"Constructive self criticism is useful -- blaming yourself is pointless and destructive."

SETTING GOALS…

Once you’ve got a job or two in mind that you might like to do, it is VITAL to set realistic and achievable goals to help you get that job.

If you do NOT set any goals, you’ll find that life just seems to… “happen” without any real purpose or direction!

To make sure you get what you WANT out of life, you must set goals! You must make plans to achieve those goals. And you must then take action! 🙂

Drawing up a plan of action involves:

setting some realistic long term major goals (ie to become an Pharmacologist in 7 years time), and then
identifying a series of shorter term sub-goals which will help you achieve your major goal.

For example, if you were aged 15 right now, in Year 10, then for you to achieve your major long-term goal of becoming a ___?___ in 5 years time, you would need to:

Find out whether YOU are suited to a job as a ___?___
Find out information about ___?___ so you can plan how much further study you need to do, and where
Prepare for your final exams to get the best result possible
Gain some school-based work experience as a ___?___ to see if you actually like doing that job
Find out what subjects/courses to choose for next year
Find out if there are any other courses/activities you need to do that will help you get into your chosen course or career
Constantly evaluate what you are doing and where you are going, to make sure you get there!
Find out the best ways to go about looking for work, applying for jobs, being interviewed etc.

It might seem like a lot of effort to go to, but by breaking things up into these “bite-sized” chunks, you have more control over what happens to you.

It is important that you also put a TIME next to each step. That way you know when something must be done! And you can measure your success (or failure) on completion of each step.

This will help you evaluate your progress. If things do not work as intended, your plans can easily be changed to allow you to go in another direction.

If you have alternate plans as well, then if something forces a really BIG change to Plan A, if you’ve planned wisely, then Plans B, C or even D can still go ahead!

Remember…

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

Questions to consider when developing your own plan…

Don’t know what job you want to do?

IF you don’t have ANY IDEA of what job you might want to do, then you must find out more about you so you can decide, and you MUST do it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

It is practically impossible to make a satisfactory plan for your future without knowing what type of person you are!

Are you really suited to this job?

What information do you know about the job? What are the tasks involved in the job? What are the entry requirements, working conditions, pay rates, future prospects, etc. ? Would it suit you based on what you already know about you?

Again, the answers to these questions will affect the rest of your plan. You must also try to find out these answers AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

You should be looking for answers in various places.

You should be talking to people.

You should be getting experience in the job if possible. Work experience is a good way of finding out information about a job and whether you are suitable to it. Can you arrange any with your school? What about after school hours? weekends? holidays?

What are the educational requirements for this job?

If your chosen job requires further study, what are the pre-requisites for that study? How far do you need to take your education? Do you need to complete senior high school? TAFE? University? Something else?

The answers to these questions would be important when selecting your subjects for senior high school. Many of the maths/science based courses at university, for example, require you to have completed certain levels of maths and sciences at a senior high school level.

The answers might also mean that you would need to complete additional (vocational) courses outside of the “normal” school curriculum – for example, an introductory course in computers, or a first aid course.

You might also have to prepare a portfolio of your work to take along to an interview or to demonstrate your interest and ability before being chosen.

You might also find that you have to work to a certain standard to get into your proposed course of study. All courses at a university require you to have gained a set entrance mark or rank before you are eligible to get in.

How Good Are You…

At making decisions?

BACK to Choosing a Career index.