chapter 12: Careers and works 1st half(Sonia Alberto Arias)

· Choosing a career
It is one of the biggest decisions in life. First you need to have a clear view of your personal characteristics and then you need “realistic” information about potential Choosing a career is a luxury usually afforded to the middle and upper classes. Intelligence does not necessarily predict occupational success. Family backgrounds have a strong influence on individual’s careers. People who grow up in the middle class home are likely to aspire to high paying professions in law, medicine, or engineering. Individuals from low income family often lean toward blue collar jobs in construction work, office work, and food services.
· Researching Job Characteristics
Where to start?
Occupational Outlook Handbook available in libraries and World Wide Web.

· Essential Information about Occupations.
What type of information you need to seek?

Nature of the work, working conditions, job entry requirements, potential earnings, potential status, opportunities for advancement, intrinsic job satisfaction and, future outlook.

· What is an occupational test inventory?
It is a test used to measure your interest as they relate to various jobs or careers. The most used are Strong Interest Inventory, The self directed search, and the Campbell interest and skill survey.

· Points you should keep on mind while choosing a career
You have a potential for success in a variety of occupations
Be cautious about choosing a career solely in the basis of salary
There are limits on your career options
Career choice is a developmental process that extends through life
Some career decisions are not easily undone

· Holland trait measurement and matching model
According to Holland, career choice is related to an individual’s personality characteristics, which are assumed to be relatively stable over time. People can be classified into one of six personality types, occupations into 6 ideal work environments. This model is often called the hexagonal model.

· The hexagonal model
Realistic people- physical task, mechanical skills, lacking social skills. (Machine operator, truck driver, and draftsperson).
Investigative people- want to solve intellectual, scientific and mathematical problems, analytical critical curious introspective and methodical (marine biologist, computer programmer, clinical psychologist, architect, dentist)
Artistic people- painting, writing, grammar. Expressive, creative. (musician, sculptor, author, director).
Social people- educational, helping, religious careers. Friendly, responsible, helpful (counselors, teacher, nurse, judge, minister).
Enterprising people- values political and economic achievements, supervision, leadership, sociable, assertive, self confident (realtor, attorney, and salesperson).
Conventional people- systematic concrete tasks with verbal and mathematical data. Numerical skills (banker, accountant, typist, receptionist).
· Donald Super and the theory of occupational development
He views occupational development as a process that begins in childhood; unfold across most of the life span and ends with retirement.
5 major stages
Growth stage- children fantasize about jobs
Exploration stage- pressure from parents, teachers and peers to explore careers.
Establishment stage individual seeks to enter a permanent occupation
Maintenance Stage- continuation in one’s chosen occupation
Decline Stage- adaptation to leaving workforce.
· Workplace trends
Work is an activity that produces something of value for others
Six important trends in the work place that affects future job prospects
Technology is changing the nature of work, new work attitudes are required, lifelong learning is a necessity, independent workers are increasing, the boundary between work and home are breaking down and the highest job growth will occur in the professional and service occupations.
· Dual-earner households- in which both partners are employed.
· Underemployment- settling for a job that does not fully utilize one’s skills, abilities, and training.
· Labor Force- consist of those who are employed as well as those who are currently unemployed but are looking for work
· Glass ceiling- prevents most women and ethnic minorities from advancing to the highest levels of occupations
· Token- symbol of all the members of a group (one woman or a minority person in an office).