Tim is graduating with a broad major in finance. He is having trouble deciding which area of finance to target for a job when he graduates. He wants to be able to narrow down his target effectively so he can find a job that is a good match for him and the employer—and one he will enjoy doing

Question

To add to his frustration, Tim has heard his classmates talk about their work preferences and how their interests, values, and related abilities tie into their job targets. Tim is confused about how to clarify his own interests, values, skills, and abilities and how to relate them to a compatible job target.

What advice can you give Tim to help him begin the process of narrowing down his job target?
What self-assessment and career counseling resources would you recommend that Tim use to help him make his job target decisions?

Answer 1

Tim needs to start the process by documenting his education and training, including dates, places, career-relevant courses and activities, skills, and accomplishments obtained through his education and training. Tim will also want to document his membership and achievements in professional (and other) organizations. This information will help him identify an appropriate job target.
He will want to pay attention to job-specific skills, which are technical abilities that relate specifically to a particular job, and transferable competencies, which are abilities that can be applied in more than one work environment.

Tim needs to have an accurate assessment of his personal values, work preferences, and job-related performance traits. Understanding the personal factors that influence his performance and job satisfaction will help him make good choices when setting job targets. Tim can assess himself by talking with his school career services staff, who can provide a wide variety of attitude and interest tests. He can use the Internet to find online tools or commercial software packages to assess his career interests and values and to help match the results with appropriate careers and jobs.


Tim should also document his work and other pertinent experience, including the skills and knowledge he developed and any accomplishments, achievements, or recognition he received as part of these experiences. His experience should include paid or volunteer work (e.g., volunteering on community service projects and fund-raising), internships, or cooperative education experience.