Choosing an occupation, job or course is a career problem you are likely to face several times in life.
Knowing the information you need and how to process it can help you manage career, and education choices
The career decision making models below can help you at any time when you experience career or career-related problems such as:
From "A Cognitive Approach to Career Development and Services: Translating Concepts into Practice," by J. P. Sampson, Jr., G. W. Peterson, J. G. Lenz, and R. C. Reardon, 1992, The Career Development Quartely, 41, p. 70. Copyright 1992 by the National Career Development Association. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
Knowing about myself means knowing your:
Knowing about my options means knowing facts about:
Knowing how I make decisions refers to how you make important decisions, such as career decisions.
Thinking about my decision making involves:
From "A Cognitive Approach to Career Development and Services: Translating Concepts into Practice," by J. P. Sampson, Jr., G. W. Peterson, J. G. Lenz, and R. C. Reardon, 1992, The Career Development Quartely, 41, p. 70. Copyright 1992 by the National Career Development Association. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
The career decision making cycle guides you in processing the information you gain about yourself your options.
Knowing I need to make a choice. A gap between where you are now and where you want or need to be signals a need to make a choice. You may feel worried, anxious or uncomfortable when you notice a gap between where you are and when you want to be. Examples of times when you know you need to make choice include:
Understanding about myself and my options involves:
Your school Career Practitioner can help you understand yourself and your options.
Expanding and narrowing my options. Expanding your options means identifying a wide range of occupations, courses or employment options. These should that fit with your interests, abilities, values and preferences. Your school Career Practitioner will have some tools to help you expand your options.
It is important to keep an open mind when generating options so that you don’t miss any promising career and course ideas. Here are some ideas on how to broaden your options:
Narrowing your options means identifying your 3-5 best alternatives.
Choosing an occupation or course. This means comparing the pros and cons of your best 3-5 options. You may like to think about your personal and family situation as part of the pros and cons of each option. Analysing the pros and cons will help you to work out your order of preference for your best 3-5 options. This will result in:
Implementing my choice. This involves making a flexible plan to implement your most preferred option. What this involves depends on the career decision you are making. Examples include:
Knowing I made a good choice. If the gap or problem you started with has been fixed you have finished with the career decision making cycle for now. For example, you may:
Whenever a new gap or problem arises, you need to revisit the career decision making cycle. For example:
There are many reasons for revisiting the career decision making cycle.
Read these articles on myfuture: How to make good career decisions.A quick guide to making career decisions
You can get some help with your career decision making. Your parents or carers, school Career Practitioner, teachers or other trusted people may be able to support you.
Some people get stuck in the career decision-making process.
Professor Itamar Gati has researched career decision-making for many years. He identified three main factors that make it difficult for people to make career related decisions. These are:
See your school Career Practitioner if you have if you have any obstacles that make it hard to make career decisions. There are usually alternative pathways around obstacles to career decision making.
You can also locate a professional Career Practitioner from the Find Career Support link on the Career Development Association of Australia website.
If you are struggling with career decision making after you finish Year 12, you can get free support from a professional career practitioner through the School Leaver support program.