Action Plan: How to generate some career ideas
Goal: to generate some career ideas Why do this? √ √ √
There are lots of careers out there and you want to find out more about your options Having ideas about possible careers will help you to choose courses or training for the future It can take a long time to decide on career options and you may have several different careers during your working life. The more you understand about the world of work, the easier it becomes to make choices and plan your future.
Next Steps: Before you start: •
Prepare to keep a scrapbook or folder of your favourite ideas.
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Ideas take time to evolve. Collect your ideas in your folder and, every few months, re-visit your scrapbook/folder. Can you group them together in themes or common features e.g. all my ideas need a degree, all my ideas involve dealing with people, all my ideas need a good level of maths? These clues will help you with your future decisions.
Some things you could do; •
Look on Careersetc (on your school’s intranet). You should be able to log onto Careeretc in school or from home. Once in, set up a login username and id for Pathfinder;
Activity 1: Start with the Job Matching section Full job matching: this section will match your interests and work preferences to some job ideas Quick match: this section is a shortened version where you can choose either a skill or subject and it will show you jobs which link Dream Jobs: you can look for inspiration based on themes e.g. ‘I want to travel’ What Can I Do With?: This will show you how your favourite subject links to different jobs Activity 2: Visit the Job Information section A-Z of Jobs: will allow you research specific jobs. At the end of each section, however, it will suggest similar jobs which you should also look at Job Families: this is a really useful way of looking at groups of jobs by theme. For example; how many legal jobs can you think of? In the Legal and Political Services family, there are 52 jobs! Case Studies and Videos: you can find out more about real people working in different jobs
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Activity 3: Visit the HE Info section Subject Areas: this gives you an overview of all the different areas you could consider for higher education. The opportunities are much wider than at GCSE or even A level. Activity 4: Visit www.prospects.ac.uk This website has excellent careers information about how degree subjects link to careers. Look for ‘What Can I Do With My Degree’ for inspiration on how subjects link to real jobs. •
Look for inspiration on www.icould.com o Browse the videos of different people who have taken different career paths o Use the careers games to generate ideas. Try Buzz or Metycoon. o Your school may also have access to www.talkingjobs.com o Or try www.careersbox.com
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Look at examples of real jobs; o View apprenticeships at www.brightonandhovejobs.uk. These are real vacancies in the local area. What kind of apprenticeships are available locally? o Found a job which really appeals? Printout the details of the job for your ideas folder.
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Look on www.theargus.com and use their job search. Don’t worry about qualifications and experience. If you find something that sounds interesting, read more and if you like it, printout and add to your ideas folder.
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If you want to do a degree, look on www.prospects.com for examples of graduate level jobs and also look at the Careers Centres at your local universities. Try Careers Centre University of Brighton and Careers and Employability Centre at the University of Sussex
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Ask to do work experience through your school.
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Volunteer. Even if you don’t have a specific career in mind, volunteering is a way to find out more about yourself, your skills and personal qualities. This is a way to show others that you are well motivated.
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Take an interest in what other people do? Parents, friends of the family, people on television (although you may need to check the reality of some portrayals).
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Ask to work shadow a friend or relative
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Make the most of careers events in school. If outside speakers come in, listen to what they say with an open mind and if you have the chance to ask questions, do. Things you could ask; o What do you do? o What’s the best thing about your job? o What’s the worst thing about your job?
Produced in August 2011 by the Healthy Schools Team @ Brighton and Hove City Council
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