Unit 8 - Careers


Lesson 1: Career Exploration


When thinking about a career, it's important to plan out the different steps and consider what is involved in each step, such as which schools offer the program I want, how much will it cost to go to a post secondary institution, will there be work for me when my schooling is complete, will I earn enough to support myself?
There are many things to think about, however exploring different careers can be fun and exciting. You might discover a career you hadn't thought of or you might discover that a specific career is definitely not for you.
These are all important steps in narrowing down a career that you feel best suited to and one where it's enjoyable to go to work everyday.

 


 Each of the four sections below, is important in helping you to explore different career paths and possibly determining an area that you might be interested in pursuing.

 

Personal Inventory


When considering a career, you have to consider many things. One of the most important considerations is whether or not a specific career is actually suitable for you. You must consider your likes, dislikes, interests, skills, assets, and liabilities, as well as your personality type.

The results of your personal considerations regarding these characteristics is generally referred to as your personal inventory for the purpose of making decisions about a career. Career counselors will tell you that such deliberations are of utmost importance. After all, you will spend a very large part of your working life in your chosen occupation. Whether or not you feel content and successful in all aspects of life will depend greatly on how you feel about your work.

Three Basic Steps in Choosing Your Career


  1. Clarify your interests, values, and beliefs. Your chosen occupation must fit these. Otherwise, your life at work will not be a happy one.

    There are tests available from any career counselor to help you with this. However, by the time you reach a career-planning age, you are probably well aware of your specific likes, interests, and personality type.
  1. Assess not only your present skills and knowledge, but also the skills and knowledge that you will have to acquire to be successful in your chosen occupation.

    For this step, you generally have to do some homework. You will have to establish what skills and education are required for your chosen occupation. For this, the services of a career counselor can be very helpful. Consider using the Alberta Career Information Hotline (1-800-661-3753, 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 pm), which is designed to provide information on career planning and educational information.
  1. Evaluate your present assets and liabilities, and determine what is needed for you to start in your chosen occupation. Consider the start-up costs, especially education costs, and/or the start-up investments required to work in your chosen career (for example, starting your own business or consulting service).

    There is no single best way to cover education and/or start-up costs. However, scholarships and bursaries are available for needy and deserving individuals. Again, a career counselor can be very helpful in providing information relating to this.





Connecting to an Occupation

In light of your personal considerations in the previous part, you may have narrowed your realm of possibilities in making a career choice. You should keep in mind that you need not have a forestry background to enjoy a career that is related to forest protection and stewardship.

There are hurdles to overcome to successfully enter any career. You have to obtain the necessary skills and finances in most cases. For example, to become a forest technician, you may have to take a related education program at a university or at an approved college. During your studies, you have to finance your living costs and your school costs.

With all this in mind, you must now make a choice. It is understood that any choice you make is tentative. It is perfectly natural to change your mind as you progress through school and life, thereby gaining new information and developing new interests. There will always be new opportunities and many new doors for you to open.



As you progress through life, new horizons and new opportunities will present themselves.



"The Lesser Slave Forest Education Society" has produced an informative video on career opportunities in the Boreal forest.
Watch the video to see some of the career opportunities available in forestry.

"The Boreal Forest is Where I Want to Be"



In choosing a career, you may wish to consider additional references. There are many internet sites that can be of help, but the ALIS (Alberta Learning Information Service) website, maintained by the Government of Alberta, might be especially helpful to you in many ways. Use the link given here to access this valuable career exploration resource: Career Explorers

Demonstrating Basic Competencies

Any occupation that you enter will require you to have specific skills related to that particular job. That's why you acquire the necessary education, training, or on-the-job learning.

But no matter what career you choose in life, you will also need to have certain personal competencies that are needed to perform your job proficiently. Indeed, these personal competencies are necessary not only for your work life, but also for dealing capably with all aspects of your personal life.

These basic personal competencies are generally categorized into three classes of skills:

  • fundamental skills
  • personal management skills
  • teamwork skills

Everything you do, from infancy to adulthood, (including taking this course) helps you develop your personal competencies. That's why it's so important to always try your best. Not only will you be rewarded immediately because of increased success, but the personal competencies that you develop will stand you in good stead in all your future endeavors.

Here's a breakdown of the three classes of skills that comprise your personal competencies. As you read through the following, think of how taking this course has helped you develop and demonstrate each skill.

Demonstrating Fundamental Skills

  • communicating
    How, and with whom, did you communicate in this course?
  • managing information
    Think of all the information this course provided.
  • using numbers
    Remember the charts and statistics in this course.
  • thinking and solving problems
    Consider the activities that you had to think about and do.





Demonstrating Teamwork Skills

  • working with others

Did you collaborate with classmates, your teacher, or your marker?

  • participating in projects and tasks
Did you complete all activities and/or projects required in this course?





Demonstrating Personal Management Skills
  • positive attitudes and behaviors
    Did you put forth your best effort on the assignments?
  • being responsible
    How well did you manage your time spent on this course?
  • being adaptable
    If you encountered difficulties, were you able to overcome them?
  • learning continuously
    Did this course interest you enough to want to learn more?
  • working safely
    Did working on this course present risks, for example, ergonomics?







Course Summary and Reflection

You have arrived at the last page of this course. Let's give a final thought to some of the course concepts. Consider the following breakdown of the letters in the word "stewardship" as a trigger to help you remember the concepts involved.

S Stewardship — a responsibility shared by all users of forested lands
T Types of forest lands — industrial, recreational, wildlife habitat, etc.
E Environmental factors — forests protect water, air, and soil quality
W Watershed — forest control water run-off and filter/clean the water
A Act of legislation — example, the Alberta Land Stewardship Act
R Resources — lumber, wood fibres, habitats, recreation, clean air, etc.
D Development of forest resources — must be sustainable for the future
S Seven regional land-use plans — for conservation and stewardship
H Human footprint must be reduced — by avoiding cumulative effects
I Integrated forest resource planning — a form of social contract
P Protection of forest resources — through personal and shared actions

Remember there is no final examination for this course, however you have one more assignment (Assignment 2) to complete on the next page.