directions:
1) Select the traits that apply to you by placing a checkmark in the box beside the trait. You can also add several traits
you may have, that are not listed, at the end of the checklist.
2) Be as open and as honest as possible. Select the traits you truly believe you have, and not those that you feel are
desirable.
3) Share your findings with a friend, parent or someone you feel comfortable with. Do they recognize personal traits in
you that you may not be aware of?
4) When you have completed this exercise, use the navigation box at the top of this article to continue with 7) Career
Exploration.
Key Traits - Employers value these traits highly. They often won’t hire a person who does not have/use most of these traits.
c Self-esteem and Confidence
c responsible
c Honesty, Integrity, Ethics
c energetic
Other Self-Management Skills
c punctual
c assertive
c flexibile
c dependable
c sincere
c friendly
c commited
c professional
c reserved
c logical
c supportive
c sensitive
c competitive
c outgoing
c stable
c tough
c trusting
c enthusiastic
c empathetic
c realistic
c easy-going
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
Additional personal traits
c ____________________________
c ____________________________
c ____________________________
(List other personal traits you possess)
c ____________________________
c ____________________________
c ____________________________
patient
learn quickly
mature
complete assignments
thoughtful
good sense of humour
motivated
kind
thorough
analytical
attentive to detail
open minded
practical
calm
modest
cheerful
trustworthy
discreet
willing to learn
understanding
sociable
c positive attitude to work
c get along with others
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
creative
persistent
considerate
results-oriented
conscientious
inquisitive
reflective
ambitious
curious
methodical
tenacious
good natured
meticulous
careful
take initiative
optimistic
independent
witty
loyal
risk-taking
c ____________________________
c ____________________________
c ____________________________
Step 7 - Career Exploration
Now that you have learned a lot more about who you are - your interests and values, your talents and skills, and your
personal traits - you are ready to start exploring your career options.
But where do you start? Experts estimate that there are somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 different occupations
in today’s work world. That is a lot of starting points! Fortunately, you won’t have to go through all 10,000 options to
find a suitable occupation.
There are two main steps you will want to follow as you do your career exploration:
1) Your first step should be to create a list of different occupational choices that might match what you like and what
you are good at. At this stage you should try to cast your net as wide as possible; you can throw away the little or
unappealing fish later.
2) Once you have hauled in your catch of possible occupations, your next step will be to sift through these and narrow
your options to the two or three most suitable candidates for your dream job.
3) When you have completed this exercise, continue with exercise 8) Choosing a Career.
This process won’t be completely linear, and you might find yourself going back and forth between the first two steps.
You might do a little research as you create your list of different occupations, and later, as you do your research, you
may come across different occupations you want to add to your list from Step 1.
The research step is going to be time-consuming, but if you do your homework and spend a little time thoroughly
investigating and narrowing down your options, you just might end up with a lifetime of fulfillment and satisfaction
rather than a lifetime of drudgery and regret. The choice is yours.
Resources:
A helpful resource in your career exploration is provided By the Alberta Learning Information Service (ALIS). They
offer a great deal of information on the various careers available in Canada.
You can visit the website here - http://occinfo.alis.alberta.ca
You might also review the Labour Market Information available at the the Government of Canada Bob Bank.
You can visit the website here - https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/explorecareers.do
There are many other places on the Internet you can visit to research individual occupations. These include websites
of associations, homepages of companies who employ people in the specific occupation, and newsgroups related to
particular occupations.
Informational Interviewing
This is where you get a chance to reverse the roles. You become the interviewer, and the person with the job becomes
the interviewee. The goal of this process is to gather information about a particular job or career directly from the
“horse’s mouth” to help you find out if it is the kind of job you would be interested in pursuing further. Conact
an employer and explain that you are researching careers and ask if there is anyone who would be willing to be
interviewed regarding a career in their field of expertise. Often they are more than happy to oblige. Make sure to be
flexible about the appointment, as they are doing you a favour by fitting you into a busy schedule. Come prepared
with well researched questions.
Volunteering
Volunteering provides you with a number of advantages. It gives you a first-hand look at an occupation that you are
considering as a career. It is also a great way to network, and if you find this is the job you want, you already have some
built-in contacts with which to begin your job search. It also enhances your résumé; employers will be very impressed
if you have volunteer experience in the area in which you are looking for work. Through volunteering, you may also
find that the job is not all you thought it was; and you can then look for job opportunities in other areas.
Working part-time
Like volunteering, working part-time gives you a chance to get a first-hand look at the job you are interested in and
allows you to make contacts you can use as references for future jobs. Unlike volunteering, it allows you to earn some
money while doing so.
Employment and Career Centres
Dont forget the Calgary Youth Employment Centre! Knowledgeable staff are ready to help you find the information
you need. Plus, it’s a chance to get out of the house!
Step 8 - Choosing a Career
You’ve come to the point where you have to make some choices. You’ve done a little “soul-searching” and learned
more about yourself - what you like, what you’re good at, and what your values are. You’ve found some occupations
that seem to match these aspects of your personality, and you’ve done the research and learned more about these
particular occupations - what they have to offer you and what you have to offer them.
The next step is to evaluate your options and make a choice. Deciding on your future is a big step. It is a step you will
have to make, but you will want to be sure you consider all the options, think carefully about each, and weigh the
positive and negative aspects of each. Even then, there may not be one choice that stands out above all others. There
are over 7000 occupations in Canada, and there won’t be one single one that suits you much better than all others.
Your goal should be to find the most appropriate one, not the “correct” one.
Steps in the decision making process
We’ve provided a five-step model below that might help you make your decision.
1) Name the decision.
Sounds obvious, but stating precisely the decision you have to make is very important. Writing down the decision in
question format will help you clarify your decision and help you keep it in mind during the next four steps.
Eg.: “What occupation would I like to be in five years from now?”
2) List the alternatives.
Write down at least two answers to your question from the first step.
3) Evaluate the alternatives and decide.
One way you might do this is to write down the potential outcomes of each alternative (both positive and negative)
for you and for others that are important to you.
This is probably the most difficult of the five steps. To help you out, here are two more exercises you can do to evaluate
your options and make a choice from among them.
Use the Occupation Evaluation Table on the next page...
AND/OR
Use our Decision Matrix based on values you entered during the Self Evaluation exercises. Information on using the
Decision Matrix will follow the Occupation Evaluation Table on the next page.
4) Test your choice.
Think of ways to test the alternative you have chosen. For example, you might take a summer job in the field, take a
course related to the chosen alternative, volunteer in the area, or shadow someone who works at the same occupation.
You may already have done some of these things.
5) Evaluate your decision.
How well did your choice work? If you need to, you can start over again at step one.
Occupation Evaluation Table
Using an Occupation Evaluation Table is one way to compare various career options you are considering. By putting
the options side-by-side and comparing them in specific ways, you can get a clearer picture of how they stack up
against each other.
1) In the first columnist the conditions you want to evaluate and compare.
For Example, you will want to compare such things as how well each job meets your interests, values, and skills. Will
you have to go back to school or learn certain skills before you are qualified for the job? What can you expect the
starting salary to be for each job?
Arrange your list of requirements from most important to least important.
2) Arrange your list of occupations in the other columns and title them. For example, you might be considering three
career options, such as nursing, teaching, and journalism. If you have more than three options, print a second copy of
this table to use.
3) In each column, note how well the occupation matches the requirements listed. If you do not know how well an
occupation satisfies a particular requirement, do some more research to find out.
4) Compare how each option meets the different requirements you have listed and chose the one which seems to
most closely match your requirements.
What I want;
What is important to me
My strongest interests:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
My most important values:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
My transferable skills:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
My education level:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
My lifestyle preference:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Other important factors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Occupation #1
Occupation #2
Occupation #2
Decision Making Matrixes
A matrix is a grid that helps you compare a number of factors in a single table.
Directions:
1) The three matrices here require the information identified from the interests, work values and transferable skills you
identified at the beginning of this exercise.
2) Next, provide three career possibilities. If you do not yet have this information, return to Step 7 - Career
Exploration and research your career possibilities.
3) Complete all three matrixes (on the following pages) so that you have a thorough comparison of occupations.
They are provided in order: Interest Matrix, Values Matrix, Skills Matrix.
4) Review and interpret your results.
Interpreting the Matrix Results:
Once you have completed the three matrices, what do all the numbers mean? How can they help you make a
decision?
The following are some ideas on how to use this information.
The results here are only one reflection or piece of information to help you make a clear decision. Combined with all
the other information you have collected and your gut feelings on the matter, they will help you make an informed
choice about your future career.
1) Total the three columns - interests, values, and skills - for each career.
2) Compare the totals for each career. Why are they each different? Why is one higher than the others?
3) Explore one of the careers further. What do you need to learn? What are the opportunities?
4) Are there any other careers you want to compare? Are there different interests, values or skills you want to
compare? You may want to redo the matrixes with different careers, or different interests, values, and/or skills.
Interests Matrix
Directions:
1) Enter your top five interests In the “Interest” fields (use the information from Step 1-Interests).
2) Enter your top three career possibilities along the top.
3) Weight the importance of each interest to you with a number from 1 to 10, with 10 being very important. How
important is it that each interest be met in your career?
4) Under each career, Score how much that interest will be met by that occupation. Score this as a number
from 1 to 10, with 10 being very high.
5) Multiply Interest Weight x Interest Score (for each career) to obtain the Value for each career.
6) Calculate the Value total at the bottom of each career column and compare the resulting total values under each
career. The highest total will indicate the career that will most closely match your interests.
Career #1
(enter below)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Career #2
(enter below)
Career #3
(enter below)
Interest
Weight
Score
Value
Score
Value
Score
Value
(list Interests below)
Enter a
number
from
1-10
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
X
X
X
X
X
=
=
=
=
=
TOTAL =
X
X
X
X
X
=
=
=
=
=
X
X
X
X
X
TOTAL =
X
=
=
=
=
=
TOTAL
=
Values Matrix
Directions:
1) Enter your top five values In the “Values” fields (use the information from Step 2-Work Values).
2) Enter your top three career possibilities along the top.
3) Weight the importance of each value to you with a number from 1 to 10, with 10 being very important. How
important is it that each value be met in your career?
4) Under each career, Score how much that value will be met by that occupation. Score this as a number
from 1 to 10, with 10 being very high.
5) Multiply Value Weight x Value Score (for each career) to obtain the Value for each career.
6) Calculate the Value total at the bottom of each career column and compare the resulting total values under each
career. The highest total will indicate the career that will most closely match your values.
Career #1
(enter below)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Career #2
(enter below)
Career #3
(enter below)
Values
Weight
Score
Value
Score
Value
Score
Value
(list values below)
Enter a
number
from
1-10
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
X
X
X
X
X
=
=
=
=
=
TOTAL =
X
X
X
X
X
=
=
=
=
=
X
X
X
X
X
TOTAL =
X
=
=
=
=
=
TOTAL
=
Skills Matrix
Directions:
1) Enter your top five transferable skills In the “Skills” fields (use the information from Step 4-Transferable Skills).
2) Enter your top three career possibilities along the top.
3) Weight the importance of each skill to you with a number from 1 to 10, with 10 being very important. How
important is it that each skill be used in your career?
4) Under each career, Score how much that skill will be used by that occupation. Score this as a number
from 1 to 10, with 10 being very high.
5) Multiply Value Weight x Value Score (for each career) to obtain the Value for each career.
6) Calculate the Value total at the bottom of each career column and compare the resulting total values under each
career. The highest total will indicate the career that will most likely involve your most important skills.
Career #1
(enter below)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Career #2
(enter below)
Career #3
(enter below)
Skills
Weight
Score
Value
Score
Value
Score
Value
(list skills below)
Enter a
number
from
1-10
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
Enter a
number
from
1-10
calculate
Weight
times
Score
X
X
X
X
X
=
=
=
=
=
TOTAL =
X
X
X
X
X
=
=
=
=
=
X
X
X
X
X
TOTAL =
X
=
=
=
=
=
TOTAL
=