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Career Selection and Planning Guide
 2nd edition: August 25, 2008

 

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Step 3: Research and profile your career options  

In this step, your objective is to learn more about each occupation on your List of Possible Career Options (Form 2).  This step will help you understand the pros and cons of each occupation which in turn will help you narrow down your career options to those occupations that best match your personality style.  For each occupation on your list, you will learn about:

  • the nature of the work (duties and responsibilities)

  • training and qualifications

  • future employment need

  • advancement opportunities

  • salary

Directions:

  1. Print a copy of this checklist.  On your printed copy, check off each step as it is completed to keep a record of your progress through this exercise.

  2. Complete each step in the order presented.  Note: for the hyperlinks found below to work, you must be viewing this checklist online.

Steps

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[1]  Read a report about your first career option.

 

Start with the first job title listed on your List of Possible Career Options (Form 2).  When instructed to do so below, visit the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) website and read a report about your first job title.

The OOH contains detailed reports on hundreds of occupations found in our World of Work.  The OOH website offers three means of searching its database for occupational reports.  Review these options below before you attempt to use the website.

OOH search options:

1. Alphabetical by job title.  Scroll down the OOH Home page until you find this:

Click on the letter that represents the first letter of your job title.  For example, click "C" to find a report on "Cab Driver."  A list of occupations beginning with the letter "C" will appear.  Scroll down the list until you find your occupation and then click its link to display its report.  You may need to try several different letters (job titles) to find the right profile.

2. By keyword.  In the Search box at the top of the page, select Occupational Outlook Handbook. Then type in your job title in the "for:" box and click the Search button. Scroll down the list of found reports and click your job title to display its report.

 
  

3. By career cluster.  Note the list of major career clusters found at the left margin on the OOH Home page - see example to the right.  Click any of these clusters to display a list of related occupational groups.  Then click any of these groups to reveal a list of related job titles.  Click any job title to display its report.

 

Now, visit the OOH website by clicking on the link below and using any or all of the above search options, find and read the report for your first job title.

 

Occupational Outlook Handbook website

 

When completed, move on to the next step below.

 

Can't find a report for your occupation?  If after trying all three search methods you still cannot find a report for your job title in the OOH, then try these other sources of occupational information:

 User or School Name: spc
 Password: careers
 

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[2]  Profile your first career option.

 

If necessary, print a copy of the Career Options Profile form (see link to the right) and then do the following:

  • Record your first job title on the line provided.

  • For future reference, check the publication source where you obtained the report for your first job title.

  • Based upon the data contained within the report that you just read, rate the desirability of each of the "Internal factors" as listed on the Career Options Profile form as they relate to your first job title.  Record your answers under the "Ratings:" column.

  • Finally, select the "Conclusion" (Yes or No) that best describes your feelings now about whether you want to further consider this job title as a possible career goal.

Career Options Profile form

 

MS Word  PDF
 

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[3]  Profile all additional career options.

 

Following the procedure as outlined in [1] and [2] above, profile all remaining job titles on your Career Possibilities List.
 

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[4]  What should you do next?

 

What you should do next depends upon the results of the profiling of your job titles on your Career Possibilities List.  Typically, you will experience one of the following outcomes.  Read each possible outcome below, select the one that describes your results, and then proceed as indicated.

  • All your job titles were checked as "No."  You checked the "No" option for all of the job titles on your Career Possibilities List.  If this is the case for you, return to Step 2: Identify possible career options and create a new list of job titles to profile and proceed from there.
     

  • Only 1 of your job titles was checked as "Yes."  Only one job title was checked as "Yes" on your Career Options Profile forms.  If this is the case for you, you have two options:

[A] If you are not confident that this job title should be your career goal, then identify additional job titles to read and profile by returning to Step 2: Identify possible career options.

 

[B] If you feel strongly that this job title should be your final career selection, then move on to Step 5: Develop a career plan to complete the program.

  • 2 or more job titles were checked as "Yes."  If you selected 2 or more job titles as "Yes" and you feel confident that either of them could become your final career goal, then move on to Step 4: Select a career goal to determine which occupation will become your career goal.

Otherwise, return to Step 2: Identify possible career options and create a new list of job titles to profile and proceed from there.