The background

Career decision-making is not magic, and it doesn’t happen quickly.

No one else can make the decision for you, and this may scare you at first. Always remember to discuss your thoughts freely as this helps you to clarify your own thinking.

You must be actively involved in the process – no use letting someone else do the research.

It is never too late to start – but is easier if it is not left to the last minute. – decide in haste repent at your leisure!

There is no one ‘ideal’ occupation for you. There may be several occupations that will give you the satisfaction you want from work. It is a common mistake to seek a job which will give you all of life’s satisfaction, for many people a job is just that and they get their life satisfaction from family, sport or hobbies.

In all likelihood you will have several occupations during your working lifetime. In the modern economy of today job mobility is very important and gives far greater freedom than a few generations ago when your first job was the only one you ever got and you stayed there for life.

The career decision you are making now might not be a lifetime decision but it has to be a good start and should be based on the plan to get as far in the education or training system as you possibly can. Any plan to postpone further education till later in life is not a good idea as you can quickly see if you discuss it with any adult who is trying to balance work, family and education at the same time.

Get the question right –

• Do you want to continue in education and if so to what level?
• Do you want to get a trade apprenticeship?
• Do you want to work in the family business and if so do you want to do so right away?
• Do you want to go directly into work with no further education

Gather information –

This depends on the answers to the questions above. If further education of any nature is in your plans then you need to do a lot of work in QualifaX. This will enable you to get all the information on the likely courses you should be looking at. Read this information carefully and don’t rush to make a decision before you have to.  Check out if the college is running an open day and if so make plans to get there. In the events section of QualifaX you will find a worksheet that will help you get organised so that you can learn and make decisions based on the open day

Evaluate the information –

It is very easy to collect a lot of information but it is very important that you go much further than this. The sources of information are here in QualifaX, Career Event’s, College open days and lots of websites. Start working on the information you have gathered and make use of your careers classes or visits to the Guidance Counsellor to clarify issues that are confusing you.

Consider alternatives and implications –

Avoid the tunnel l vision that sometimes occurs when people make an early decision and close down their minds to any alternatives. Too often the initial decision falls apart at the last moment and they have nothing else to fall back to. Always have a number of possible options in hand and have all of them well researched, then if your first choice disappears you have another good option to put in its place.

Choose after careful consideration –

The choice of the first step on your career road is very important, do don’t leave research to the last weeks, give yourself plenty of time to think over what you have found out.  For school leavers this process should start before the Junior Cert – years before a final decision has to be made.

What to avoid

• Information overload – between the Internet and Careers Exhibitions it is too easy to accumulate large amount of useful but unread information.Accumulate slowly and don’t put off reading for another day. Don’t be afraid to cull what is unsuitable for you.
• Unclear goals – try to establish some focus of what you are aiming for at an early stage.
• Dependence on others – guaranteed to cause major problems. Good intentions will not help if you find yourself on a course that you got persuaded to take.
• Second hand information – in all walks of life this is risky, even more so in career selection. It’s your life,  it’s up to you to check the facts.
• Limiting by experience of past failure  – whether you are a school leaver or an adult trying to move forward it is important to focus on your potential not on any bad experiences in the past.

What you need

• Facts – clear, first hand and only trust what you understand.
• Time – start early and have sufficient time to digest the information and even change your mind a few times.
• Support  – from school, home and friends is very important but don’t allow support to become a crutch – think for yourself.

Source: http://www.qualifax.ie/