Match Your Job to Your Preferences

In Chapter 8, ”Research Prospective Employers,” you focused on learning about specific requirements of jobs in your field and about the services, products, earnings, etc., of your target employers.

Employees who work in jobs that match their overall career preferences are most likely to achieve peak career success. By researching prospective employers to determine if and how well they meet your own preferences, you will increase your success potential.

In the career action of this activity, you will research to help determine whether an employer fits your working preferences. Complete this research (instructions following) to increase your success potential.

Your Career Action:
  1. Identify companies:

    List the names of three to five major companies you would like to learn more about.

  2. List your working preferences for ideal career development:

    Review the career actions you completed in Chapter 2 (education, training, experience, and skills inventories; values and work environment preferences; personal qualities and work performance traits; and self-assessment test).

    Make a list of specific job and career opportunities that reflect your preferences for ideal career development.  Some examples are shown in the following box:


    Examples of Job and Career Preferences

    1. Internship opportunities
    2. Working independently with little supervision
    3. Opportunities for adventure, challenge
    4. Indoor or outdoor work
    5. Opporunities for training/education
    6. Career path choices
    7. Mentorship programs
    8. Opportunities for travel
    9. Benefits packages
    10. Other opportunities that meet your personal criteria

  3. Research using the Net:
     
    Use the Internet to search for specific employer preference information of interest to you.

    1. Check the “Links” page on the Your Career: How to Make It Happen site (www.yourcareer.swep.com).  Check out the “Researching Companies Category.”
    2. Visit the individual web sites of the employers you are most interested in researching.

  4. Use Other Resources too:

    To round out your research (especially if you can’t find enough on the Internet about a company) also use any of the following resources to obtain answers to your questions:

    1. Direct research meeting you arrange with a contact at the company
    2. Contact through a career fair--also see “Career Fairs: Job Network Central,” the special Web Tutor Activity for Chapter 8
    3. Libraries
    4. School career services center and career counselors
    5. Employees of the company
    6. Instructors

  5. Summarize your findings:

    Summarize the five most interesting topics of information you discover from this research. Include in your summary a list of the resources you used, including names and addresses of the web sites you found most helpful.

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