Career & Study Guide
Career Guidance aims to help people with their career choices. Career choice develops as we develop and involves ongoing change. This means that you have to get to know yourself and you have to find out about the world of work. It also involves trying to find a good match between yourself and the world of work.
Yourself
Your abilities, aptitudes, interests, personality, values, and the type of lifestyle you want play an important role in your career choice. It takes time to be able to assess all these important aspects. As you get older these aspects change and diversify.
Each person is responsible for his own career development. This task involves work and effort. As you progress through St. Pauls College you will have a chance to discover more about these aspects of yourself. Career choice is a challenge because there are no fixed rules on how to proceed. Moreover, it cannot be said that there is only one right career for a particular person.
The World of Work
The world of work is changing rapidly in Ireland and internationally. A job for life is probably a thing of the past for most people. Workers will change jobs or careers five times or more during their working lifetime. Such change will require ongoing assessment, training and learning.
Develop a Career Plan
Despite the difficulties in developing a career plan you can make a start from the beginning of first year. Here are some suggestions for tasks to be undertaken during the different years in St. Pauls College.
Career Tasks for 1st Year
With the growth of trade and movement within the European Union it will be important to have a knowledge of languages like Spanish and French. Do you enjoy language learning? If not, what subjects do you like? What special talents do you have?
What are your hobbies? Music, sport, reading? It is important to remember that nearly every job will require English and some Mathematical skills.
Career Tasks for 2nd Year
More and more jobs today involve service. This means it is will be very important to develop people and communication skills. Taking part in extra curricular activities in the College such as debating and writing for school periodicals is a very good preparation for life. Such activities can also give you an insight into your aptitudes and personality.
Career Tasks for 3rd Year
Your favourite subjects may give you a lead into thinking about a job area. At this stage of your school career seek out information about occupations with favourable career prospects, good earnings, and other attributes that are important to you. As well as sitting your first public state examination you will find yourself at a crossroad, a time of decision. If you are 16 you can begin an apprenticeship, get a job or continue on in school. However, It is recommended to continue until Leaving Certificate if possible.
Career Tasks for 4th Year (Transition Year)
This is a very important year from the point of career development. There are hundreds of occupations, so choosing and planning a career is a lot more complex than it may appear. The ideal career for you might be something you have never heard of or thought about. Take the opportunity to do work shadowing or work experience. Do a research project on a job or job area. Obtain books, online information and other materials related to the job. Talk to or interview someone in that job. Find out where the job is carried out. Get information on a place of employment for that job.
During Transition year you will also have the opportunity to do aptitude tests and interest tests. It is very important to take great care with your choice of subjects for the Leaving Certificate. Develop basic computer skills. No matter what kind of work you do in later life you will need some computer proficiency. Use the career guidance link on the St.Pauls
College web-site to investigate college requirements and job information.
Career Tasks for 5th Year
At this stage you will be able to bring the various pieces of information about yourself and the world of work together. You will be able to make some tentative career plans. Once you have decided on a career path you need to find out what kind of training, education, and skills will be needed to achieve your career goal.
Career Tasks for 6th Year
In your final year at school you are again at a crossroad. Your career path may involve continuing in full time education or getting a job or an apprenticeship. It is now recognised that the higher the level of education you achieve the better your chances of obtaining satisfying and well paid employment in the future. There is also a big demand for skilled trades-people.
In your last year you will learn how to conduct a job search and develop a CV. You will also have an opportunity to develop your interview skills. No matter what you do after school, you will have to develop these skills as you search for a job.