http://www.csun.edu/~sp20558/dis/discov er.html http://www.csun.edu/~sp20558/dis/shcont ents.html#contents I.

Discover Yourself
In order to find a career path that you will find both challenging and satisfying, you must first learn about yourself. * What do you like to do? * What skills do you have? * Which skills do you like to use? * What kind of work setting fits best with your personality type? * What is your personality type?? There are many ways you can assess yourself. However, if you would like a more in-depth self-understanding, it is recommended that you meet with a career counselor who can provide you with 'standardized career assessments.' These are tests that will help you to know yourself better, especially related to working. With the guidance of the counselor, you can develop a profile of yourself, including career options. "Sounds good"-- But where do I find a "career counselor?" The most common places to find career counselors are:

College and University Career Centers CA State Department of Rehabilitation Community Agencies Private Career Counselors

If you can not get to a career counselor, the following pages contain some brief assessments that may help you to identify some of your skills, interests, and personality traits. This is not intended to be a complete assessment, but many find it to be helpful. The next pages may seem like a lot of work, but the results are well worth your effort. Taking time to get to know yourself now will help to make sure there is a good fit with your career choices later!

A. Personality Traits
Personality traits can be interpreted as both positive and negative. For instance, being critical is one of your traits. This could be a plus if you are an editor of a publishing company, or a meat inspector. It would be a negative if you are a supervisor trying to gain rapport with an employee. Personality Inventory This assessment will help you better understand your personality traits and their strength. A trait is a characteristic which tells you how you will react to new situations or new experiences. Below is a list of personality traits and their meanings. Read each trait and its meaning, then indicate its strength on the line using the scale below: 0 = if you do not have this trait 1 = if you have this trait to some degree 2 = if you clearly have this trait 3 = if you strongly have this trait _____ Honesty: Having integrity; and keeping one's promise. _____ Courtesy: Being thoughtful of others. _____ Responsibility: Being accountable for duties; and actually following through with your duties. _____ Compatibility: Being in harmony with others, and having the ability to work well with others. _____ Loyalty: Showing allegiance to people and/or things; showing devotion to your company, people or things. _____ Enthusiasm: Having a strong affinity towards people and/or things; to show eagerness and a willingness to work with others or things. _____ Open-mindedness: Being receptive and interested in the opinions and ideas of others. _____ Self-Control: Controlling your own actions and feelings. _____ Influence: Motivating or encouraging others. _____ Initiative: Starting thoughts and/or actions. _____ Adaptability: Making changes when necessary. _____ Industriousness: Being consistently active; getting your work done. _____ Carefulness: Giving watchful attention to people and/or things; making sure that you do things properly. _____ Self-Reliance: Having trust in one's self; doing things yourself and feeling confident about them. _____ Compassion: Having sympathy and feelings for people with problems. _____ Dedication: Being seriously devoted to causes and/or goals. _____ Competitiveness: Striving to win.

_____ Patience: Being able to wait; taking your time to do things. _____ Perfectionism: Trying to achieve the highest possible degree of excellence. _____ Courage: Meeting danger or difficulties in spite of fear. _____ Decisiveness: Making decisions promptly and definitely. _____ Drive: Having the energy to get things done. _____ Perseverance: Being persistent in pursuit of tasks. _____ Calmness: Being serene. _____ Stability: Being constant in responses. Now circle the traits that you marked a "3" that "Strongly Exist."

B. Interests
Just because we are interested in something does not mean that we automatically are good at it. It's a known fact that we are most likely to excel at what we like to do. Think of things you have done in the past where you succeeded:

Volunteered at the local high school Wrote a poem that was published Designed a computer program

The following activity will help you focus on your interests. However, this is a simple survey and any other interests you are aware of should be included as well. For example, if your hobby is collecting coins, you should include it. Select only those which truly interest you the most! Interest Survey I am interested or like these activities, functions, and career fields...
*Accounting *Freedom *Physical work *Acting *Gardening *Planning *Administering *Golf *Politics *Advising *Government *Precision work *Agriculture *Graphic arts *Production *Analyzing *Guiding *Public service *Animals *Art *History *Recruiting *Assembling *Identifying needs *Religion *Assisting *Implementing *Repairing *Biology things *Integrating *Running Meetings *Business *Inventing *Social sciences *Clerical work ideas *Libraries *Swimming *Consulting *Listening *Teaching *Cooking *Machine operation *Teamwork *Counseling *Making decisions *Thinking *Creating *Making policy *Translating *Data *Managing people *Transportation *Delegating

*H

*I *Inventin *Language

*Mechanical Design *Traveling *Demonstrating *Medical Science *Unifying *Designing *Military *Entertaining *Motivating *Working w/kids *Entrepreneur *Mountain climbing *Writing Instructions *Evaluating *Music *_______________ *Exchanging Inf. *Negotiating *Film Watching *Office management *Finance *Organizing *Designing

*V

*Particip

Finally, review what you chose then carefully select and circle the top eight interests from those you identified. On a separate sheet of paper, write what you like and what you dislike about all the skills you listed.

C. Values
Identifying your values is one of the most important factors in considering your career choices. Vital questions that need to be explored include:

Do my values match my interest? Do my values match the work involved in a particular career?

Often times people are disappointed when they find their chosen career does not match with their values. For instance, the career may involve long hours (no family time) or does not pay a large salary (no out of town vacations). There two kinds of values explored here: Work Values and Personal Values. Work values deals with factors that you consider important to you on the job. Work Related Values The following list describes a wide variety of satisfactions that people obtain from their jobs. Look at the definitions of these various satisfactions and rate the degree of importance that you would assign to each, using the scale below: 1 = Not important at all 2 = Not very important 3 = Reasonably important 4 = Very important in my choice of career _____ Help Society: Do something to contribute to the betterment of the world I live in. _____ Help Others: Be involved in helping other people in a direct way, either individually or in small groups. _____ Public Contact: Have a lot of day-to-day contact with people. _____ Work with Others: Have close working relationships with a group; work as a team toward common goals. _____ Affiliation: Be recognized as a member of a particular organization.

_____ Friendships: Develop close personal relationships with people as a result of my work activities. _____ Competition: Engage in activities which pit my abilities against others where there are clear win-and-lose outcomes. _____ Make Decisions: Have the power to decide courses of action, policies, etc. _____ Work under Pressure: Work in situations where time pressure is prevalent and/or the quality of my work is judged critically by supervisors, customers or others. _____ Power and Authority: Control the work activities or (partially) the destinies of other people. _____ Influence People: Be in a position to change attitudes or opinions of other people. _____ Work Alone: Do projects by myself, without any significant amount of contact with others. _____ Knowledge: Engage myself in the pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding. _____ Intellectual Status: Be regarded as a person of high intellectual prowess or as one who is an acknowledged "expert" in a given field. _____ Artistic Creativity: Engage in creative work in any of several art forms. _____ Creativity (general): Created new ideas, programs, organizational structures or anything else not following a format previously developed by others. _____ Aesthetics: Be involved in studying or appreciating the beauty of things, ideas, etc. _____ Supervision: Have a job in which I am directly responsible for the work done by others. _____ Change and Variety: Have work responsibilities which frequently change in their content and settings. _____ Precision Work: Work in situations where there is very little tolerance for error. _____ Stability: Have a work routine and job duties that are largely predictable and not likely to change over a long period of time. _____ Security: Be assured of keeping my job and a reasonable financial reward. _____ Fast Pace: Work in circumstances where there is a high pace of activity, work must be done rapidly. _____ Recognition: Be recognized for the quality of my work in some visible or public way. _____ Excitement: Experience a high degree of (or frequent) excitement in the course of my work. _____ Adventure: Have work duties which involve frequent risk-taking. _____ Profit, Gain: Have a strong likelihood of accumulating large amounts of money or other material gain.

_____ Independence: Be able to determine the nature of my work without significant direction from others; not have to do what others tell me. _____ Moral Fulfillment: Feel that my work is contributing significantly to a set of moral standards which I feel are very important. _____ Location: Find a place to live (town, geographical area) which is conducive to my life style and affords me the opportunity to do the things I enjoy most. _____ Community: Live in a town or city where I can get involved in community affairs. _____ Physical Challenge: Have a job that makes physical demands which I would find rewarding. _____ Time Freedom: Have work responsibilities which I can work at according to my own time schedule; no specific working hours required. Now choose ten of these Work Values which are the most important to you and circle them. Each of these values will be relevant to the career exploration that you will do in later exercises. If you can think of any other work values (desired satisfactions) that are not included in the list above and which are especially important to you, add them to the ten values you circled by writing them below or on a separate sheet of paper.. Personal values are what you consider important to you as a person. Ask yourself what's important to you in your personal life. For example, recognition in yourself or in others may be important to you. As you are filling out the Personal Value Survey remember that these things should reflect only your heart-of-heart desires. Personal Values Survey I think these things are important to me...
*Ability to influence *Material possessions *Achievement *Mental challenge *Adventure *Church participation *Peace of mind *Community participation *Pets *Companionship *Physical challenge *Competitiveness *Pioneering *Creativity *Power *Dance *Recognition *Education *Fame *Self-esteem *Family time control *Good family relationships *Social status *Happiness *Honesty *Tolerant attitudes *Humility human and nature are in balance *Leisure time *World without discrimination *Loving and understanding friends *________________________ *Loyalty *_________________________ *Making the team *_________________________

Were you able to come up with some personal values not one the list?? Now, narrow down your personal values to the top 10 values that are important to you and circle them.

D. Skills
Think of anything that you do better than average. These are the skills you want to present to the employer. Some examples might be: - organizing and developing projects - good writing skills - ability to remember details accurately Skills for Success: Skills can be separated into two different groups: transferable skills and nontransferable skills. Transferable skills are those skills that can be used in one job or another. Nontransferable skills are generally specific to a certain job or type of work. Transferable Skills: Transferable skills are broken up into two categories worker skills and functional skills. These skills can be transferred from one job to another. Look at everything you do in your life. Even skills developed in the home (budgeting, child care) or hobbies (attention to details, organizing) can be "transferred" into a work setting. 1) Good worker skills allows you to be flexible to different jobs. Example: Accepting responsibilities, Organized, Meeting deadlines 2) Functional skills are general skills useful in a variety of jobs. Example: Analyzing data, Managing people, Operating machinery The Functional Skills survey is divided into three broad groups.

Data - research, compare, and analyze People - patient, tolerant, and listen Things - repair, equipment, and machines

All jobs utilize data, people and things, but most jobs emphasize one category over others. For example, computer system analysts work with data, counselors work with people and auto mechanics work with cars. As you are checking your skills on the survey. Be aware if you checked more items in one column than the other two. If so you may have a new direction in mapping out your future. Nontransferable Skills: Technical skills are nontransferable skills that may or may not be used in other settings. 1) Technical skills apply to a specific job or occupation. Example: Drawing - cartoonist Teeth cleaning - dental hygienist Sewing - tailor Take a look at the Technical Skills survey list. Don't be discouraged if you can not check any of the sample items. Take time now to fill out the Good Workers Skills Survey, the Functional Skills Survey, and the Technical Skills Survey. Good Worker Skills Survey I posses these skills...
*Absorb stress *Honest *Relay accurate info *Accept supervision *Identify alternative action *Reliable *Alert *Identify needs *Remember facts *Ambitious *Identify problems *Resourceful *Ask questions *Imaginative *Responsible *Assertive *Independent *Responsive *Capable *Industrious *Results oriented *Cheerful *Intelligent *Self-confident *Complete assignment *Know how to learn *Self-esteem *Concerned for others *Leadership *Self-motivated *Considerate *Learn quickly *Sense of humor *Cooperative *Logical *Sensitive *Coordinate *Loyal *Serious *Creative thinker *Manage time well *Set goals *Deal with ambiguity *Mature *Set priorities *Delegate *Expressive *Motivated *Strong *Flexible *Friendly *Original *Trustworthy *Get along with others *Patient *Unpretentious *Get things done *Physical strength *Use of common sense *Good attendance *Practical *Versatile *Good listener *Pride in doing a good job *Well-informed *Good nature *Problem solver *Well-organized *Good sense of directions*Productive *Willing to learn new *Hard worker *Punctual things *Helpful *Realistic *______________

*M *O

Functional Skills Survey I possess these skills...

Data People *Collating *Consulting *Comparing *Coordinating *Compiling *Counseling *Composing *Directing *Computing *Empathizing *Coordinating *Entertaining *Copying *Guiding *Creating *Helping *Driving/Operating *Developing ideas procedures *Guiding *Gathering money *Mentoring *Reading *Serving *Recording *Speaking *Reporting *Supervising *Researching *Supporting *Sorting *Taking instructions *Synthesizing *Teaching *Transcribing *Training *Writing *Treating Things *Analyzing *Calibrating *Carrying *Crafting *Cutting *Demonstrating *Designing *Disassembling *Influencing others *Leading *Monitoring *Observing *Preparing *Pushing *Regulating *Remodeling *Repairing *Setting up *Stacking *Tending

*Advising

*Emptying *Handling *Motivati

Technical Skill Survey I possess these skills...

*Acupuncture *Framing *Real estate appraising *Acting *Glazing *Reference *Auto body repair *Hairstyling *Roofing *Auto engine tune-up *Harvesting *Runaway modeling *Basketball *Horse breeding designing *Jewelry making *Sharpshooting *Building inspection *Landscaping *Sheet-metal skills *Cabinet making *Legal research *Shipfitting *Cake decorating *Line installation *Shoe repair *Carpet installing *Manicuring *Solar heater installation *Chimney cleaning *Meat inspection *Spacecraft designing *Choreography *Medicine dispensing *Spinal column adjustment *Clowning *Metalworking skills *Surveying *Color analyzing *Mild processing *Tax preparation *Computer programming *Millwright skills *Teeth cleaning *Cooking *Drawing *Orthodontic appliance making *Tool making *Electric skills *Pet grooming *Upholstery *Elevator repair *Photographing *Violin playing *Embalming *Plastering *Warehousing *Eyeglass fitting *Plumbing *Weaving *Farm equipment repair *Poultry cutting *Welding *Fire fighting *Precision assembling *Window dressing *First-aid skills *Printing press operation *Window washing *Fishing gear operation*Proofreading *Writing advertisement *Flower arranging *Radar operation *X-ray machine operation *Flying *Radio announcing *______________________ *Food packing

*Sailing

*M

Count the skills you have marked on these surveys including those you have added. If more than 10, narrow your list down to ten skills. Try to pick those that you feel most confident using or enjoy the most. Do not include those skills you dislike or are uncomfortable using. Write them in the space below. My top 10 Skills: 1.__________________________ | 6.__________________________ 2.__________________________ | 7.__________________________ 3.__________________________ | 8.__________________________ 4.__________________________ | 9.__________________________ 5.__________________________ | 10.__________________________

E. Disability Considerations
When considering career fields, it is important for job seekers who have disabilities to review both the requirements of the job and limitations from their disability. Disability Assessment To help clarify your own disability and related 'functional limitations', read through the following list of requirements, and check any areas that you either can do with difficulty or can not do at all. This assessment will be particularly useful during your career exploration. Areas & Functions

Balancing - Maintain body equilibrium to prevent falling when standing, crouching, walking, or running on narrow, slippery, or erratically moving surfaces. Or maintain body equilibrium when performing gymnastic feats. Clerical - perception Perceive pertinent detail in verbal or tabular material. Observe differences in copy, to proofread words and numbers and to avoid perceptual errors in arithmetic computation. Climbing - Ascend or descend stairs, ramps, ladders, scaffolding, poles, and ropes using feet and legs and often hands and arms. Color vision - Identify and distinguish colors and shades. Crawling - Move about on hands and knees or hands and feet. Crouching - Bend body downward and forward by bending leg and spine. Depth perception - Three dimensional vision. See objects or scenes in true relationship. Feeling - Perceive size, shape, temperature, or texture of objects and materials by touching or handling, particularly with fingertips. Field of vision - Area that can be seen up and down and to right and left while eyes are fixed on given point.

Finger dexterity - Move fingers rapidly and accurately to work with small objects. Fingering - Picking, pinching, or otherwise working primarily with fingers (rather than with whole hand or arm as in handling). Form perception - Perceive detail in objects in pictorial or graphic material. Effectively make unusual comparisons of shapes and shadings of figures and widths and lengths of lines. Endurance - Work for a prolonged period of time. (6 - 8 hours). Handling - Hold, grasp, turn, or otherwise work with hand or hands (fingering involved). Hearing - Perceive sounds by ear. Intelligence - General learning ability. "Catch on" or understand instructions facts, and underlying principles. Reason and make judgments. Kneeling - Bend legs and come to rest on knee or knees. Lifting Sedentary--10 pounds maximum and occasional lifting/ carrying such articles as ledgers and small tools. Although a sedentary job is one hat involves sitting, certain amounts of walking and standing is often necessary in carrying out job duties. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and other sedentary criteria are met. Light--20 pounds maximum with frequent lifting/carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds. Even though weight lifted may be only negligible amount, a job is in this category when it requires walking or standing to significant degree, or when it involves sitting most of the time with degree of pushing and pulling of arm and/or leg controls. Medium--50 pounds maximum with frequent lifting/ carrying of objects weighing up to 25 pounds. Heavy--100 pounds maximum with frequent lifting/ carrying of objects weighing up to 50 pounds. Very Heavy--In excess of 100 pounds with frequent lifting/ carrying of objects weighing 50 pounds or more. Manual dexterity - Move hands easily and skillfully, as in placing and turning Motor coordination - Coordinate eyes and hands or fingers to perform tasks rapidly and accurately. Numerical aptitude - Perform arithmetic operations quickly and accurately. Reaching - Extend hands and arms in any direction. Spatial aptitude - Look at two dimensional drawings and think visually of three dimensional objects. Speech Present words clearly and effectively.

Stooping - Bend body downward and forward by bending spine at waist. walking - Express or exchange ideas by spoken words. Verbal aptitude - Understand meaning of words and ideas. Vision accommodation - Adjustment of lens of eye to bring object into sharp focus. Especially important when doing near-point work at varying distances. Vision acuity, far - Clarity of vision at 20 feet or more. Vision acuity, near - Clarity of vision at 20 inches or less. Self-Assessment Summary Sheet This summary sheet will be useful during your career exploration.

Personality Traits (Write your 5 strongest traits): Interests (Write your 4 top interests): Work Related Values (Write your top 5 values): Personal Values (Write your 5 strongest values): Skills (Write your top 5 skills): Disability Considerations (From Disability Assessment): Occupational Profile: (Brief statement of occupational requirements which summarizes all of the above. This will be the basic guideline for evaluating occupations during the Exploration Stage)

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