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Make better career decisions

>part of the Create series
a blueprint for independent career planners
 Introduction
The
Create
Where are
Stage 1
you now?
Series
This workbook, from the Create
Series, is one of those designed
to concentrate on the first stage
of the career planning model,
Where are you now? It provides
notes and exercises aimed at
helping you to begin to put
together a clear picture of how
you make decisions. Others in
this series which also focus on
this stage of the model are:
• Create a self profile
• Create a skills profile
• Be more confident and
assertive
‘...as human beings we are responsible
for our own lives. Our behaviour is a
function of our decisions, not our
conditions. ..We have the initiative and
the responsibility to make things happen.
Look at the word responsibility -
‘response - ability’ - the ability to choose
our response. Highly proactive people
recognise that responsibility. They do not
blame circumstances, conditions, or
conditioning for their behaviour. Their
behaviour is a product of their own
conscious choice ..’
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by
Stephen R. Covey
¤Highflyers Publishing 2001

By working through the
exercises in this workbook you
will:
• look back over your past career
decisions and think about how they
were made
• think about your approach to
decision making and whether you
adopt certain styles
• consider whether you impose
constraints on or block your
decisions in any way
• look at the implications of your
current approach to decision
making for future career decisions
• try to put together a picture of what
career success might mean for you
R E M E M B E R
To work well, decision making has
to be a conscious process -’ I am
deciding’ - and not just a
consequence of finding something
out or being offered something -
‘Oh, okay, I’ll do that’. Making
better career decisions involves
making your own choices and
taking responsibility for your
actions. It is about being in control
of your own life.
CONTENTS OF THIS WORKBOOK
2 Introduction
3 Looking back over past career decisions
4 Styles of decision making
5 Being negative - being positive
6 Blocks to decision making
7 A formula for good career decisions
8 Defining career success
9 Past career decisions - a summary
10 Looking ahead - Decisions in the future
11 Weighing it all up
Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 2
 Well informed and realistic decision making lies at
Looking the heart of effective, life long career planning. It
pays to spend time getting this right. But how
good a decision maker are you? Before you start
back making any new career decisions, it is important
to look back over your track record so far.
over past Career decisions tend to revolve around which
school/college/university to attend; which jobs to
career start or leave; what training or education courses
to do; which area to move to and so on. Looking
decisions back over your life, try to identify your previous
career decisions:

The Decision or Change Who decided this and why? The Outcome for you*

*Was it the right decision for you?

Were you happy with the outcome?
We will return to this shortly.

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 3

 Decision
Styles of

Making
Research over the years has shown that we
sometimes adopt certain styles or approaches to
decision making. This can affect our ability to
make effective decisions. It is useful, therefore, to
consider whether we are adopting any of these
styles. So what are the styles?

STYLE CHARACTERISTICS ARE YOU LIKE THIS? WHEN?

Impulsive Tends to panic and get anxious. Grabs at the first

possible solution without really checking it out. Just
wants ‘to get something sorted out’!

Emotional/Intuitive Follows their emotions - sees something and decides

that’s it. It feels like a flash of inspiration or one of those
‘I just know it is right’ moments. Doesn’t really look into
things too carefully before deciding.

Hesitant Wants to make the ‘right’ decision and find the perfect
solution so worries endlessly about making the wrong
decision. This often leads to no decision.

Avoidant Avoids making decisions and just hopes that if they

ignore it long enough it will go away. Are always
postponing decisions and getting caught up in other
activities to avoid facing the big decision.

Fatalistic Tends to wait and see what happens. Says they don’t
mind what they do and leave things to chance. Can end
up having to put up with things that are not really their
choice.

Compliant Tends to go along with what other people want them to

do whether it suits them or not. Don’t want to upset
anybody or be assertive about their own choices.

Rational Tends to make decisions based on an honest

assessment of their current situation and the choices on
offer. Weighs up pros and cons and makes the best
decision they can at the time they have to make it.

Now look back over the career decisions you have made so far in your life. Which
were the best, with hindsight? How did you approach making those decisions?
Throughout our lives we will make decisions using some, if not all of these styles.
There is nothing wrong with that, so long as we are aware of what we are doing and
what the consequences might be.

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 4

 Being negative How we view our past decisions will also
be affected by whether we tend to take a
positive or a negative outlook on things.
being positive! Which are you? Try and do both.

My NEGATIVE time line - look back and forward - My POSITIVE time line - look back and forward seeing

_
seeing things in a negative light, what went wrong,
what will probably go wrong in the future:
things in a positive light, what went well, what will
succeed in the future:

Birth Birth
+

Death Death

Which of these did you find easiest to do? If you find it easier being negative, you need to practice being more positive.

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 5

 B
Another problem we face when making career decisions is blocking. Sometimes we
undermine our own decision making abilities by putting obstacles in the way or by not
allowing ourselves to follow a line of thought. These blocks can take a number of forms:

locks to decision making

BLOCK CHARACTERISTICS ARE YOU LIKE THIS? WHEN?

Blinkers We get an idea or assumption fixed in our head and tell

ourselves it cannot be changed or it will always be that
way. We don’t even allow ourselves to consider
alternatives.
e.g. I have to get back into this kind of work, I have to
live here.

Defeatism We give up before we even start, telling ourselves that

we won’t get anywhere with our decisions anyway.
e.g. There’s no point applying, I won’t get in.

We have a long list of shoulds and ought to’s in our

Shoulds and Oughts heads, gathered over many years from many sources.
They can narrow our choices and prevent us from
thinking freely about what we want to do. Why should
you? e.g. I should be at home with the kids.

We set our sights very high and so rule out lots of

Unrealistic possible alternatives that might get us started in the
expectations right direction.
e.g. I am only interested in a managers job.

We are not honest with ourselves about what we really

Dishonesty want to do for lots of different reasons. We convince
ourselves that what we are doing is right but deep
down feel unhappy with our choice.
e.g. It’s better if I stick with this job, it pays well.

We tend to be very passive and go along with what

Lack of assertiveness other people want or say. We don’t voice our views and
opinions much, if at all.
e.g. I owe it to them to do what they say.

We want other people to decide for us. We want

Refusal to take someone else to do the hard work of finding things out
responsibility for your and making decisions and then just tell us what to do.
life e.g. Why can’t someone just tell me what to do?

We tend not to believe in ourselves and think we have

Lack of self little to offer. We underrate our skills and abilities and so
confidence always aim low when making decisions.
e.g. I’m not much good at anything.

We feel frightened when we have to make decisions -

Fear we’re frightened of failing, upsetting someone, getting it
wrong, etc.
e.g. I just can’t do this.

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 6

T + P + E x V = Success
Richard Leider is an American
A formula for good career decisions career coach and counsellor who
spent many years helping some of
America’s most successful
business people with their career
planning. He believes there is a
formula for making good career
decisions.

T = Talent
According to Leider, most people aren’t using their talents. They get into a line of work
because they have to choose a job, and never stop to ask themselves what their calling
might be. Then they end up asking themselves why am I doing this? You will feel much
happier and more fulfilled in a job which uses your talents.

+
P = Passion or purpose
Choosing what you do with your life is your chance to do something more meaningful
than just getting through each day, going through the motions. You will feel much
happier and more fulfilled in a job if you are doing something that you feel is important
or worthwhile.

+
E = Environment
What work environment best suits your style, your temperament, your values? You
will feel much happier in a job that takes place in a working environment that suits
you.

x
V = Vision
Your vision relates to how you see your whole life unfolding. It describes the goals that you
want to set yourself as a whole person, not just a working person. It takes into account the
way you want to combine and develop your whole life. You will feel much happier and more
fulfilled if you are working towards achieving a vision of how you want your life to be.

Note: Within the formula, Vision acts as a multiplier not just an addition.
Having a vision for how you see your life unfolding is crucial to good
career planning.

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 7

 Defining career success
Using Leider’s formula as a starting point, try to put together a picture of what a successful career would look like for
you. You may want to look back at your self profile and your skills profile before completing this.

What are your talents? Which of your skills and What sort of workplace would you like in the
talents would you like to be using in your future future? What sort of people would you like to
career? work with?

What are the things you care or feel passionate What do you want your whole life to look like in
about? What do you think should be the the future? Where and with who do you want to
purpose of any future work you do? live? Are there non-work things you want to do
before you die?

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 8

 Past career decisions Now try to put together a summary of the insights you
have gained into your career decision making in the
:a summary past, using the information from the exercises you have
done so far.

How do you feel, overall, about the career Do you find it easier to look at things in a
decisions you have made to date? positive or a negative way?

Do you tend to adopt particular styles to

Do you block your own decision making in any way?
decision making, e.g. impulsive, hestitant?

Looking at your answers above - what impact might Is your life on course to be a success? If not, what
this have on the way you make career decisions in do you need to do to get it on course?
the future? How might you overcome this?

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 9

 Now that you have looked at how you
approach career decision making and
Looking Ahead > also considered where you would like
to see yourself going in the future, try
Decisions in the and break free from any constraints to
future your thinking and begin to explore
opportunities that interest you.
Check
• Be honest † This is an honest
• Be open to ideas assessment of my
• And, most importantly, trust your own judgement current situation
† These are all my
Ask yourself the following questions: own ideas

Why have I got to make a career decision at

this point in time?

Do I want change or is it being forced on

me?

How much of my present situation do I

need to change?

What options have I considered and why?

Which seems like the best option and why?

What are my hopes if I take this decision?

What are my fears?

What will happen if I do nothing and how

will that feel?

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 10

 Weighing it Now sit back and think about what you have
found out about yourself whilst completing this

all up workbook. Rate yourself against the following

statements:

I can describe different styles of decision SA A D SD

making and their consequences

I know how I make career decisions SA A D SD

I can identify how I block my own decision

making process
SA A D SD

I have ideas about how I want my life to

develop in the future
SA A D SD

I am confident that I can make good career SA A D SD

decisions in the future

Key: SA strongly agree

A agree
D disagree
SD strongly disagree

G E T T I N G F U R T H E R H E L P. . .

If you have rated any statements Strongly Disagree or Disagree you

may need to get some more help with this activity. Make an
appointment to see a Careers Adviser or tutor to discuss it further. You
might also find it useful to work through other workbooks from this
series. The following titles are available:

01 Create a career plan

02 Create a self profile
03 Create a skills profile
04 Make better career decisions
05 Be more confident & assertive
06 Researching career opportunities
07 Choosing Higher education
08 Job hunting
09 Further education & training
10 Taking a year out
11 Self employment
12 Student finance
13 CVs & covering letters
14 Job applications
15 University applications
16 Job interviews
17 Academic interviews

¤Highflyers Publishing 2001 Create workbook 04 >Make better career decisions | 11