College work is more difficult than studies in the high school. The method of instruction is different; the manner of conducting classes is different; the personal supervision that you had in high school will be exchanged for more liberty and independence, more self-study on your part.
College offers many courses. Would you like to be a doctor, nurse, lawyer, teacher, engineer, architect? Each of these professions/occupations will demand certain qualities in you. A medical doctor must have zeal in curing the sick; a lawyer must burn with the desire to right wrongs; a nurse must have the patience and understanding to take care of the sick; a teacher must have the courage and intelligence to lead others to the pursuit of truth.
Before choosing a career or profession, you must do a lot of thinking. Thus, here are some listed guidelines to help you or your relatives who're entering college in order to pick the right choice.
Guidelines in Making Career Decisions
More than ever, the student of today must be future-oriented. Because of rapidly advancing technology, it is estimated that a normal teenage senior high school now would/may have as many as six careers during his or her lifetime. Yes, careers, not just jobs. This means that the person who learns to make decisions appropriately early in life will have advantages over one who moves along by trial and error.
Wrong decisions cause problems instead of solving them. Therefore, getting ready to make a decision is part of decision making.
So where do you start?
Begin with yourself. What do you want to be five or ten years from now. Make a list of your capabilities and shortcomings under the headings "Assets" and "Liabilities". You may wish to check this self-analysis with your teacher, with your friends, or your school guidance counselor.
Remembering that effective career planning involves more than just matching individual aptitudes to future job requirements, study the following Occupational Groupings prepared by an American psychology professor, B. von Haller Gilmer.
Group I: Service
These are people who work for the "common good" or who "render service", such as educational and vocational counselors, social workers, NBI angents, hairdressers, ushers and watchmen. Persons in this group tend to be high in social values. High verbal skill is found at the upper levels of these jobs.
Group II: Business Contact
Salesmen and saleswomen, buyers, agents interviewers, and peddlers. These people score rather high on tests of influence.
Group III: Organization
Industrial executives, personnel managers, postmaster, foremen, and file clerks have a high interest in personal relationships.
Group IV: Technology
Engineers, factory managers, contractors, mechanics, and truck drivers. In the upper levels of these jobs one finds persons with intellectual interests are high. This group is "object-oriented".
Group V: Outdoors
Landowners, farmers, and laborers tend to come from family backgrounds of the same sort. Intellectual and artistic interests range widely among those in this group. Mechanical interests are often high also.
Group VI: Science
Mathematicians, scientists, physicians, nurses, medical technicians, and embalmers have strong intellectual interests.
Group VII: General Culture
Teachers, clergymen and clergywomen (or priests and nuns), news commentators, librarians, and reporters belong to this group. They are verbally oriented and usuallt interested in people.
Group VIII: Arts & Entertainment
Artists, professional athletes, showmen, race drivers, and stagehands are part of this group. Special artistic or physical abilities play an important rule here. These people do not shy away from being on the public eye.
The person who "likes people" will generally choose profession or occupations in which friendly, frequent contact with others is a part of the job. Working "with things" does not necessarily mean dislike for people. Those who like to work with things tend toward production-oriented enterprises. The person who wants to manage will find himself in the organizational setting which prizes practical decision making. The artistic types tend to group together and seek occupations which do not demand clock punching.
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
