Researching a career . . .

From Reading to Writing In John Cheever’s short

story “The Opportunity,” Elise envisions a career as

an actress, but her mother chides her to “get this

idea of going on the stage out of your head.” Career

decisions are among the most important decisions

people make.

Researching a career . . .

You can begin thinking about your own career by

researching jobs that interest you. Writing a career

search report can help you examine your goals and

uncover facts about a particular career.

B a s i c s i n a B o x

RUBRIC Standards for Writing

A successful career search report should

• discuss your career goals

• describe your talents, skills, and interests

• focus on one or more specific careers

• report on factual aspects of each career

• mention sources of factual information

• examine the advantages and disadvantages of each career and weigh their importance to you

Writing Your Career Search Report 1 Prewriting

Go to your local library and browse

through the Occupational Outlook

Handbook to find out about careers you

are interested in. This book contains

information on hundreds of job titles. After

you have found one or two careers to

research, follow these steps.

Planning Your Career Search Report

1. Examine your goals. Take a good look at yourself. What are you looking for in a job or career? What are your most important goals?

2. Examine your talents, skills, and interest. What do you do well? What activities do you enjoy most? Make a list of your skills, and then think about which skills you’d like to use on the job. For which of the jobs and careers you choose to research are your skills most suited?

Planning Your Career Search Report

3.Research the careers. Use any of the following methods: Browse through books such as the

Occupational Outlook Handbook to learn more about the careers that interest you.

Interview people in the careers that you are exploring.

Contact professional, trade, or union associations that represent each career. These groups often produce brochures about job opportunities.

Planning Your Career Search Report

4. Record your findings. Make a chart in which you list the pertinent information about each possible career:

responsibilities

education or training required

outlook for employment

salary range

advantages and disadvantages

Planning Your Career Search Report

5. Match careers with your goals and skills.

How well do the careers that you identified

match your goals and skills? Choose the

career that best suits you and use it as the

subject of your report.

Writing Your Career Search Report2 Drafting

Begin your report by presenting

information about yourself or by

identifying the career you are

considering. You may wish to include

your career goals, skills, and interests.

Present the basic facts you learned

about your career.

Writing Your Career Search Report2 Drafting

Examine the advantages and

disadvantages of the career in light of

your goals and skills.

Sum up what you learned about

yourself, the career, and its suitability

for you.

Writing Your Career Search Report3 Revising

Target Skill

LOGICAL ORDER OF DETAIL

As you revise your career report, check

to see that the ideas in each paragraph

are presented in an order that makes

sense. Use transitions such as next,

since, in contrast, and on the other hand

to show clear relationships between

ideas.

Writing Your Career Search Report4 Editing and Proofreading

Target SkillCORRECT VERB FORM

Using incorrect verb forms in your career

search report can confuse your message.

When you proofread, check each verb to

make sure you have used the correct

tense and form.