Chapter 2 Financial Aspects of Career Planning McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Financial and Personal Aspects of Career Choice Consider the trade-offs of career decisions.  Evaluate the trade-offs related to personal, social and economic factors. Formal training affects financial success. Competencies of successful people include willingness to cope with conflict and adapt to change. 2-2

How Education Relates to Income Two-year vocational degree Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree Professional or doctorate degree Estimated lifetime earnings (40 years) from Bureau of Labor Statistics $2 million $2.3 million 2-3 $2.8 million$1.5 million

Personal Factors Affecting Career Selection Aptitudes - What natural abilities, such as working well in team settings, do you possess? Interests inventories - Help you determine what gives you satisfaction. Your personality - How much structure do you like? Do you perform best in low-pressure or high-pressure working environments? 2-4

Career Activity Visit your campus Career Center. Take an assessment such as the Strong Interest Inventory or the Myers Briggs Type Indicator See if your Career Center has career resource information that can be helpful to you 2-5

Stages of Career Planning and Advancement Assess and research personal goals, abilities, and career fields. Evaluate the employment market, identify employment opportunities. Develop a resume and cover letter. Apply. Interview. Assess your performance. Evaluate the positions you are offered. Plan and implement a program for career development. 2-6

Social Influences on Career Opportunities Demographic trends  Increase in working parents means more demand for food service and child care.  More leisure time means more interest in health, and recreation products and services.  An increase in the number of older people raises demand for travel, health care services, and retirement facilities.  Increased demand for further employment training creates opportunities for teachers and trainers. Geographic trends  Where jobs are, salaries, and living costs. 2-7

Economic Conditions Affect Career Opportunities Career opportunities are affected by…  High interest rates.  Price increases.  Decreased demand for goods and services. 2-8

Trends in Industry and Technology Affect Career Opportunities Increased competition from Asia, Europe, and other regions has reduced demand for American-made products. Automated production methods have decreased the need for many entry-level employees in factories. Some service industries are expected to have the greatest potential employment in the 21st century

Service Industries Expected to Have the Greatest Employment Potential Include Computer technology. Health care. Business services. Social services. Sales and Retailing. Hospitality and food services. Management and human resources. Education. Financial services. 2-10

Employment Search Strategies Obtaining employment experience.  Part-time employment. - do you like the work?  Volunteer work - develop organizational skills.  Internships - experience helps obtain employment.  Campus projects - helps obtain career skills. Using career information sources.  Library materials.  Mass media career information.  World wide web.  Campus career development office. 2-11

Identifying Job Opportunities Job advertisements. Career fairs. Employment agencies. Job creation. Visit companies. Telephone and business directories. Web search. Talk with alumni in your field. 2-12

Applying for Employment Resume. Cover letter. Interview See Chapter 2 Appendix for detailed help in these areas. 2-13

Resume activity If you do not already have a resume- prepare one. Trade resumes with another student in the class Evaluate your partner’s resume Discuss each other’s resumes and offer suggestions for improving them 2-14

Financial and Legal Aspects of Employment Research the job and the company before accepting an employment position. The work environment.  Corporate culture.  Company policies and procedures. Factors affecting salary.  Education, training, company size, and comparable salaries, responsibilities 2-15

Financial and Legal Aspects of Employment (continued ) Evaluating employee benefits.  Nonsalary benefits include child care, leaves of absence, and elder care.  Cafeteria-style benefits allow workers benefit credits that they can choose to meet their needs.  Flexible spending and medical savings accounts.  Compare job offer benefits based on market value or future value  Know your employment rights 2-16

Long-Term Career Development Training opportunities. Career paths and advancement. Changing careers. 2-17

Stages of Career Development 2-18 Pre-entry and career exploration. Establishment and professional growth. Advancement and mid-career adjustment. Late-career and pre- retirement stage.

Online Career Planning Career planning assistance.  Identifying employment opportunities.  and Posting your resume on the web.  and Cyber-interviews.  Salary and benefit information. 

Elements of Developing a Resume Personal data section. Career objective section. Education section. Experience section. Related information section. References section. 2-20

Three Types of Resumes Chronological.  Most common. Focuses on experience and education in reverse-time sequence. Functional.  Focuses on your skills. Targeted.  Prepared for a specific job. E-resumes for applying for a job online.  Use a simple format and no attachments. 2-21

Creating a Cover Letter Introductory paragraph. Get reader’s attention.  Overview your qualifications. Development paragraph.  Specific qualifications.  Refer to details on resume.  Experiences and training. Concluding paragraph.  Ask for interview.  Include how to contact you.  Summarize how you can help the company. 2-22

The Job Interview Prepare for the interview by getting information about your prospective employer.  Library resources such as annual reports or recent articles.  Internet searches of company and industry information.  Observations during company visits. Prepare questions to ask about your interests, the organization, policies, and benefits. Practice interview skills. 2-23

The Interview Process Dress appropriately. Arrive about 10 minutes early. The interview process.  A screening interview is an initial, brief contact to reduce the pool of candidates.  “E-interviews” - Some screening is done online.  The selection interview is for finalists, and may involve a series of activities. After the interview.  Follow-up thank you letter.  Evaluate your interview performance. 2-24