Over the past two weeks in Career Exploration we have been working with the program FOCUS 2. FOCUS 2 asks a series of questions and based on your answers to those questions gives you some possible career paths. While I have taken many of these types of surveys throughout my life, I am starting to feel that I am getting a better sense of what I want to do. I also feel that I am getting a better understanding of what aspects of a job are important to me.
So far I have had three work interest areas that have really stood out to me; being a professor of some sort, being a bank manager, or being an economist. So first I will start out by talking about the possibility of being a professor. One experience in my life that I feel really relates to this is my experience volunteering for HYPE tutoring. Hype tutoring allows me to tutor elementary students in a low socioeconomic area. This volunteering really makes me feel good about myself, however it leaves me very drained. This is why I think it would be better to be a professor dealing with adults, than a teacher, in say middle school, dealing with younger students who require more energy. Overall, I think that this position would allow me to have a positive impact on young adults. Secondly, I have thought about being a bank manager. I have always excelled in math classes, so anything dealing with numbers has always been a possibility for me. However, I do not have any interest in being an accountant. I am thinking though that being a manager of a bank would allow me to escape the monotony of always sitting at a desk, since I would be interacting with the people I managed. One example in my life where I felt that I had done well in a leadership position is when I was treasurer of my school’s FBLA club. I feel that this position relates well to being a bank manager because it is a leadership position that deals with the handling of money. However, the reason I am more interested in being a professor over being a bank manager is because I do not feel that being a bank manager would allow me to make an impact on others. Lastly, I have considered the possibility of being an economist. The only reason that this work interest area really grabbed my attention is because I am currently in an economics class here at UNC and I feel that I am doing well at understanding the concepts of economics. While I think I would excell in this position, I do not think it is going to end up being right for me. I want to have a job that impacts others, and this job really doesn’t have that aspect. My personality type is practical, responsible, thorough, orderly, and sensible. I think that being responsible and practical are the personality traits that exemplify me best. I think that these traits mesh well with all 3 of the jobs mentioned above. I think that my story about helping tutor the elementary school students really exemplifies being responsible and orderly. I think that my position as treasurer exemplifies my responsible, through, and practical personality. Overall, I think that FOCUS 2 is giving me a better idea of what I want to do in the future.
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This past week I completed the FOCUS 2 assessment. This assessment has you answer a series of questions about you, your interests, your skills, and your values (among other things). The point of these questions is for you to get a better idea of your interests and how those interests match up with possible career options.
The first series of questions called the “Work Interest Assessment” gives you a Holland Code based on your answers to the questions. My Holland Code was ISE, which stands for Investigative, Social, and Enterprising. Investigative people often work in the science field, which is not something that fully interests me. Social people generally work in jobs that allow them to work with others. I find it interesting that I got this result because I generally consider myself to be an introvert. Lastly, Enterprising people generally work in sales or marketing. I actually am interested in looking further into this career path. The second series of questions is a personality assessment. This test said that I like to have straightforward guidelines, be accurate, and use logic to make decisions. All of these statements I agree with. However, one of the jobs it suggested based on these results is that I become an engineer. Engineering is something I have looked at, but really don’t have any interest in doing. The test also suggested accounting, which is another thing that I have considered, but don’t want to do. It also suggested business administration, which is something I want to look further into. The third series of questions was a leisure assessment. My first interest match on this test was sharing. People who match with sharing like to advise and help others. I definitely find that this is one of my interests. The second match was inquiring. People who match with inquiring like to observe and try to solve problems. I don’t really see this as being my match because I don’t really like problem solving. Lastly, I matched with eager. Eager people like to try to persuade others of things. I definitely find myself trying to persuade others of things sometimes and have thought that being a lawyer would mesh well with this trait, but since I do not like to write, law is not the career for me. The fourth set of questions was a values assessment. This assessment suggested job possibilities such as Information Technology Project Managers and Quality Control Managers. I enjoy being in leadership positions so these may be something to look into. The fifth set of questions was a skills assessment. This assessment gave me the possibility of being a professor. I really enjoy teaching others so I have considered this profession. However, I am a little nervous about how many years of school I would have to go through to attain this career. At the end of the assessment you are able to combine your results to see career options that match multiple assessments’ results. No careers matched all five of my assessments results, or even four of the assessments results. However, one of the careers that was listed under matching three of the assessments’ results was a Bank and Branch Manager. This sounds like it would be a fairly stable job that would allow me to have a position of leadership, so it is definitely something I will look into. Overall, I am most interested in looking into the possibility of being a professor of some sort. Today in Career Exploration we attended the Fall Job/Internship Expo instead of going to the actual classroom. While I was feeling pretty confident last week about the job fair, that confidence slipped away as I approached Rams Head, where the Job Expo was being held. I suddenly felt an extreme amount of worry. I was worried that I would not say the right thing, or that I would stutter, or that I would say umm too much. However, after I approached the first booth my fears started to slip away. The employers were extremely nice and not as intimidating as I had imagined they would be.
The first booth that I went to was the Abercrombie booth. Contrary to what the Job Expo brochure said, Abercrombie was in fact looking for part time employees. I was really interested to hear about all of the opportunities that Abercrombie has to progress once you get a four year degree. The man I was talking with informed me that in a matter of 2 years he had gone from the entry level position to becoming a store manager. The other lady I talked to informed me that she was now in charge of all of North Carolina and part of Virginia. It really interested me that it was possible to start now (at the age of 18) in an entry level position there and work your way up to a job that held a lot of power (once you got a degree, of course). Next I talked with Apple. While last week I had planned on talking with MaxPoint Interactive Inc., I could not find them in the brochure map so I instead talked with Apple. While I am not currently eligible to hold a job there because I have a roommate, I was really intrigued that they had a position that allowed you to work from the comfort of your home as a Tech Support person. The reason I was not eligible is because they require that you have a private space to work from. I am definitely considering looking back into this job when I get a place of my own. Next, I talked with Bell Partners, Inc. This is a real estate agency that deals with apartments. I was extremely interested in the internship opportunity that they are offering this summer and may apply for it. They talked about how one of the responsibilities of a position was to show interested people around the apartments, and I thought that this would be a good way to gain more communication skills. After talking with Bell Partners, Inc., I talked with Potomac River Partners, which is a company that deals with pharmacies and doctors to make sure that FDA rules are complied with. However, I am not eligible for any position there because they are only looking for full time employers. Lastly I talked with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. This company has an interesting summer internship that even underclassmen are allowed to apply for. In this internship you are given an overview of the various Financial aspects and get several certifications along the way. I found this a cool possibility, but ultimately don’t think that finance is the path for me. Overall, I really enjoyed the Job Expo. One big thing that I was surprised to learn was that many of the jobs were not looking for particular majors. This made me feel a little better about not knowing what I want to major in. Next week my Career Exploration class will be heading to the Career Expo. to put our elevator pitches to practice. While last week I was still nervous about this big step, I am feeling more confident by the day since we practiced in class today. I am definitely still a little nervous about trying to keep up a conversation with the employers, however I hope that it will not be too difficult to do. My elevator pitch in class today went fairly smoothly despite the fact that I was nervous and I hope that my nerves won’t get in the way of a successful conversation next Thursday. To help prepare me for next week, I have begun researching some of the employers that will be there so that I can target them specifically.
First, I plan on talking with Abercrombie & Fitch. While I do not really have an interest in going into retail, I feel that this job would be able to help me further develop my communication skills and make future interviews and career fairs less daunting of a task. I plan on asking them what skills go into being a successful retailer. While I do not want to work at Abercrombie & Fitch for life, I will ask them about the opportunities for progression in the job. Next, I plan on talking with Bell Partners, Inc. I have thought about going into Real Estate, but have my apprehensions about that career. I definitely worry that Real Estate is not a stable job since it often relies on commission. However, it is an internship that I would be very interested in holding. I think that this internship would help me to develop more communication skills. I will ask the employers about what skills they believe go into being a successful real estate agent. I will also ask them about what trends are going on in the real estate market. Finally, I will ask the employer what majors real estate companies look for when they are looking for new employees. Next, I will talk with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. I have always excelled at math so working in Finance has been a possibility that I have considered for a while. I have also liked how stable the accounting field is. I am going to talk with this employer to find out about the summer internship because it would be cool to get some experience in this field to see if it interests me. I will ask them about the employment trends in this field so that I can make sure my belief that the accounting field is stable is accurate. After talking with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, I will talk with Potomac River Partners. I have always thought it would be cool to be a doctor, but my fear of blood eliminates this job possibility. However, this company deals with Biotech and Pharmaceuticals, so it may be a way for me to be involved in the Healthcare field without having to be around blood. However, this employer appears to be more in the consulting field so it may not be exactly what I am looking for. I will ask them what skills are required for this job, what the job entails, and talk to them about what majors are useful for this job. Finally I will talk with MaxPoint Interactive Inc. This is a marketing firm. While I have never considered marketing, I am currently exploring career options so this may be a fun career path to explore. I plan on asking this company about what skills their job requires and what the job entails. I am pretty excited for the Career Fair and hope that my preparation will allow me to get the most out of it. Today during EDUC 131 we talked about the Career Expo. We discussed how we should dress, what we should say, and how we should act. When we first discussed the need for having a 30 second elevator pitch I panicked a little. However, after discussing what should be said in an elevator pitch and practicing, I felt a lot more confident about crafting my own elevator pitch for the Career Expo. I learned that I should start by introducing myself and then go into talking about where I have been, what I have done, and what skills I have. For me, this will include discussing leadership positions I have held and volunteer work I have done.
I have to admit that engaging with recruiters at the Career Expo still makes me pretty nervous. I have always been an introverted person so talking with new people is a bit of a struggle for me personally. My biggest concern about talking with recruiters is that they are going to place emphasis on previous work experience, and that is something I definitely am lacking in. The only official job (so not including babysitting) that I have had has been working at Tokyo Express, a fast food hibachi restaurant, for one summer. I am hopeful though that the recruiters will recognize that I am only 18 years old, so it should be pretty ordinary that my work experience is fairly limited. However, I know that when talking to the recruiter I will try to bring up some of my accomplishments, such as being President of my school’s Beta club for one year and Treasurer of my school’s FBLA club (a business club) for two years. Although these are not jobs, I do think I can discuss how these positions taught me leadership skills. Another concern that I have about going to the Career Expo is in my ability to craft good answers to tough questions. I think that the recruiters will expect us to know a lot about ourselves and our interests, and I am not easily able to list what my interests are which is why I am taking EDUC 131 (to learn more about myself and explore possible career paths). I know that I will be asked many questions, but I anticipate that I will also be allowed to ask the recruiters some questions of my own. First I will ask the recruiter what they look for in potential employees or interns. I will ask this question to get a better idea of what traits I should present about myself. For instance, if the recruiter says they look for leadership then I will discuss the positions I held in clubs during high school. Secondly I will ask the recruiter if they have entry level positions. This question is fairly important to me since I do not have a degree, nor do I have much work experience. Lastly I will ask the recruiter what the job entails. While I anticipate that I will already have an idea from researching their company beforehand, it will be helpful to hear in person what the job entails so that I can get further explanation of the job requirements. Overall, I am a little nervous about the Career Expo, but feel that class will prepare me well. Today in Educ 131 we went over the syllabus and watched some videos. Based on the syllabus and these videos, I am expecting that from taking this class I will gain knowledge about the process that goes into getting a job. The first video that we watched mentioned how potential employers will often look at your social media when deciding if they are going to hire you. After watching this video, I am expecting that we will discuss social media some. I expect that I will learn about the dangers of putting up images that can harm your reputation on your social media. Along with learning the detriments of social media use, I also expect that I will learn about some of the benefits of using social media (such as the possibility to network and create an image of yourself that a potential employer would like to see).
After watching the videos and going over the syllabus, we did an activity in which we put our names under words that we believe describe us. I described myself as a doer, thinker, and organizer, and after Ms. Taylor further described these words I still believe that these are good descriptions of me. This was a pretty encouraging feeling as I know that knowing who you are and what you are like is helpful in finding the career choice for you. However, after the first class I am feeling a little nervous about the career exploration process because I still feel that I have no clue what I want to do with my life. However, I am telling myself that this is a process and will take time, but I am hoping that by the end of the semester I will have a better idea of my next steps. I think that one problem I come across when thinking about my future career possibilities is that it is hard for me to come up with a list of things that interest me. For a while in my life I really wanted to be a lawyer. My father is a lawyer and I liked the idea that work would not always be the same thing day after day since every case is different (even if only by a little bit). I don’t think that I would enjoy working somewhere if things are constantly the same. While in high school I volunteered for a program called Orange County Teen Court. This program deals with punishing teens who have committed a minor offense, such as drinking under age or getting in a fight at school. In this program, I participated as a lawyer. After volunteering here for a while I determined that I wasn’t all that interested in being a lawyer. It consisted of too much reading and writing for me. So I am now starting over my attempt to figure out what I want to be. I know that I excel at math and science, but English is definitely one of my weaker areas. I am interested in psychology and criminology. I find it extremely interesting to think about what leads a person to commit a crime. However, even with this interest I have no desire to be a police officer because I am not brave at all. I have thought about being a doctor, but my fear of blood definitely eliminates this possibility. While looking for a possible career, I pay attention to salary because I want to be able to raise a family and live comfortably. However, this attention to salary has limited some of my options. I enrolled in this course to figure out what I want to do with my life and hope that by the end of the course that I will have a better idea of what I should major in. |
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