Understanding Career Planning

Career planning is an exciting process of finding your ideal career, based upon your intrinsic interests, motivational traits, personal work style, personality, values, skills, and aptitudes.

You can easily have years go by without exploring your potential for success. Surveys typically indicate that a large percentage of people do not enjoy their work. Students often decide upon a major without fully exploring the most rewarding options. Studies show people who are working in a career that supports their intrinsic interests are happier, and more successful and fulfilled.

Whether a first career or a career change, millions of people are using career planning to find their ideal career.

Assessment and Testing

The first step in an optimal career planning solution involves using different types of Career Assessment Inventories, also known as Tests, to help you gain a better understanding of your career interests, motivational traits, personal work style, personality, values, skills, and aptitudes. Each Inventory is designed to provide you with appropriate information and feedback to help ensure that you will land in your ideal career:

Discover your career-related interests and abilities
Identify occupations that match your interests, competencies, and personality
Identify matching fields of study
Identify your communications and leadership style
Determine how you work best to draw out your creativity and productivity
Understand how you adjust to circumstances, people, and demands in your work environment, and whether these adjustments result in stress or satisfaction
Clarify and prioritize your career-related values
Determine transferable skills and accomplishments

Occupational Investigation

The next step is gathering information about the new occupational options suggested by the results of your Assessment Inventories/Tests, including:

Job Descriptions
Working Environment and Conditions
Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement Opportunities
Employment Trends
Future Job Outlook
Compensation
Related Occupations

Decision Making

Decision making is the next step to "fine tune" your list of options based upon the results of your Assessment Inventories/Tests:

Applying essential decision-making steps and tools
Asking yourself key decision-making questions
Developing a plan
Conducting Informational Interviews or Job Shadowing