Exploring Occupations

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Preston Chapman
6 years ago
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Exploring Occupations Overview Over 900 occupations are profiled in your mystrategic Compass site. Each of these profiles contains a lot of information.

They Need to Know Things They Need to Be Able to Do Similar Occupations Workkeys Skills There is also a section that allows you to start taking action on making this occupation a part of your career

1 Exploring Occupations Overview Over 900 occupations are profiled in your mystrategic Compass site. Each of these profiles contains a lot of information. About the Job It is also Called What They Do Education Required Wages Outlook CTE Programs Common College Majors Industries that Employ this Occupation Wages by Industry Interests Work Values Things They Need to Know Things They Need to Be Able to Do Similar Occupations Workkeys Skills There is also a section that allows you to start taking action on making this occupation a part of your career plan: Rating Compatibility Create a Budget Locator Report Transition Report Find Training Find Job Openings How to Use this Tool You are going to explore of an occupation profile, understand all of its various components, and print it in order to take with you as you discuss this occupation with someone you know who does the job.

2 Steps 1. Access mystrategic Compass at : 2. Log in with your username and password 3. Think of a job that is held by someone you know well. This could be a family member, a friend or someone else you know well. Type the title of the occupation into the search window in the top right corner of the screen. 4. You will see a table of occupations that match your search criteria. The Score column on the far rght indicates how compatible this occupation is with your Personal Profiler results. It is likely that you could see a large number of occupations, so you can filter the results in a number of ways: a. by job zone (required education and experience levels) b. by salary c. by video d. by Job Family e. By the Marcellus Shale (only the careers that have been identified as critical to the development of the Marcellus Shale) f. by STEM (only the careers that are part of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics cluster)

3 5. From the table of occupations, find the one entry that is most similar to the occupation you have in mind and click on it. This is the complete profile for this occupation. Let s look at each component: About the Job a general description of the occupation It is also Called an occupation can often be referred to by several different titles. These are also called lay titles. Media there are videos and pictures about a day in the life of someone with most of these jobs. What They Do these are the things that someone with this job usually does on a daily basis. It doesn t address things they might do occassionally. These are also called Daily Work Activities. Education Required this is an estimate of the level of education typically required for the occupation. Keep in mind though, that there is no law about how much education you need in order to do most jobs-it s all up to the employer. You will see a small number beside the graduation cap also. This indicates the Job Zone of the occupation. Job Zones rate on a scale of 1-5 the levels of education and experience needed for this occupation. Wages the average salary of people in this occupation in your state. Some occupations have a wide range of salaries; for example, Mechanical Engineers earn an average of $73,920 in Texas, but there is a range of $42,480 for first-time workers, all the way up to $107,030 for the most-experienced workers. The industry in which you work also affects your salary. Our Mechanical Engineer earns a lot more when he works in the Scientific Research Industry ($90,590) than when he works in Machinery Manufacturing ($70,230).

4 Outlook the federal government releases estimates on how many people currently hold each occupation in every state, as well as the number of people they expect to see employed in this occupation 8 years from now. CTE Programs if there is a CTE program in which you could enroll to get you started on this career path, you will see it in this profile. If you click on the CTE program title, you will see a profile for it that includes locations, descriptions and other occupations that are supplied by this program. Common College Majors there are certain college programs that will prepare you for almost any occupation. Clicking on one of these program titles will enable you to explore the program and to find institutions in your area that offer it. Interests, Work Values, Things They Need to Know, and Things They Need to Be Able to Do show the characteristics that make a person a good fit for this occupation

some other occupations that you might want to explore if you find this one interesting Workkeys Skills many occupations

5 Industries that Employ this Occupation one occupation can be employed by dozens of different industries Wages by Industry shows you how the salary for the same occupation can vary based on the industry that employs it Similar Occupations lists some other occupations that you might want to explore if you find this one interesting Workkeys Skills many occupations have a profile that shows the level of the Workkeys skills that an individual should master in order to be prepared for this career.

6 There is a separate window in the upper left corner of each occupational profile that gives you options for making this career a part of your personal career plan. There are seven options: Rating You can rate an occupation on a scale of 1-5 by clicking on the star that represents the rating you want to give Compatibility Based on the results from your personality profilers, your skills profile, your education level and your target salary, the system will rate your compatibility to the occupation. If you want to see the details of how the system came to this conclusion, just click on Why?. Locator Report This is a portable report that you can use as a blueprint for building a career plan that targets this occupation Transition Report It has the same objective as the Locator Report, but you should only use this one if you are already working in a career Find Training There are lots of CTE programs in West Virginia that can get you started on the path to this career Create a Budget You can use the salary estimates from this occupation to see whether it will support the lifestyle you want Find Job Openings You can find current openings where organizations are trying to find someone who can do this job

7 1. Follow the steps above to find the profiles of one occupation that interests you and complete the following table: Occupation Title Two things people in this occupation do on a daily basis What level of education does this occupation typically require? Average Wages People who work in this occupation generally prize what in a career? Current employment in your state People who work in this occupation generally have what Interest Code? Top two things someone in this occupation needs to know Top two things someone in this occupation needs to be able to do Projected employment in 2020 Total annual openings (if available) What level of Applied Mathematics skill does this occupation require? (if available) What level of Reading for Information skill does this occupation require? CTE Program Common College Majors (2) 2. Create and print a Budget based on this career 3. Create and print a Locator Report for this career 4. Search for Job Openings for this career. How many openings are currently listed in your state?

8 Next Steps Your career may seem to be off in the distant future somewhere, but really it s not. It will be time to join the world of work before you know it, and the time to plan for it is now. Continue to explore job families and specific occupations frequently. Talk to people you know who do this type of work. Explore the colleges, trade schools, apprenticeship programs and other opportunities that can help you get qualified for these careers. Take hold of your future!

FOCUS. The Computer-Assisted Career & Education Planning System. Career Dimensions, Inc. Copyright 2008

FOCUS. The Computer-Assisted Career & Education Planning System. Career Dimensions, Inc. Copyright 2008 FOCUS The Computer-Assisted Career & Education Planning System www.focuscareer2.com Career Dimensions, Inc. Copyright 2008 1 FOCUS is an online, self guided, interactive program designed to help you select