1. Exploring Careers, Workplace Accommodations, and Mentorship

2. Taking the Next Step
In this module, you will learn about helpful steps for determining a career that will align with your abilities and interests. Additionally, you will be provided with information about requesting accommodations as an employee and about the value of identifying a mentor.

3. Job, Occupation, and Career
Yes, they are different..
Job: a specific position where you are employed
Occupation: a wide category of jobs that have similar characteristics, such as types of skills or work responsibilities. A person can work at his or her occupation for different employers.
Career: The total of all the jobs, occupations and experiences over your lifetime.

4. Good news….
There is an organized way to approach investigating careers!!

5. Seven steps in deciding on a career
Step One: Take stock of your interests
We all have different goals, talents, interests, and values. This means, there are certain careers each individual should not pursue and others where he or she would excel and be satisfied. Determine what you would enjoy and excel at by taking career assessments, receiving career counseling, and conducting thorough self-evaluation.

6. Seven Steps in Deciding on a Career
Step Two: Make a List
Make a list of five to ten occupations that interest you. Consider exploring each occupation by job shadowing someone in the field, volunteering at a local agency, or working a part time job in the area of interest. The experiences will allow you to determine if the occupation is one that would be a good fit and is something that you would enjoy.

7. Seven Steps in Deciding on a Career
Step Three: Go Exploring
After you have a preliminary list of what you may like to do, find out more about each. This is done by both online research and talking to people in various stages of that career.

8. Seven Steps in Deciding on a Career
Step four: Re-access the List
After you have taken time to find out more about each career on your list, start eliminating the ones that do not seem like a good fit. Do not feel badly for deciding something is not for you. This is a good thing. It is what this process is all about.

9. Seven Steps in Deciding on a Career
Step Five: Goalsetting
Continue to narrow down your choices until you have only one occupation left. This will become your primary goal.

10. Seven Steps in Deciding on a Career
Step Six: Make a career action plan
Every goal needs a plan. Once you have decided what you want to do, plan out where you aim to be in a year, five years, and ten years. Be both ambitious and realistic at the same time. Although setting goals high is great, remember that it may take time to achieve the goals.

11. Seven Steps in Deciding on a Career
Step Seven: Complete the required education
Some jobs only require you to have a high school diploma, while others will require you to have a bachelor’s degree or a graduate degree. Once you decide what you want to do, the next step will be to adjust your educational plan accordingly.

12. Workplace Accommodations
In order to be effective in your job or career, it is possible that you might need a reasonable accommodation to be able to perform the essential functions of the position. If you believe that you will need a reasonable accommodation for the position, you will need to speak with your employer about the request. For more information about reasonable accommodations in the workplace, you may visit the Job Accommodation Network at the following website:

13. Mentorship
As you progress through college and career exploration, it can be valuable to identify a mentor who guide you forward and offer insight. In the next few slides, we will further define what it means to have a mentor and common types of mentorship.

14. What is a Mentor?
Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored, but she or he must have a certain area of expertise. It is a learning and development partnership between someone with vast experience and someone who wants to learn.

15. Why is Mentorship Important?
A good mentor is someone who will support and encourage you to reach for higher goals, to take the next step and to push yourself in to succeed A good mentor will:
Provide ideas for what to do next in your career
Assist you to network more effectively
Keep you motivated and on track towards your goals
Listen and help you to problem solve

16. Types of Mentorship
Informal: Relationships that develop with a goal but without a formal, intentional “match.”
Formal: Someone within an organization who serves and is managed by a program coordinator, who facilitates the mentor-mentee relationship.
Peer: Individuals with similar levels of responsibility partner to improve the effectiveness of both parties.
Developmental: Someone who listens, questions and enables you to set goal related to your career or professional growth.