You are here: Working Working - Your Career Passport Ever feel like someone else is in the driver's seat when it comes to your career?  On this page, you will find out how to get the info you need to take control of your working life and make important career decisions. It's your life, and your journey, so... Take Control of Your Career!

Look at this Career Planning Map to see what the career decision making process looks like!  (Click on Career Planning Map for PDF version)

	ASSESSMENTS - Know More About Yourself
	Self Assessment The trick to knowing what you want to do in your career is to think, really think, about YOU!  One way of doing this is by taking  assessments.  There are many assessments for you to choose from, each one focused on a different area of you.  There are assessments that help you think about: Your Interests Your Skills Your Values  Your Personality Your Preferences Assessments can be paper, online, formal, informal, free, or for a cost.  No single assessment will give you the magic answer to tell you what to do for a living, the key is to take a number of them, and see what themes keep coming up.  Facilitated Assessments: Facilitated (or "formal") assessments are assessments that require either a license or specialized training / certification by a career development professional.  These career assessments have had studies conducted on them to establish their validity and reliability to best assist clients in discovering a career choice. A list of some of the available career development assessments includes:   Interest Assessments   Personality Assessments   Skills and Values Assessments   Academic / Vocational Assessments   Multiple Assessment Resources   Other Facilitated Assessments You may be able to take these assessments and others for absolutely FREE at a government funded Career Planning Program if you are unemployed, or working less than 20 hours per week.  To find out about these programs, including how to access them, click  HERE. Free Online Assessments: For a list of free online career assessments click HERE.  Be aware that some of these sites will have both free and for cost assessment options and reports.  And, most will also include some form of advertising.
	RESEARCH - Explore Occupations
	Knowing yourself is the first step, knowing what jobs exist is the next one.  But how do you know if a job is right for you before you've tried it?  Well, with literally THOUSANDS of jobs out there, it's impossible to try them all.  Luckily there are websites that have information called "Occupational Information" - which simply means the nitty gritty details of the job. Start your Occupational Research by clicking HERE. Another method is to utilize the results that you received from the career assessments.  With the Integrating Results worksheet, you can see if there is a pattern to the occupations that you enjoy from your assessments (i.e. Strong, MBTI and Personality Dimensions).  This will narrow down the number of occupations that you can focus on initially.
	RESEARCH - See What's Happening in the Labour Market
	Another key step in planning your career is understanding what jobs are in demand, now and in the future.  This information is often called Labour Market Information (LMI).  Understanding LMI can be hard, click HERE to get a few tips on getting you LMI savvy. Start your Labour Market Research by clicking HERE.
	DECISION MAKING - What career have you decided to pursue?
	After completing the assessments, exploring possible occupations and looking at the labour market information, it is now time to select your career! Do not stop doing career research at this point until you have a solid decision, including talking to people working in the firm, also known as informational interviews.  Conducting informational interviews with people working in the occupation you are interested in will provide current information on labour market, wages and their perspective on their likes and dislikes about the occupation.
	GOAL SETTING
	Like any other aspect of your life, the key to getting what you want in your career is setting clear goals.  One method of goal setting is the SMARTS system: Specific - Is there a specific definition?  Do I know exactly what I want? Measurable - Can I break it into steps that I can measure?  How will I know when I have achieved the various steps? Action-oriented - What do I have to do to achieve my goal?  What can I do immediately  to start working towards it? Realistic - Given my currently lifestyle and resources can I achieve it? Time focused - Does it have a start date and a deadline? Supported - Do I have the support I need to accomplish it?  Do significant others encourage me and support my goal? There are many other resources that explain the process of setting goals, such as Mindtools Also, click HERE for a workbook that can help guide you through the process of setting and achieving your short and long term goals, or for a simplified goal setting worksheet. Once you've figured out what you truly want to do, and you've set some specific career goals, it's time to plan it out.  If planning is not your favorite task, enlist help from a friend or professional Career Counsellor.
	ACTION PLANNING
	All thinking, no action makes you well...stuck! You've spent time getting to know your interestes, skills, values, etc. You've done your research to figured out what jobs you will enjoy You've confirmed that your choice will provide you with long-term employment opportunities You've taken time to set employment/education goals and write out a concrete plan to meet them There is nothing else to do but take that first step to making your goals your reality!