The Recommended Career
Decision-Making Stages:
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- Prescreening
- In-depth
exploration
- Choice
And then: implementation
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STAGE 1: PRESCREENING
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Goal:
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The world-of-work offers
a great variety of educational, occupational, and employment opportunities.
In order to avoid "drowning" in the vast array of possibilities, this first
stage aims to reduce the number of potential career alternatives to a short
list of 5 - 7 promising alternatives that are worth further exploration.
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Steps:
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- The first step is clarifying what you are
looking for. Careers may differ in a great number of attributes, such
as income level, amount of traveling, work environment (indoors or
outdoors), and length of training.
- Start by making a list of 10 - 15 attributes
that you find important. Then, for each attribute, indicate your
specific preferences. For example, you may prefer a high level of
income, no traveling, working mostly indoors, and an intermediate
length of training.
- Next, rank the attributes you listed
according to their importance, beginning with the most important
attribute.
- Start with the most important attribute and
compare your preferences in that attribute with the characteristics of
potential career options. Eliminate any occupation that is not
compatible with your preferences in this attribute.
- Repeat the elimination process with the
attribute next in importance, reducing the list of remaining career
options as you move down the attribute list, in order of importance.
- Stop the process when your list has been
reduced to about 7 promising alternatives.
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STAGE
2: IN-DEPTH EXPLORATION
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Goal:
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The aim here is to find out which of the promising alternatives are
actually suitable and are realistic options. You will be examining both
whether the alternative suits you and whether you fit its requirements.
Thus, this stage involves in-depth exploration of each of the promising
alternatives that remained at the end of stage 1.
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Steps:
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First, collect information about the promising alternatives. You may wish
to talk to people who actually work in the profession, visit occupation
libraries and career counseling centers, and use computerized databases
that contain descriptions of occupations and training courses. Use the
information you collected to answer the following questions:
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- Is this occupation also compatible with what
I am looking for in the less important attributes?
- Do I fit the occupation?
(a) Am I ready to comply with the occupation's requirements (e.g.,
working in shifts for a paramedic)?
(b) Do my abilities and past achievements fit the occupation's
requirements / prerequisites?
(c) What are my chances of being admitted to the required training
programs?
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Aim to remain with 2-4
alternatives at the end of this stage.
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STAGE
3: CHOICE
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Goal:
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This stage aims to help you decide on the alternative that fits you best.
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Steps:
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- Go to CHOICE, that will help you to compare the alternatives, identify the alternative that fits you best and will give you a feedback (8 - 12 minutes).
- Once you have located the best alternative,
check your chances of being accepted to it. If you are uncertain about
these chances, you should locate a second-best alternative as well.
- If you find that your chances of being
accepted to one or more of the suitable occupations or training
programs are slim, you may consider improving these chances - ask
yourself whether you are ready for the effort involved in this
improvement.
- Are you comfortable with your decision? If
not, try to understand what bothers you. You may have to collect
additional information and go through some of the previous stages
again. You may also wish to consult a professional career counselor.
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Go back to Prescreening
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Go back to In-depth exploration
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NEXT:
IMPLEMENTING THE DECISION
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Goal:
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Actualizing your decision.
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Steps:
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- Take all the steps necessary for
implementing your decision, such as obtaining registration forms or
taking the SAT exam.
- Unless you feel certain about your chances
of acceptance in your most preferred occupation, you may wish to apply
simultaneously to two or three jobs / academic institutions.
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SUMMARY OF THE
STAGES
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- Stage 1:
Prescreening -- Clarifying your own preferences and eliminating
occupations that are incompatible with them. Constructing a list
of promising alternatives.
- Stage 2:
In-depth exploration -- Collecting information about each
promising alternative and examining whether it suits you and whether
you fit its requirements.
- Stage 3: Choice
-- Locating the best (and second best) career option(s).
- Implementation
-- Planning and taking steps towards actualizing your decision.
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For further information see Gati
& Asher 2001
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