UHB40102/40202: ENGLISH

FOR OCCUPATIONAL PURPOSES

CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION TO CAREER
PATH

PREPARED BY:
NAJAH RAMLAN
I believe…
• When I was in the kindergarten….
• When I was in Year Six….
• When I was in Form Three….
• When I received my SPM results….
• When I planned to pursue my degree study….
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Career Choices
Where will I be after I
graduated?
Let’s watch this video…
• Says: 4 reasons why Malaysian fresh grads fail to get
a job.
DETERMINING
YOUR CAREER
PATH
How do I make good
career choices?
• A range of personal and environmental factors can
influence your work, learning and career choices
including:
– your individual interests, skills and values
– your community including your family and friends
– your geographic location
– wider economic conditions and labour market
trends
Four steps to career
planning process
• Step 1 : Knowing yourself – Start with your skills,
interests and values.
• Step 2 : Finding out – Find out about jobs and
courses.
• Step 3 : Making decisions – Take a look at your
options and compare.
• Step 4 : Taking action – Plan your next step and work
towards your goal.
Step 1
• Begin by thinking about where you are now, where
you want to be and how you are going to get there.
• Ask questions:
– Where do I start? Think about where you are at,
where you want to go and how you are going to
get there.
– What are my interests? Explore your work
interests.
Step 1
– What are my skills? Explore your abilities.
– What is important now? Clarify what is important
to you in your work and your life.
– What else do I need to think about? Think about
the other factors that will affect your work and
learning decisions.
Step 2
• Explore the occupations and learning areas that
interest you.
• Once you have some idea of your occupational
preferences you can research the specific skills and
qualifications required for those occupations.
• Do research on the specific skills and qualifications
required for those occupations.
Step 2
• How do I find out more about my preferred occupations?
• How do my skills and interests match up with these
occupations?
• What skills do I need?
• What options do I have to gain these skills or qualify for
these occupations?
• Where is the work?
• What are the working conditions?
• What are the daily tasks and duties?
Step 3
• Comparing your options, narrowing down your choices and
thinking about what suits you best at this point in time.
• Ask yourself:
– What are my best work/training options?
– How do they match with my skills, interests and values?
– How do they fit with the current labour market?
– How do they fit with my current situation and
responsibilities?
– What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?
– What will help and what will hinder me?
– What can I do about it?
Step 4
• Plan the steps you need to take to put your plan into
action.
• Use all you have learnt about your skills, interests
and values together with the information you have
gathered about the world of work to create your
plan.
Step 4
• Plan:
– for a specific occupation;
– your general career direction;
– to achieve a specific qualification;
– to do more research; and
– to explore a range of career and study options.
ASSESSING YOUR
SKILLS
Assessing Your Skills
• Why do you need to assess your skills?
– help you learn more about yourself
– help identify your skills, interests, values, or other
traits
– then, these are matched to a broad list of careers
to help find the one that fit you best
Assessing Your Skills
• What Can Skills Assessment Tell You?
– Understand the strengths (or weaknesses) you will bring to your
future job.
– Find out about specific occupations that are a good match for
your unique blend of skills.
– Learn where your skills fall short of the requirements for
different jobs.
– Decide whether you need more training or experience in an
area.
– Write a more meaningful resume or cover letter.
– Reflect on where you want to take your future career, and where
you want your future career to take you
Assessing Your Skills
• What Can’t a Skill Assessment Tell You?
– It won't tell you whether a certain job will make
you happy
Skills
• Why should you get job skills?
– You will be seen more positively by employers.
They prefer applicants who are willing to learn
new skills.
– You will feel more confident during interviews.
– Your resumes, cover letters, and job
applications will be stronger.
Skills
• Ways to expand and identify your skills:
– Gain skills from work-based
learning including service-learning
opportunities and internships.
– Attend workshops and other job search events.
– Gain or improve skills with practice or short-term
training.
Assessing the Skills: DIY
• Three distinct categories:
– Technical skills / Occupational skills are the specialised skills
and knowledge required to perform specific duties and are
easily recognisable; learned through past experiences and
education; sometimes referred to as ‘work skills’. (hard)
– Transferable skills / Employability skills are the basic skills
required to perform a variety of tasks; can be the greatest asset
as it can be ‘transferred’ from one area of work to another and
employers value their portability. (soft)
– Personal skills are the individual attributes you have such as
attitudes, personality, work habits and style of operation; often
describe what you are like and how you would naturally go
about doing things. (personality)
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Sometimes called ‘soft skills’, ‘foundational skills’,
‘work-readiness skills’, or ‘job-readiness skills’.
• It makes the difference between who can do the job
and who gets (and keeps) the job.
• Employability skills allow you to:
– communicate with co-workers
– solve problems
– understand your role within the team
– make responsible choices, and
– take charge of your own career
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Foundational Skills
– Be organised.
– Arrive to work on time, or early.
– Be dependable.
– Have a positive attitude toward work.
– Exert high levels of effort and perseverance.
– Complete tasks on time and accurately.
– Seek out information to improve skills.
– Be flexible and adaptable.
– Complete all tasks, even if unpleasant.
– Understand dress code or uniform guidelines.
– Maintain personal hygiene.
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
– Be friendly and polite.
– Respect supervisors and co-workers.
– Respond appropriately to customer requests.
– Ask for feedback.
– Take constructive criticism.
– Resolve conflicts calmly and appropriately.
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Communication Skills
– Read and understand written materials.
– Listen, understand, and ask questions.
– Follow directions.
– Express ideas clearly when speaking or writing.
– Learn required technology and use appropriately.
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
– Accept change.
– Be willing to start, stop, and switch duties.
– Work calmly in busy environments.
– Start tasks without prompting.
– Ask questions to solve problems do job better.
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Teamwork
– Be comfortable working with people of diverse
backgrounds.
– Be sensitive to other peoples' needs.
– Take responsibility for own share of work.
– Contribute to team goals.
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Ethics and Legal Responsibilities
– Take responsibility for own decisions and actions.
– Understand and follow company rules and
procedures.
– Be honest and trustworthy.
– Act professionally and with maturity.
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Career Development
– Learn new skills and take on different projects.
– Serve on work committees.
– Take initiative and work with little supervision.
– Understand your industry and common business
practices.
– Align your work goals with the mission and vision
of your employer.
– Understand the different roles of co-workers.
Transferable /
Employability Skills
• Leadership
– Coach and mentor others.
– Be willing to take risks.
– Be able to negotiate.
– Motivate and direct people as they work.
– Demonstrate efficiency.
– Seek to simplify processes.
– Save time or money for the company by analysing business
needs.
– Build partnerships and teams with co-workers.
Example
Job title: Description: What you need Skill type
(work/hobby to do, and skills required Technical Transferrable Personal
/sport)

Example: Food preparation *

Housewife
Washing *
Cleaning *
Driving a car *
Childcare skills *
Budgeting *
Organising *
Planning *
Multitasking *
Prioritise tasks *
Reliability *
Trustworthy *
Work unsupervised *
Homework 1: Assessing
Your Skills
• Based on your chosen career, prepare a table to
categorise the job descriptions into three (3);
technical / occupational skills, transferable /
employability skills, and personal skills.
• You can refer to the example given previously.
• You have seven (7) days to complete this homework.
Please submit it before the deadline.
Let’s watch this video…
• What type of employee are you?
See you next week…