| EDCE 201: Career and Life Planning Your Dream Job ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Be imaginative, use creative thinking, let your thoughts wander, and dream about what an ideal job or work situation would be like for you. Write a few short sentences in the space provided to describe the characteristics of your �dream job.� It is better not to have any particular occupation in mind at this point. This is a fantasy exercise; reality can be considered later. Suspend thinking about obstacles and problems for now. You may want to come back to this exercise several times later and add new insights. Remember, this is your ideal job! I. NATURE OF THE WORK. �Work� has a negative meaning for some of you, so use the word �activity� instead. What would you like to do? Are there certain products you would like to make, or certain services you would like to perform? What responsibilities (if any) would you like to take on? Remember it�s best to think of work as a putting forth of energy, something that you would do because of the nature of the activity itself, even if you were not paid for it�something that you want to do more than anything else. It could be tinkering with a mechanical thing, or putting ideas on paper and analyzing them, or cooperating with other people, or any of a million other possibilities, as long as it is something that you naturally look forward to doing. When you think of �work� this way, it�s more like �play��an activity that you would throw yourself into without thinking how much energy or �work� is involved. II. EDUCATION/TRAINING How far do you want to go in school? The range can extend from �stop now?� to �X number of years.� If school is not in your ideal plans, what about work experiences outside of school and on-the-job training? In community colleges, there are one-year �certificates� and two-year �associates degree� programs. Technical institutes and business schools have programs varying in length of time. College bachelor�s degrees take four years; master�s degrees take two or more years; and doctorates (Ph.D.) are at least four years in length. State an educational major if you can. Ideally, would you rather have a combination of school and work activity? School could be part-time. What kinds of preparation experience do you want to have? III. SKILLS/ABILITIES What skills do you have or could develop that you would enjoy using while working? Notice the word enjoy�remember, you are thinking about your ideal job. Think of physical skills such as using your hands, motor coordination, strength, and endurance. Think of intellectual skills such as solving problems and analyzing. Consider relationship skills like teaching and helping people. Think of using numbers, writing skills, organizing things, reading ability, playing musical instruments, all sorts of artistic skills, designing ability, and on and on. The possibilities are endless! IV. PAY AND FRINGE BENEFITS What would be your ideal beginning, average, and top salary per year (or week or hour)? How much money would be needed to live the kind of life you wish to live? Use the value of today�s dollars to measure the cost of your lifestyle. There is more to this dimension of your ideal job description than first meets the eye, because it involves possible family obligations, major expenses such as home and car, other costs of living such as food, clothes, furniture, appliances, and recreational activities. V. IDEAL WORKING CONDITIONS What kind of physical environment do you want at work? Inside or outdoors? Office? Factory? Home? Store? Work schedule�what part of the year, week, day? Management style preferred? Work for yourself? Union membership? Type of clothing worn? Degree of quiet or noise? VI. LOCATION OF EMPLOYMENT Where do you want to work? Think in terms of: a. Type of work organization. Big or small company, institution, agency? Private or government? Company of one (self-employment)? b. Geographical area. Region? State? City? Size of community? Rural, suburban, or urban area? VII. PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS What are the characteristics of typical workers in your ideal work activity? What kinds of people do you want to work with? Age ranges? Percentages of males and females? What are their interests? Mechanics and technology? Scientific and intellectual? Literary, musical, artistic? Social problems? Business and politics? Keeping things organized and following rules? VIII. EMPLOYMENT AND ADVANCEMENT OUTLOOK How much competition for the job do you want to encounter? (A lot of competition often means challenge and higher pay.) At what level do you want to start in this work? How far and how fast do you want to go up the career ladder? IX. PERSONAL SATISFACTION What values do you want expressed in your work? What will it take in your ideal job to give you personal satisfaction? Think of values such as independence, creativity, prestige, security, close relationships, high income, achievement, helping others, challenge, time to be with your family, health, variety of duties, recognition, stability, inner harmony, and travel. X. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES What positive characteristics do you want your ideal job to have? Are there any good things to add that you haven�t mentioned before? What negative characteristics do you want to avoid in your work? You may have read or heard of some bad things workers have encountered and said, �I don�t want that happening to me!� Perhaps you have had some experiences you don�t want to repeat. If so, mention them here. |