1. Career and Financial Management
Making Effective Decisions

2. Introduction
Senior High School is an important time to plan and prepare for the future
The goals you set and accomplish now will have a great effect on the rest of your life
It is time to begin careful educational planning and development

3. Career/Technical School Training
Career Ladder
Advanced Degree
Bachelor’s Degree
Associate’s Degree
Career/Technical School Training
High School Diploma
No High School Diploma

4.
Note: Data are for persons age 25 and over. Earnings are for full-time wage and salary workers.

5. Objectives Name the seven steps in the decision-making process
Apply the decision-making process to career selection
Explain the importance of personal, career, and work decisions

6. Making Decisions
Routine Decisions: Decisions that you make often and require little thought
What time to get up in the morning, what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, etc.
Impulse Decisions: Snap decisions that do not require much thought or planning
Walking home on a sunny day, going on a road trip with friends, etc.

7. Big Decisions
Decision-making process: a series of steps that can help you identify and evaluate possibilities and make a good choice
The longer a decision will affect your life, the more you need to think about it
Buying a car, joining the military, selecting a career

8. The Decision-Making Process
STEP 1: Define your wants and needs
STEP 2: Analyze your resources
STEP 3: Identify your choices
STEP 4: Gather information
STEP 5: Evaluate your choices
STEP 6: Make a decision
STEP 7: Plan how to reach your goal

9. Trade-Offs
For every decision you make, there is a trade-off, or exchange
By selecting one alternative, you must give up others

10. The Bottom Line How do you make a decision? Impulse, Routine, or
Decision-Making Process
Trade-offs

11. Career Decisions
One of the biggest decisions a person can make in their life
Often not taken seriously enough
Use the decision-making process

12. Step 1: Define Your Wants and Needs
Do you want to work full-time?
Where do you want to live?
How much money will you have to earn to have the lifestyle you would like?

13. Step 2: Analyze Your Personal Resources
Who are you?
What do you have to offer?

14. Step 3: Identify Your Career Choices
Select several possible careers
Match personal wants and needs with career choices

15. Step 4: Research Your Career Choices
Learn more about careers before selecting one
Many sources for finding information

16. Step 5: Evaluate Your Career Choices
Using your research, look carefully at each career
Determine whether the career matches personal needs and resources

17. Step 6: Make Your Decision
Select the career that best fits your wants, needs, and resources
One will probably stand out as a best choice

18. Step 7: Plan How to Reach Your Goal
Determine the steps it will take to reach your career goal
May have to adapt or compromise career plan

19. Applying the Process—Step 1: Define Your Wants and Needs
Live in a large city
$50,000/year
Full-time, stable job

20. Applying the Process—Step 2: Analyze Your Personal Resources
Enjoys helping others
Organized
Mathematical

21. Applying the Process—Step 3: Identify Your Career Choices
Economist
Teacher
Financial planner
Real estate agent

22. Applying the Process—Step 4: Research Your Career Choices
Spoke with guidance counselor
Visited websites about math careers

23. Applying the Process—Step 5: Evaluate Your Career Choices
Compared amount of money you could make
Where to live
What daily tasks would be like

24. Applying the Process—Step 6: Make Your Decision
Personal finance planner

25. Applying the Process—Step 7: Plan How to Reach Your Goal
High school courses
College programs
Bachelor’s degree
Special certifications

26. The Bottom Line Define your wants and needs
Plan how to reach your goal
Analyze your resources
Make a decision
Identify your choices
Evaluate your choices
Gather information

27. Personal Decisions Choices that affect you personally
Influenced by likes and dislikes
Personal decisions can determine:
The food you eat, your hairstyle, the clothes you wear, your lifestyle, etc.

28. Personal Decisions and Work
Personal decisions may affect career decisions
E.g.: clothing choice, personal information on public websites, personal skills development

29. Work Decisions When working, you face decisions every day
Affect your job and other people
Answers are usually obvious

30. Work Decisions Difficult Decisions Use the decision-making process
E.g.: Am I willing to relocate if I take this promotion?

31. No Decision Is not making a decision, a decision?  YES!
Must accept the decision others make for you

32. The Bottom Line
Personal Decisions
Work Decisions

33. The Decision-Making Process
STEP 1: Define your wants and needs
STEP 2: Analyze your resources
STEP 3: Identify your choices
STEP 4: Gather information
STEP 5: Evaluate your choices
STEP 6: Make a decision
STEP 7: Plan how to reach your goal

34. Journal Question
What is one big decision you have made in the last few months? How did you make that decision?

35. Journal Question
What are the three main decision-making types discussed in the article?

36. Journal Question
What are the pros and cons of being a single decision-maker?

37. Journal Question
Looking at the pros and cons for each of the standard decision making types, which would be the most effective overall method? Justify your answer.

38. Journal Question
What is one big decision you have made in the last few months? How did you make that decision?
Student responses will vary. Students should identify a recent decision and explain how they made it. Students should be thoughtful and reflective in their responses, using complete sentences and proper grammar.

39. Journal Question
What are the three main decision-making types discussed in the article?
The three types of decision-making types discussed in the article were single decision-maker, majority rule, and consensus/collaboration.

40. Journal Question
What are the pros and cons of being a single decision-maker?
The pros of being a single decision-maker are that the decision can be made quickly and that the responsibility of the decision is on one person. The cons of being a single decision-maker are that the decision can be based on individual bias and other opinions and inputs may not be considered.

41. Journal Question
Looking at the pros and cons for each of the standard decision making types, which would be the most effective overall method? Justify your answer.
Student answers may vary, but there are advantages and disadvantages to each kind of decision making type in different scenarios, so student responses should be considered correct on the basis of their justification for their choice.