My parents always said that once you start working, you cannot stop. I found that hard to believe before I got my first job, but it became more apparent and true as the years passed. Throughout my short, yet significant career development experiences, I have gained a better insight as to what my future career might look and be like. My career development experiences have ultimately strengthened and shaped the person I am today. The foundation for my understanding of my career choices can be traced as far back as my childhood, important life events, and my current interests along with hobbies. Consequently and thankfully, all of my previous work experiences have made me stand out from the other 50,000 ASU college students.
Growing up as a child, I really wanted to be a professional ice hockey player, but as the years flew by that dream and reality started to fade away. However, my love and passion for the sport still lingers and has given me a jumping point as to what I would someday like to have as a career. I started my first job working at an ice rink at the age of sixteen. At the time I was playing youth hockey and I wanted to start saving money for a car. So I asked the youth hockey director if there might be any available positions at the rink. She got back to me a few days later saying that the manager wanted to have an interview with me. Since I knew the youth hockey director relatively well, she was able to give me a great recommendation although I had no previous work experience. As I was getting ready to leave for the interview, I get a phone call from the hockey director saying that I got a position as an ice attendant. I was so shocked at the time because I had just received my first job without having to go through ...
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...ter taking out a few business loans, I think my dream of someday owning my own ice rink might become a reality.
Without my previous work history and experiences, I probably would have an undecided major right now and have no idea as to what I would want to have as a future career. The two jobs I have now, I could not be any luckier. If I had gotten my first job at a movie theatre or ice cream pallor, I would not have the passion I desire as to what I am doing today. The experiences I have gained from those two jobs alone will help me later down the road when I someday own a rink. I have met so many incredible people along the way while working and I am good friends with most of them. Timing is everything, if the youth hockey director or my friend who helped me get my job at the arena did not help me, I would not be were I am today, and for that I am truly thankful.
As a college student, I often find myself inundated with work. To make it worse, these assignments usually are uninteresting and irrelevant. It is in the midst of these tedious exercises that I begin to wonder whether all of this work is worth it. When this issue creeps into my mind, I think back to my reasons for choosing to pursue this profession. When I started college, I knew that I could not function in a typical nine to five job. The banality and predictability of such a career simply did not appeal to me. So that essentially ruled out any course of study which would lead to such an occupation. I also knew that I wanted a job that would allow me to make a difference in people’s lives. My mind carefully contemplated the list of possible vocations, and ultimately the field of education seemed to possess the strongest appeal. A teaching career, I figured, would allow me to have a strong impact on the lives of young people. I wanted to help them grow both as students and as people, just as my teachers had done for me. So, despite the warnings of many current teachers, I enlisted myself in a curriculum devoted to teacher preparation.
Time sure does fly; in the blink of an eye, yet another 7.5-week class has come and gone. Just like life, it is scary to think that in just a few short years I will be graduating college and be in search of a future career. The magnitudes of readings, assignments, PowerPoint lectures, and videos have all contributed to the valuable knowledge I have gained since taking this course. Nothing that was presented or required was seen as invaluable towards my progression of career development. This career development course has allowed me to do some self-exploration, career research, and help me understand what influencing factors were related to the job market. Ultimately, this class helped me gauge and find a suitable career path, which will forever shape my future.
So I started thinking about what I wanted to do; I went from teaching to law enforcement, computer programming to astronautics and numerous other professions. Now I come to a crossroad in my life where I must choose what to do with my future, choose what will make me happy.
In today’s society, college students are often told that we need to focus on pursuing careers that offer financial security rather than pursuing a career the we love. In the graphic novel “Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need”, author Daniel Pink challenges this idea. Rather than trying to pursue a career because it makes money, the author uses characters such as Johnny’s coach, Dianne to tell us otherwise, providing six elements that will ensure you great success.
Katherine Whitehorn once said, “Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.” Katherine Whitehorn is referring to the thought of finding a job that a person enjoyed so much that it did not seem like a job at all. This is an goal that many people strive to achieve, but most of the time fail to achieve. Knowing this, I am making this my goal in life, and I will achieve this by pursuing a career the in the science field as a lab technician in a hospital. I made the decision to pursue a STEM degree because of the enjoyment I will feel waking up every single day.
Growing up I struggled with the constant question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” With so many different career paths to choose from, it’s hard to become overwhelmed. As college gradually tiptoed in on me, I began to feel like I would never find the profession right for me. The few things that I did know I wanted in my future career were very simple to me. They were a job in the healthcare world where I could go home each night knowing I made a difference in someone’s life. A job that wasn’t just following a routine everyday but required creativity and brought new challenges while working with a diverse population.
Application of career theories to my own life allows for analyzing past and future career decisions. Holland’s Theory of Careers states that one’s vocation is an expression of self, personality, and way of life. There is an indisputable and fundamental difference in the quality of life one experiences if they choose a career one truly enjoys, versus choosing a career one detests. A true testament to the validity of Holland’s theory, my job/career choices reflect my interests, as well as the evolution of my personality (internal self). My first job as a fine jewelry specialist and second job as a make-up artist echo my love of the fashion world. As I matured and became less fascinated by presumed “glamour” careers, I became captivated by physical fitness, nutrition, and medicine; I received my national fitness trainer certificate so that I may become a personal trainer. Nevertheless, my career decisions do not fit uniformly into merely one career theory.
After I graduated high school, I was unsure of what career appealed to me most. The summer before my first year of university, I endlessly researched and debated what career called to me. I soon realized that my calling in life was to help people, but I wasn’t sure how exactly I wanted to help them. Eventually I decided on the career of physical therapy, thinking that this was the way that I wanted to impact someone’s life. Sometimes though, things don’t always go the way we plan and my life plan was one of those things.
Placing information in context is benefit when making a decision. It is helpful to review the historical events and available information to create a picture of where to go next. The purpose of this paper is to review the personal information from the career assessments taken in HS 585 Career Counseling at Bellevue University. The review will focus on this author’s personal results. This paper will combine the assessments with the author’s personal history to provide a context for future career goals.
The earliest glimpse of my future was at an elementary career day years ago. When I filled out what I was going to dress up as I wrote the word, “farmacist.” My mom was a pharmacist and I looked up to her and wanted to be just like her! So when career day rolled around I dressed in a white coat carrying a big bottle full of M&M’s to dispense to my classmates. Now so many years later here I am actually about to take on graduate school and follow in my mother’s footsteps to become a pharmacist. Of course my career path has been less than a straight line from “farmasist” to pharmacist. My passion and talent for math and science in high school allowed me to seriously consider a career in engineering. However, the more I considered engineering, the more there seemed to be something missing. As much as I loved solving problems I did not see
From meeting new people, to working in the mechanical maintenance department, and learning the secret behind airport operations, I’ve gained so much from being here and I am super grateful. I take a lot of pride in working here and although I am only here for a couple of months I have learned plenty. I have grown so much as an individual in such little time and i can finally say that I have had work experience which is really exciting. Obviously I am not at the point where I can say I will want to pursue a specific career, but as I’ve learned I don’t need to do so right now. Although my career goals have not been fully shaped, my experience here at SFO has taught me how to do so. Therefore I would like to say that I’m super prepared to slowly figure out my goals this following school year. After working here for I am at that point where I’m highly considering about becoming a permanent employee at SFO because I love being here. At the end of the day, I would not replace this experience for anything else in the
These examples of career changes reflect a common trend—increased job mobility. The linear career path that once kept people working in the same job, often for the same company, is not the standard career route for today's workers. Today, many workers are pursuing varied career paths that reflect sequential career changes. This set of ongoing changes in career plans, direction, and employers portrays the lifetime progression of work as a composite of experiences. This Digest explores how changing technologies and global competitiveness have led to redefinition of interests, abilities, and work options that influence career development.
With all the independence and freedom that recent high school graduates possess, they should carefully ponder the possible options that exist. Through abiding by the “check the destination before the ticket is purchased” adage, high school graduates can competently guide their personal journeys in college life or the real world. Regardless of the path chosen, college students and those who immediately enter the workforce will ultimately decide their future destinations. In addition, while graduates pursue their dreams, goals must be set and diligently fostered. The necessity of a college and/or career game plan is crucial, and should not be disregarded. Before Dr. King ended his “I Have a Dream” speech he declared, “Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning.” Similarly, high school graduation is not a finish line, but a starting gun.
Coming to the point of my current career choice has been a long road. My idea of what a career is or should be has changed with circumstances and age. According to Weintraub (2005), “the average worker spends only four years in a job and will have 12 jobs in as many as five career fields during his or her working life.” (para. 1) My first career was marriage and motherhood followed by a surprising healthcare career. What the future holds waits to be seen. With a bachelor of science degree in information technology the options are wide open.
Since returning to school, my educational path has been shaped by my academic and work experience. I was fortunate enough to obtain both concurrently which provided me with a so...