The aim of this example is to help you get good at using a method to clarify your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and beliefs about what is important to you regarding your career. Since everyone’s situation is different, the content of this example will probably not match your concerns. As you go along in the steps, you’ll have to fill in your own content.
The three major components of making career decisions are:
- Knowing our interests and abilities;
- Knowing the world of work, that is, being knowledgeable about specific requirements for the various positions in a given field, developing interviewing skills, resume writing, etc.
- Knowing our values and ideals that fill us with passion for our careers.
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There are many programs, services and books that will help us answer our questions to numbers one and two. Responding to our questions in number three requires more personal and reflective thinking. As you make use of your powers of intuition and reflection to discover the practical meaning of your ideals, your own creative juices will emerge to connect your interests, abilities and knowledge of the world of work with your career ideals. The goal is to help you match your work to who you are. You will make the career; the career will not make you.
Observe your thoughts, feelings and behaviors in each of the four circles
Circle One – What are you saying to yourself about your career?
Circle Two – What are you doing, thinking and feeling about your career?
Circle Three – What are your career ideals?
Circle Four – What tendencies (irrational, rational, supra-rational) are you experiencing in your career?
Sort out the positive and negative emotions, behaviors and ways of thinking in each circle. Identify the changes that you need to make.
Circle One:
I need to change my self-talk
In talking to myself I’ll focus more on my ideals and my own power to make the changes that I need to make. I’ll start asking myself what changes that I need to make in my thinking and behaviors to realize my career ideals.
Circle Two:
Identify the negative behaviors, emotions and ways of thinking that I need to change.
Negative emotions change to Positive emotions
Circle Three:
Identify the ideals that you need to pay attention to and to reflect on frequently.
I need to focus on integrity by being myself at work.
I need to focus on cooperation and dialoguing professionally with my colleagues.
I need to challenge myself and look for ways to grow in my career.
Circle Four:
Identify the irrational tendencies that you need to minimize and the rational and supra-rational tendencies that you need to strengthen.
I want to move away from the confusion that I am experiencing about making an adjustment to my career.
I want to strengthen my vision of my career ideals.
I want to move away from feeling so dependent on the job for the realization of my career ideals.
I want to feel free to explore new ways to realize my career ideals.
Connect the vision of your career ideals to the practical ideas that will help you realize your career ideals.
In this step you want to view your concern in Circle One:
- From the viewpoint of your supra-rational tendencies of vision and freedom
- From the viewpoint of your rational tendencies of order and control
- From the viewpoint of your ideals
To discover the practical ideas that will match your career ideals you need to do a mental experiment that requires questioning, exploring possibilities, and mentally testing your new ideas.
Questioning:
1. What interests me most?
____Working with ideas ____ Working with people ____ Working with things
What combination of the above appeals to me most? Eg. ideas/people etc.
2. What are my abilities?
___ verbal ___ mathematical ___ scientific ___ mechanical ___ social
___ artistic ___ managerial ___ inventive ___ entrepreneurial ___ other
3. What do I value in work? Indicate the priority of values.
___ creativity ___ independence ___ security ___ getting along with colleagues
___ prestige ___ executive power ___ opportunity to grow ___ financial reward
___ other
Using your memory to get in touch with your tendencies of vision and freedom.
1. I will recall a time when I felt most like myself when I was working either in my career or before entering it.
Example: (I remember feeling most like myself when I organized a science conference in college.)
2. At that time I was feeling (connected and free).
I was (planning, doing research, contacting people, organizing)
I was thinking to myself that (this is fun).
3. What did I discover about myself in this exercise?
I like taking charge, working with people and organizing.
Searching for practical ideas that will help you realize your career ideals
Gathering information: How can I get more specific information about the kind of work that will fit my career ideals, interests and abilities?
___ Take a career inventory test.
___ Explore the world of work at the career placement center of my college or university.
___ Check out professional organizations to find out about their career development services.
___ Network with colleagues, alumni and friends.
___ Seek advice from established and successful professionals whose work interests me.
___ Use the internet and the library to get information about career advancement and opportunities in specific fields.
Mental experimentation
Based on the information that I now have I will picture myself in the following positions:
a. _______________________
b. _______________________
c. _______________________
Which one fits my abilities, interests and values?
Which one provides the greatest opportunity for growth and advancement?
1. Plan a strategy to accomplish the mission of matching a career position to your abilities, interests and values.
- I will research specific companies that fit my interests and abilities.
- I will contact successful people in these companies to discuss the culture of the company.
- I will join professional organizations related to my career interests.
- I will plan to work part time or cooperatively in a company that appeals to me.
- I will apply for a full time position within a year.
2. Execute the plan.
- I will set a time to initiate action for each step of my strategy
- I will monitor and fine-tune my communication skills in the execution of each step.
- After completing each step of the strategy I will monitor my thoughts, feelings and behaviors to see if my strategy is moving me toward the realization of my career ideals.
- I will make the necessary adjustments in my strategy such as shortening my time-table, if I quickly target a position that fits me.
- I will evaluate my professional attitude to make sure that I am presenting myself as a contributor.