Choosing A Career

The career development process is an individual process revolving around the world of work and its relationship to your life. It can be both challenging and exciting. Think of your career as a life long process requiring a careful evaluation of your values, skills, and interests. Most of us hope to find work that exercises our abilities, stimulates our interests, suits our personalities, and reflects our values. The Manor Career and Transfer Center can help you with in this exploration process. 

Begin by assessing yourself: (Strive to be realistic!) Career testing can be helpful, too. Make an appointment with the Career and Transfer Center for career testing and to discuss options.

Identify your values to determine what is important to you

  • Your values shape your attitudes about yourself, other people, situations, and life.
  • Your values reflect your beliefs and preferences.
  • In relation to work, values are what give purpose and meaning to the job.
  • Values determine job rewards that are important to you such as:
  • status and respect
  • salary
  • personal achievement
  • helping others
  • travel or the excitement of variety
  • creating something
  • job security
  • distance - commute time (this it time away from your “living” time!)

Identify your skills and talents (Think about your skills with things, information, and people)

  • A skill is an ability you have learned.
  • A talent is an ability that is inborn or naturally easy for you.
  • Recognize that you may be skilled at something and still not find it interesting.
  • Consider ways to get the skills you might require for a specific career.
  • Most professional jobs require good verbal and written communication skills, and the
  • ability to get along and co-operate with others, even those whom you find difficult.

Identify your interests

  • What activities do you most enjoy and why do you find them interesting?
  • On what do you now spend most of your time?
  • Are there any interests you would like to develop?

Examine your personality

  • What are your dreams? (Dreams are a springboard for many of our goals.)
  • What are your unique traits, key strengths, and personal work and communication styles?
  • Are you patient, orderly, outgoing, careful, creative, shy, energetic, systematic, sensitive, persistent, adaptable? Do you like to work by yourself or with others? 
  • Personality may dictate your ideal work environment. Set priorities. Ask yourself:
  • If creativity is important to you, is it a place where you can be creative?
  • Can you work under pressure?
  • Do you want to make decisions, set your own schedule and deadlines?
  • Do you like varied tasks? Do you want to go to the same place everyday or travel
    between different locations? 
  • Would you like to work with the public? As part of a team or more on your own?
  • Would you rather work indoors or outside? Amidst “hustle and bustle” or quiet?

Investigate Career Options

Once you have completed your self-assessment, the next stage is to gather information on what kinds of careers are a good fit for you.

  • Consider what you can do with your major.
  • Consider careers which seek graduates with any major.
  • Learn as much as possible about the kinds of careers that are available.
  • Use people as a resource (Talk to professors, co-workers, career counselors, relatives, people presently in the field, and even previous employers)
  • Use publications and on-line resources. Check www.CollegeCentral.com/ManorCollege, and the various job web-sites listed on the Manor webpage Career Resources link, the library reference room or the Manor College Career Counseling Office for resources that list job titles and the skills needed to do them.
  • Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH)
  • Professional journals and literature on specific careers
  • Experiment. There is no substitute for experience, the more the better. Take a part-time job, job-shadow, or take an internship in the field in which you haveinterest and see for yourself if it’s really all you thought it would be.
  • Specific skills are often useful in more than one job. Don’t limit your search. 

Take Action

-Find out about which employers offer the types of jobs you are seeking.

-Find out about sources of vacancies. 

  • Job fairs
  • Newspaper and magazine ads
  • Web-sites (many can be found on Career Counseling webpage)
  • Federal and state agency websites
  • Network – tell everyone you know, including relatives, neighbors and your parents’ friends and coworkers that you are job hunting and the kinds of job in which you are interested. 

-Once you have some prospects, you will need to move quickly.

  • You will need a proofread and polished resume and cover letter. Check the Manor Career and Transfer Center website for resume writing suggestions or come in the Counseling Office for help. Send out your resume with a focused cover letter. 
  • Dress very appropriately and be well-prepared for interviews. Read over the tips on the Manor Career and Transfer Center webpage. The Center can also help prepare you for interviews.
  • Follow up with a thank-you letter.