Module 8
1. Module 8
1.19. Page 2
Module 8: Daily Living
Get Started
If you still aren’t sure which career path is best for you, or even if you have narrowed your career search to several possible occupations, now is the time to gather more information. Territorial and provincial agencies maintain excellent websites to help you explore occupations that reflect your skills and interests. In this activity you will assess careers and jobs through these websites.
Try This
Begin by browsing the Career Planner set up by the Government of Alberta. To get to the Career Planner, you will need to enter the following keywords in an Internet search engine: career planner Government of Alberta. The Career Planner provides advice and information on the following areas:
career planning
specifics on hundreds of occupations
educational requirements
how to find a job
wage: the amount of pay a worker receives hourly or daily
The Career Planner also provides current wages and salary levels for occupations. For example, the 2009 wages and salary levels were compiled from over 344 000 individuals in over 450 occupations.
Research careers and job opportunities in Alberta and other parts of Canada. Use search terms such as Alberta Occupational Profiles, British Columbia Occupational Profiles, and so on.
Add any websites you come across to your course folder.
average (mean) wage: the wage determined by adding together the wages of every person surveyed and then dividing the total by the number of people surveyed
median wage: the wage determined by splitting people surveyed into two groups of equal numbers based on wage
The half earning more money will be above the median, and the half earning less money will be below the median.
When looking up wage and salary information, there are two terms you must know: average wage and median wage.
Example 1
Six people were asked to indicate how much they earned as an hourly wage. The results were as follows:
$18.00, $16.00, $17.00, $19.00, $65.00, and $21.00
- What is the median wage?
- What is the average wage?
Solution
- To find the median wage, you need to find the wage that is “in the middle.”
Order the wages from lowest to highest.
$16.00, $17.00, $18.00, $19.00, $21.00, $65.00
Highlight or circle the middle number. Since there is an even number of wages, highlight or circle the two middle numbers.
$16.00, $17.00, $18.00, $19.00, $21.00, $65.00
The median wage is $18.50, since that value is halfway (in the middle) between $18.00 and $19.00. Three people earn less than $18.50. Three people earn more than $18.50.
- To find the average wage, add up all the wages, and then divide by the total number of wages added together.
Self-Check
Try the following questions based on information on the Government of Alberta’s Career Planner, which you explored earlier in this lesson.
SC 1. In Alberta, what is the average starting wage for a painter? What is the median starting wage?
SC 2. Why do you think there is a difference between the average wage and the median wage you identified in SC 1?
SC 3. Complete a table like the following based on Alberta wages.
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Occupation |
Average Starting Hourly Wage |
Overall Hourly Wage |
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Gas Fitter |
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Nurse Aide |
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Security Guard |
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