By Eric Marchan/reporter
Students should take steps to start planning their careers, but they first need to find out what they are passionate about, the South career center director said.
Monica Miranda said the first step to developing a career plan is for students to think about something they want to do in the future.
“The career that matches your skills, interest and personality the closest may be the career for you,” she said.
Students need to think about what they enjoy doing and where their talents lie, Miranda said. They also need to see what kind of personality they have and what kind of values they hold.
A career plan is developed after students have analyzed their skills and interests, Miranda said. After that, they need to decide on a career goal and make a plan to reach that goal.
Students should make a list of activities enjoyed in the last couple of years to evaluate those activities and challenges that were faced, Miranda said.
The next step, she said, would be to find out about the nature of jobs such as educational requirements, salary, working conditions, future outlook and anything else that may help narrow the focus.
“Find out information about the kind of training, education and skills that may be needed to develop a career,” she said.
As a student prepares to graduate or move into a job market, it’s important to learn job-hunting tips, Miranda said. Finding a job within a few days or weeks won’t be easy. People will need to devote time while job searching. They will have to be organized and keep a record of all the places they applied and always check job listings in the classifieds, school career centers or state employee offices, she said.
While job hunting, a person should have a résumé with the job objective, experience, education, skills, awards and more ready to turn in, Miranda said.
That way the interviewer can know a few things about the person applying. If the company wants to conduct an interview, students should find out a few things about the company beforehand, arrive on time and follow up with a thank you letter, Miranda said.
“Go to your school’s career center,” she said. “We can assist with additional information and help on career planning and many other areas.”
