Imagine Yourself and Visualise your Career

If you are unemployed or frustrated in your current employment the solution is to focus on what you want rather than obsessing about the problem.You can be anything you wish.
The University of Otago Careers Advisory Service suggests the following steps:
Self-Assessment
Who am I?
Where am I going?

Essential First Steps to Career Planning

Career Planning Model (T + P + E) x V = Career Success

This means - Talent + Purpose + Environment x Vision and you end up with Career Success

Step One

Establish what career success means for you
So write down your personal definition
Avoid any 'shoulds'
Step Two T=Talent

Describe your talents:

Achievements
Skills
Strengths
Interests
Personality
Achievements

Write down the achievements that have meant the most to you

Are there common threads? e.g. do they use similar skills?
What words would describe you from those achievements?
Write headlines for your achievements

Skills

What are the skills you are good at and enjoy? Write them down
Now select your top 10-15
These are your “motivated skills”- search for a job where you can use these
Avoid jobs which require only a few

Strengths

Write down a list of your strengths
Consider technical, academic, interpersonal, administrative, management, communication…
Ask people who know you well to write a list of the strengths they see you possess.
Compare lists
Interests

Write down results to see common threads
Start with Career Voyage, which you can use in the Careers Office.This is a computer based tool that can assess your interests and link to suggested job title
Try some of Dr John Holland interest based tests (small charge involved)

Personality

There are many ways of assessing personality (see suggested web sites at end of page)
The best idea is not to take one as gospel truth but to try out a few. You are looking for common threads
One of the favourite ones is the Myers Briggs profile
Step Three P = Purpose

Discover your purpose in work and life
Examine a list of commonly held values and decide your top 5-6
Add any that are important to you

Decide the 5-6 values you least prefer
Chose jobs or careers where you can best realise your top values
Avoid jobs or careers which rely on your least preferred values

Step Four E = Environment

Describe the work environment in which you will flourish
Consider the following:
Indoors / outdoors
Open plan office / your own office
Working with people who are similar to you or different?
Working in a team or working alone?
Contact with the public?

Overseas or in NZ

Big city / small city

Closely supervised or left to get on with the job?
Step Five V = Vision

Set goals and write them down
Divide a page into 3 and allow yourself 4mins on each section
What do you want to do in your lifetime?
What do you want to do in the next 3-5years?
What do you want to do in the next six months?
Imagine it is the year 2010…

Write down how old you will be
You are being interviewed for a magazine, newspaper article or you are featured on a webpage
Write down the name of the magazine/ newspaper, or where a surfer would find you!
Write bullet points of the article
Why are you being interviewed?
What have you achieved?
What do they say about you?

Analyse the article

Are you on track with your course of study to get to this point?
Do you need to develop other skills outside of tertiary study?
Do you need to find out more about this industry, field or career?


Try the following websites for self assessment:

http://www.cdm.uwaterloo.ca
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com
http://www.kiwicity.com/job/jobbuilder.htm
http://www.advisorteam.com
http://www.prospects.csu.ac.uk
http://www.windmillsprogramme.com

For more very useful tips http://www.otago.ac.nz/careers/html/students/writing2.html