Career Exploration

Process  First we took the Interest Inventory and saw what careers might interest us. It gave us different categories and our strongest interests were in green.  After the Interest Inventory, it gave us a list of occupations that are based off our answers in the survey.  We also took a personality type questionnaire that helped us better understand our interests and personality traits. It gave us several different scenarios and gave us two options to pick from that most resemble ourselves. At the end it also asked us how accurate we believe the survey determined our personality.

 Next we made a chart with each of the eight careers and researched different requirements and explanations of the jobs.  We used the descriptions from the Interest Inventory and the Occupation Outlook Handbook to find the information we needed.

 Finally we took information about the careers and made graphs using Excel.  The three graphs were percentage growth, education needed, and average salary.  From there we listed the pros and cons of each career and ranked them in order from our first choice to last and then narrowed them down to our top three.  Once they were narrowed down we listed our reasons for choosing those.

Careers I chose to research these specific eight careers because these are the ones that most interested me and fit my personality and interests the best.  Interior Designers  Fashion Designers  Hairstylists and Cosmetologists  Editors  Promotion and Advertising Manager  Program Directors  Mediators  Lawyers

Top 3 I narrowed my eight careers down by using the different charts we made and the information I gathered during the research step. The three graphs that we made influenced my decision by showing me important parts in that career including job growth, education needed, and average salary. These three components play a big role in deciding which career you are going to pursue and look further into.

Top 3 Interior Design: I chose Interior Design because being an interior designer gives you a chance to express your creativity. You are able to work with the clients’ needs but also show your style and creativity. Also, I am very interested in design and decorating. I love being able to redecorate and change things up with in a room. I also like to organize and arrange things to look neat and uncluttered but also serve a purpose. Fashion Design: Like an interior designer, a fashion designer also has the chance to express their creativity. Each design and look has the ability to show the designer’s personal style and taste. I am very interested in fashion and trends and love staying updated with what is new in fashion. Another thing I enjoy doing is styling different outfits and putting different pieces together to create different looks.

Top 3 Lawyer: One reason for becoming a lawyer would be the good salary. Although it may be hard work, it pays off in the end. Also, there are many different schools to earn a good education. Finally there are many opportunities for work. Whether it is a small or big case, there are several chances to find work. My research influenced me to look into this career because its relates to my interests and fits different things I am interested in.

Job Growth  This chart showed the percentage job growth over the next ten years.  This influenced my decision by showing me how many job opportunities there are.

Education Needed  This chart showed the number of years of education that each career required after high school.  It showed me how much time each career would take to prepare for after high school.

Average Salary  The last chart we created was average salary.  This plays a big role in deciding your career because you need to be able to be able to make enough money to support yourself.  Although salary is a big part in a career, I also looked at the other aspects of each career.

Conclusion In conclusion, this project helped me in better understanding which careers are best suited for me. Throughout the process I learned more about myself and what my interests were. I considered many different things while researching and narrowing down the careers and created several different tables and charts to organize and help me better understand the requirements. In the end I went with the careers that were the most intriguing to me and what I thought I would enjoy the most in the future.