Steps in Career Planning/Counseling

A) Interests, Skills, Personality Traits and Values Profiles

Testing: The Coordinator of Guidance and Testing, offers career counseling services to Waycross College students by appointment. These services include a battery of tests that help assess your skills, interests, values and personality traits as they pertain to possible careers. The battery is designed to create a profile of your work personality.

Profiling: Once a profile is formulated, the profile is matched to profiles of others in the work force that report high satisfaction rates, over many years, in their careers. The process results in a computer generated list of careers that compliment each profile. Next, personal investigation and process of elimination takes place.

B) Information about Fields

Requirements: There are a number of ways to learn about the careers or fields that are recommended in a career profile. In selecting a career, consideration should be given to the education and experience requirements, training and licensure issues, future promise of the field, earnings potential, demand for newcomers, and willingness to relocate.

Research: The Georgia Career Information System (See GCIS Page) is an excellent resource to research the sample of criteria mentioned above and other criteria.

C) Education and Training Alternatives

Commitment: One process of elimination is knowing how much education and training a career path requires. Some career options can be easily eliminated by knowing if you will or won't spend 2, 4, 6, or even 8 more years gaining expertise. As people are meeting educational requirements, entry level or in the field experience is highly recommended. Research within a particular major is recommended, too. Find out what kind of jobs are available to people with similar degrees. Consider hiring rates within a field or major.

Aspiration: Understand most employers consider years of education as equivalent to years in the field. So, typically starting pay for a person with a degree is equivalent to salaries non degree employees take three or four years experience to obtain. Experience is valuable, yet people that work without an educational background are typically bypassed for promotions by people with fewer years of experience with degrees. Education speaks worlds about expertise, discipline, commitment and the ability to think critically on many levels. Fair or not, a basic assumption exists that if you are educated then you are well rounded or more qualified than a person presenting strictly with experience.

D) Narrowing Options and Decision Making

Investigation: Research is very helpful in narrowing options. Some talents make better hobbies than careers because of the lack of demand, status or reasonable income. Inversely, some hobbies make great careers if the passion can be savored while working to get paid to do what one loves. Know if there is a promising future in your major.

Experience: Gaining hands-on experience is a great resource for process of elimination. Internships, coop experiences, apprenticeships, mentorships, and part/full time work are all viable options. Get in the trenches. Work in the field while gaining an education. Find out if you love the work while investing money and time in that future. Don't worry if you are still unsure, because a college degree will help even if you have career changes. Education: Try classes in the various fields. Find out if aptitude and interest evolve or are squelched. Experimental classes can help guide an investigation in interests and skills before making an abrupt career change. Talking to teachers and professors about their career paths provide excellent mentorship opportunities.

E) Evaluate and Re-Evaluate Education Limitations and talents can be uncovered through schooling. Many potential careers can be eliminated or included by learning about qualifying factors and abilities. Typically, other experts in the field are offering an evaluation of your abilities and talents throughout the educational process. Don't forget to rate yourself, because others are not always right in their assessments or perceptions.

Change: Many events may alter the path once chosen. Aging, injuries, change in family status, maturity, fading interest, changing work force and many more events can cause re-evaluation of decisions. With today's rapidly changing world, it will be common for most of us to experience multiple career path changes. Learn to exercise compassion because floundering for new careers is common, but not easy. Coping with change requires development or mastery of skills and strategies.

Re-Assess: In the work world, many personal discoveries are possible. Skills, interests, values and personalities be altered. The battery of career assessment instruments mentioned earlier can be used throughout a persons life. For some, little change will be noted. Meanwhile, for others dramatic changes will occur. People will change, and if answers change then career profiles will also change.

F) Coping with Transition Strategies

Regardless of career choice, stress management skills and coping mechanisms should be developed for healthier and happier futures. Research and decision making skills are important tools in any life. Goal setting and developing plans of action will be valuable exercises. Understanding the steps of the process will be empowering.

Development: Throughout our experiences are opportunities for transformation. Change is inevitable around us and probable from within us. Learn to master skills to cope with change. Coping with change of any kind will help in coping with career changes.

Counseling: One viable tool is to contact a "change agent" otherwise known as a counselor. Counselors are trained to help with self discovery and empowering people through the steps of transition.