week #7: chapter 8

In chapter 8, Brown (2012) does an excellent job at detailing the different ways in which people can gain knowledge regarding different occupations. I was surprised that there were so many different ways available to explore possible career choices. I was also impressed that there were websites specifically for children to start exploring occupations. I am curious as to the history of these websites and how long they have been available, because this is actually the first time that I have ever heard of them. In today’s world, children seem to spend a lot of time on the computer and using technology and this form of career exploration could be particularly beneficial to them.

                As I was reading the chapter and seeing all of the ways to gain occupation information, I started to recollect some of these from my elementary/middle school years, and quite honestly I had forgotten about those experiences until this point. In my elementary school years I remember having career days where parents of my classmates would volunteer to come and speak about their profession. I remember meeting with veterinarians, accountants, police officers and nurses. However, our class of only 67 students was not big enough to bring a wide variety of career options. I did find those events to be interesting, but at that age I thought I was going to just grow up and be rich and wasn’t focused on choosing a career.

 In junior and senior high school I interviewed two experts in different fields that I was interested in at the time, I did one job shadow, and my school also hosted multiple career/job fairs that were mandatory for us to participate in. I found the interviews with the midwife and psychologist to be the most helpful and informative. I learned about the typical workday, the amount of schooling needed and the typical pay in the area that I lived in. I enjoyed hearing personal stories of why the interviewee chose that field and how their lives changed as a result. I then had formed a useful contact with those two individuals to seek guidance throughout the rest of my high school career and onto my college career.  The job shadowing was fun, however I felt more as a helper for the day, then actually learning about what a typical day on the job was like. I think it just depends on the individual and their experience as to which way of gaining occupational information will work best for them.

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development

            (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.