Researching a career... From Reading to Writing In John Cheever’s short story “The Opportunity,” Elise envisions a career as an actress, but her mother chides her to “get this idea of going on the stage out of your head.” Career decisions are among the most important decisions people make.

Researching a career... You can begin thinking about your own career by researching jobs that interest you. Writing a career search report can help you examine your goals and uncover facts about a particular career.

B a s i c s i n a B o x RUBRIC Standards for Writing A successful career search report should discuss your career goals describe your talents, skills, and interests focus on one or more specific careers report on factual aspects of each career mention sources of factual information examine the advantages and disadvantages of each career and weigh their importance to you

Writing Your Career Search Report 1 Prewriting Go to your local library and browse through the Occupational Outlook Handbook to find out about careers you are interested in. This book contains information on hundreds of job titles. After you have found one or two careers to research, follow these steps.

Planning Your Career Search Report 1. Examine your goals. Take a good look at yourself. What are you looking for in a job or career? What are your most important goals? 2. Examine your talents, skills, and interest. What do you do well? What activities do you enjoy most? Make a list of your skills, and then think about which skills you’d like to use on the job. For which of the jobs and careers you choose to research are your skills most suited?

Planning Your Career Search Report 3.Research the careers. Use any of the following methods: Browse through books such as the Occupational Outlook Handbook to learn more about the careers that interest you. Interview people in the careers that you are exploring. Contact professional, trade, or union associations that represent each career. These groups often produce brochures about job opportunities.

Planning Your Career Search Report 4. Record your findings. Make a chart in which you list the pertinent information about each possible career: responsibilities education or training required outlook for employment salary range advantages and disadvantages

Planning Your Career Search Report 5. Match careers with your goals and skills. How well do the careers that you identified match your goals and skills? Choose the career that best suits you and use it as the subject of your report.

Writing Your Career Search Report 2 Drafting n Begin your report by presenting information about yourself or by identifying the career you are considering. You may wish to include your career goals, skills, and interests. n Present the basic facts you learned about your career.

Writing Your Career Search Report 2 Drafting n Examine the advantages and disadvantages of the career in light of your goals and skills. n Sum up what you learned about yourself, the career, and its suitability for you.

Writing Your Career Search Report 3 Revising Target Skill LOGICAL ORDER OF DETAIL As you revise your career report, check to see that the ideas in each paragraph are presented in an order that makes sense. Use transitions such as next, since, in contrast, and on the other hand to show clear relationships between ideas.

Writing Your Career Search Report 4 Editing and Proofreading Target Skill CORRECT VERB FORM Using incorrect verb forms in your career search report can confuse your message. When you proofread, check each verb to make sure you have used the correct tense and form.