CAREER MANAGEMENT SKILLS PROGRAMME Session 2 Planning Your

CAREER MANAGEMENT SKILLS PROGRAMME Session 2: Planning Your Career Julie Blant Deputy Director, Postgraduate Careers Service

Did you realise…… …. that most people spend more time planning a holiday than planning their career? When we plan our holiday we know exactly where we want to go, what will make it fun, who we’re going with, how we’re getting there, which are the best routes and when we are going. Career planning is a similar process and it helps us to make career decisions.

Where are you now? Where are you on this career decision-making continuum? 1 Totally stuck 2 3 4 5 No idea Vague idea Many options Close to deciding 6 Clear goals

In this session: • Introduce you to career planning and career decision making. • Understand what steps you need to take to review your career to date, understand your strengths, draw up an action plan in order to help you make decisions. • An opportunity to reflect on your own decision-making style • Understand a simple logical step-by-step career decision making model to use as a framework for effective career decision making. • Introduce you to career planning resources

Knowledge is power! You will be likely to make better career decisions if you: • Know more about yourself • e. g. skills, hopes, ambitions, personality and limitations • Know more about opportunities • e. g. occupations available, work tasks, future prospects etc. • Know how to relate the two to each other • Know and recognise the influences (internal and external) that affect you personally

How well do you know yourself? - Reflect • What have I achieved already? • Why am I here? • Where do I want to be? • How have I made decisions in the past?

Your Masters Degree – how did you decide? Think about all the factors that impacted on your decision to: a) undertake a masters degree b) choose your subject c) study at Nottingham Are similar factors going to impact on your career decisions?

Your Masters Degree – how did you decide? a) a masters degree better job prospects, parents encouraged you, didn’t know what else to do? Did you do any research into what you could do with a masters degree – if so what information did you research? b) your subject relates to a previous subject that you enjoyed, wanted to change direction, sounded interesting, increase of job opportunities? Who did you consult, what information did you read? c) Nottingham reputation, offered a place, facilities, academic support, student support? How did you find out?

Decision-making styles Dinklage (1968) outlined eight styles of decision-making that he observed people using: • 1. Delaying (a person who tends to keep putting off decisions) • 2. Fatalistic (a person who might think it's best to leave things to chance, "I'll throw a dice to decide which interview to go to") • 3. Compliant (a person who goes along with other people's ideas and suggestions) • 4. Paralytic (someone is unable to make any decisions at all) • 5. Intuitive (someone who makes decisions because it feels right) • 6. Impulsive (a person who makes quick "gut" decisions) • 7. Agonising (someone who finds decision making very hard) • 8. Planful (someone who thinks and plans ahead)

Your decision-making style What style/s did you use to make the decision about your masters degree. Did you use several styles? Think about other situations. What decision making style/s did you use to choose: • • • your last holiday? yesterday’s main meal? your dissertation/project topic? In reality we use different styles for different situations. We cannot always be in total control of our decisions. In career decision-making there are personal, social and economic influences that impact on us.

Different Influences In no particular order……. . Family Friends Qualifications Skills Personality Financial circumstances Values and beliefs Interests Partner/relationships Self-confidence Ambitions Geographical mobility Abilities Job market Networks & contacts Experience Knowledge Motivations/Drivers Culture Expectations

Getting to know your Career SHAPE • • • Skills & knowledge Hopes Ambitions Personality Experience of work

Identify Skills Map out your skills • List the positive experiences and achievements in your career to date. Think of ‘career’ as widely as possible – part-time work, voluntary work, social experiences e. g. clubs/societies • What skills have I gained from these experiences? • Are there any areas for development? • All sorts of experiences can be relevant! • yes - even working in a bar or a restaurant

The proof – working in a restaurant Information skills People skills Setting tables Taking orders Explaining menu items Customer care /welcoming Relaying orders Accurate, organised Working in a team Serving food Ability to memorise Flexible, quick thinking Dealing with customers Negotiation skills Tactful, caring , diplomacy Bills & payments Financial awareness Customer service Thanking customers Customer service Practical skills Ideas/ initiative Handling items quickly Suggesting new table layouts New ordering systems Creative thinking Working under pressure

The proof – organising an event Information skills People skills Practical skills Ideas/ initiative Holding a budget Finance & budgeting Negotiating how to use money IT skills to set up spreadsheet Thinking of creative ways to make money Finding a venue Researching, evaluating and analysing Liaising, negotiating, arranging IT skills – web searches/ emails Decision-making Arranging activities Researching and analysing Liaising, negotiating, persuading Organising equipment Generating ideas/Problemsolving Arranging transport Logistical skills Liaising, negotiating, telephone skill Creating promotional materials Marketing and creative writing Getting people Market to attend research Influencing, selling, persuading

Your skills • Skills Audit • In your own time you will need to provide evidence for the skills that you say you have • Are there any areas for self-development?

Your knowledge • Identify your current areas of academic/professional expertise • Ensure you draw on all the knowledge you have gained from work, university, outside interests • If you have knowledge gaps how can you fill them? • Identify sources of information to help you find out about careers and jobs

Your interests • What interests you? • What bores you? • You will spend a large % of your time at work – it is important that the majority of your work is of interest to you! • Spend some time evaluating your interests

Your Hopes & Ambitions • What do you hope to achieve after graduation? • …. . in the next 3 years? • …. . in the next 10 years? • What balance do you want to achieve between work and life? • What are your top priorities? • Design your ideal job – if you could create a job for yourself what would it look like? – tasks, location, salary etc

Your Values & Beliefs • You are likely to be happy in a job that reflects your own personal values. Consider the following case study: A few years ago, Vanessa applied for a job working for a leading pharmaceutical company. She was pleased to get an interview, but was completely thrown when they asked her views on animal testing. Even though the job was in HR it was a role supporting the animal testing staff. All she can recall is spluttering something about it ‘being bearable when done to find a cure for cancer, but not for cosmetics’ and the interviewer saying “yes but how would you feel telling your friends you worked here? ” • Your values impact on your decisions. Make sure you are aware of yours.

Issues to consider Think about where you stand on some of these issues: Conservation Global warming Nuclear energy Recycling Ethical business GM Foods Poverty • Clarifying your values is important for career decisions. You might not, for example, be willing to work for a company that did not share your moral or ethical values. • We all have a value system that is influenced by our background. Some occupations will provide a scope for expressing particular values, whilst others could go against our beliefs. What do you want from a job?

Your Personality Nature or Nurture or both? Personality can have an effect on career choice e. g. • If you are shy you may not want to be in a job where you are expected to present information to large groups of people • If you are aggressive you may not be suited to a client-facing role How would you describe yourself? You could try the Jung Typology Test at http: //www. humanmetrics. com/index. htm#Jtype

Experience • Reflect on any work experience to date. What did you enjoy, what did you dislike? • Most experience is relevant in some way! • Have you got a career idea (or several) in mind? • Strategies for experimenting with your ideas could include: • voluntary work, information interviewing, workshadowing, involvement with relevant clubs/societies, professional bodies, dissertation topic, networks/contacts.

How do I use this information to decide on a career path? • You can use careers information to decide whether a particular career area is right for you against the criteria you have now started to build • Read about different job profiles: • www. prospects. ac. uk • www. doctorjob. com • www. insidecareers. co. uk • Look at job adverts to see if jobs appeal to you • You can use various packages such as Prospects Planner to generate job ideas. • Draw up an action plan of what you need to do, how you are going to do it, who can help, when will you do it by?

You will also need to be aware of: Labour Market Information • Are there opportunities in your chosen job sector? • What jobs are available? • What are the trends/forecasts for this area of work?

Have a back-up plan What are the alternatives if your first choice isn’t viable or doesn’t work out? What are you prepared to compromise on?

Wild cards: Wild Cards = unplanned events/opportunities • Look for the unexpected chance opportunity, through networking, speculative applications, or through reading the job advertisements

Make a career decision! …. . based on your research about: • Yourself • The opportunities available • The Industry Sector/Employers in the field Then you can start applying for jobs!

Summary Before choosing a job or an employer, CHOOSE YOUR CAREER. PLAN IT NOW! Use a systematic approach Use Prospects Planner software Talk to me!

Any Questions? Next Week: The Hidden Job Market Julie Blant Postgraduate Careers Adviser julie. blant@nottingham. ac. uk