Career Development - Unit on Decision Making

1. MAKING DECISIONS
Careers –Unit 3

2. Decisions, Decisions
 Decision – choosing between two or more
possibilities
 Anytime you have more than one choice
 Career decision – One of the most important
decisions you will ever make in your life.

3.  How do you make only one choice?
 Making decisions is part of knowing
yourself
 More you know about interests and
personality, easier decisions become
 Why bother learning to make decisions
better
– Many people are unhappy
– Didn’t plan – just fell into a job
– Decisions you make now – effect the decisions
you will make all your life

4. The Decision Making Process
 Method you follow when you make a decision or
choice
 Series of steps that lead you to a decision
 7 steps
– Define what you need or want
• Needs – things you must have to survive
• Wants – things you’d like to have
– Look carefully at your resources (everything you have
available to get what you want – any skill or advantage
you have).
– Identify your choices
– Gather information on all your choices
• Advantage and disadvantage of each
• Effect each choice has on you

5. – Evaluate and compare your choices
• Evaluate – judge the value or worth of something
– Make your decision
– Make a plan to get started
• Plan – a method for achieving something

6. Applying the decision-making
process to careers
 It’s never too early to make a career decision
 Tentative – the best decision you can decide on at
a certain time, which can be changed later as you
learn more.
 Planning and decision-making activities
– Education level needed: hs, associate degree (2 yrs.), 4
years of college, master’s degree, etc.
– Classes needed in high school
 Seven tips about making better career decisions
– 1.Other people will pressure you to do what they want
you to do
– 2.Don’t be afraid of failure

7. – 3. Pay attention to the decisions you make
every day.
– 4. Remember that decisions have both good and
bad outcomes.
– 5. Accept the outcome
– 6. Remember, you can change decisions