Worksheet
- What I need in my relationship with my boss:
- Job satisfiers dissatisfiers: Satisfiers: Dissatisfiers:
- Most important job related values:
- Interests:
- The threads running through the Seven Story analysis:
Key accomplishments:
Motivators satisfiers:
My role:
The situation:
The subject matter:
- The top six or seven specialized skills from my work experience:
- From the Forty Year Plan or Obituary or Ideal Job: Where I see myself in the long run:
- My basic personality and the kinds of cultures it will fit:
Brainstorming Possible
You are now ready to brainstorm job possibilities using the information you have gathered about yourself. It will require a leap of faith, as well as the help of your friends.
1. Across the top of the page, list the following elements as they apply to you. Use as many columns as you need for each category.
- Your basic personality
- Specialized skills
- Long range goals
- Work experience areas of expertise
- Interests
- Role environment subject matters
- Education
- Values
Here is one person's list of column headings across the top: (personality) outgoing; (three different interests takes three columns) environment, computers, world travel; (specialized skills) use of PC; (from Seven Stories exercise) enjoy being part of research group; (from Seven Stories exercise) interest in Third World countries; (from Forty Year Plan) head up not for profit organization; (education) master's in public policy; (work experience) seven years marketing experience. This takes up ten columns across the top.
2. Down the side of the page, list possible fields, functions, or positions that rely on one or more of these elements. At this point, do not eliminate anything. Write down whatever occurs to you. Ask your friends and family for new job possibilities that make sense for you. Do library research and talk to lots of people for other ideas. Open up your eyes and your mind when you read or walk down the street. Be open and observant and generate lots of possible jobs. For example, combine marketing with environmental, or computers with research and Third World countries. What kinds of jobs occur to you and your friends? Write down whatever anyone suggests. A particular suggestion may not be exactly right for you, but it may help you think of other things that are right.
3. Analyze each job possibility by checking off across the page those elements that apply to that job. For example, if the job fits your basic personality type, put a check mark in that column. If it uses your education or relies on your past experience, put check marks in those columns. If it fits into your long range plans, put a check mark there.
4. Any job that relies on only one or two elements is probably not appropriate for you. Certain elements are more important to you than others, so you must weigh those more heavily. Those jobs that seem to satisfy your most important elements are the ones you will list as some of the targets to explore. Also list positions that would be logical next steps for you in light of your background.
Agnes has been a marketing merchandising promotion executive in the fashion, retail, and banking industries. Her only love was retail, and her dream job was working for one specific, famous fashion house. Perhaps she could actually get a job with that fashion house, but what kind of job could she go for after that? The retail and fashion industries were both retrenching at the time of her search, although she could probably get a job in one of them. She needed more targets, and preferably some targets in growing industries so she would have a more reasonable career path.
In addition to the retail and fashion industries, what other industries could Agnes consider? In the banking industry, where she had been for only three years, some of the products she promoted had been computer based. In combining "computers" with "retail" we came up with "computerized shopping, " a new field that was threatening the retail industry. Computerized shopping and related areas were good fields for Agnes to investigate. What about something having to do with debit cards and credit cards or Prodigy all computer based systems aimed at retail? Or what about selling herself to banks that were handling the bankrupt retail companies that she was so familiar with? We came up with twenty areas to explore. Agnes's next step is to conduct a Preliminary Target Investigation (which you will read about next) to determine which fields may be worth pursuing in that they hold some interest for her and there is some possibility of finding a job in them. At this point she has an exciting search lined up one with lots of fields to explore and one that offers her a future instead of just a job.
