Please write a minimum of 450 words essay on your own career exploration. In other words, you will be describing yourself, the major & career and planning for your future career. I have provided detailed description of what you have to include in each paragraph. The assignment must have THREE paragraphs reflecting the THREE career exploration process we discussed in this Chapter.

Paragraph 1: About yourself
Self-Assessment of Interests. Write down a list of activities, course subjects, and topics that interest you, inspire you. What are your likes and dislikes -- about school, hobbies, work, and volunteering. If you taken an assessment test in school (or online), you can enter some of the results here as well. You can also use Career Passion Worksheet to help you assess the types of things that excite you. Please take all the career assessment tools available on LMS under week 9 and write a reflection of the results.

Examination of Skills and Abilities. One of the most important elements in choosing a major (and a future career) is a realistic review of your strengths and weaknesses, skills and abilities. It's important to take an honest view of the subjects/skills you are best at, as well as those you struggle with. Write down your best and worst skills and abilities.
Understanding What You Value About Work. Different jobs and careers provide a range of intrinsic rewards to people working in them. For example, teachers place a much greater value on educating and impacting the lives of their students than they do on financial rewards. What are you seeking from your career? Some examples include helping society, working under pressure, group affiliation, stability, security, social status, financial rewards. Write down a list of what you seek from your future career. For additional help, review our workplace values assessment.
 Paragraph 2: Discover your Career

Researching Occupations and Careers. Many students have an idea of the types of work they may want to do, but rarely do they have a full understanding of the requirements of the work -- or even what the work fully entails. Others have never really thought about careers and have little or no knowledge of what they want to do after college. This step involves conducting research and recording the information you found about one or more potential career fields. Write down summary notes below and use additional sheets or printouts to keep detailed information about each career path. Besides using the Internet and library for your research, consider both job shadowing and informational interviews to gain more personal insights into careers. 


Information Review & Reality Check. Now that you have a better understanding of yourself and one or more potential career paths, it's time to conduct an honest appraisal of whether your skills, interests, and values are a good match with the careers that most excite you. For example, you may love the idea of becoming a doctor, but do not have the math or science skills necessary for medical school. Your task in these situations, is to conduct further research to see if other career paths in the same field will be a good match for you. Write down the list of careers and jobs that best fit you, starting with the career that best seems to fit your interests AND skills.


Matching College Majors to Career Paths. For many jobs, the choice of college major is not as important as the actual degree, but choosing a major (or combination of majors and minors) that is directly related to your choice of career often provides a deeper level of skills and understanding of the subject as well as opens door to internships, co-ops, and other part-time work experience in the field prior to graduation. Conduct research on the careers help determine the best college major. For example, if you think you want to be a high school math teacher, what should you major in? Write down your list of potential majors and minors.

Discover your Career Assessment Tools:

Assessments that must be completed:

1.	Visit the Occupation Profile to see details for any one of more than 900 careers. You'll learn:
· What do people do on the job in this career?
· What's the employment outlook for the career?
· How much money do people earn in this career?
· How much education or training do people need for this career?
· Is this career a good fit for your interests, skills, and abilities?
 Paragraph 3: Plan your Career

In here you will describe your career goal and its specific action steps to accomplish it. Please remember the SMART Goal criteria and include a minimum of SIX action steps (The question here is not about completing a degree. What is your long-term career plan?  (Ask yourself where do I see my career after 10 years?)