Assess
Knowing yourself or the ability to evaluate yourself are important in choosing a career, as they help you choose your path based on your unique personality, skills, interests, and values. And the earlier you do this, the fewer the years of unnecessary frustration that can result from choosing a career that does not fit with the above factors.
Self-assessment is also important for discovering new pathways that you may not have previously noticed, as you can use this information to open up to careers of a different kind. In addition, self-knowledge can help you identify weaknesses, so that you pursue appropriate exercises to mitigate the impact of your weaknesses on your future career, and to strengthen your current skills.
During a self-assessment, you gather information about yourself to make a career decision, and this begins with understanding four key elements:
- Character: "Who am I?" This includes your traits, your incentives, your needs, and your attitudes.
- Interests: “What do I like and dislike to do?” Such as electronic games, sports, and spending time with friends.
- Skills: “What am I good at?” such as writing, computer programming, and teaching.
- Values: “What is important to me?” such as the things you want to achieve, positions, and independence.
The goal is for you to be able to come to these answers and clearly understand how the four elements relate to your profession, and that is what we seek to help you achieve in this section of our website.
Explore
The second step in career planning is to explore and research your options. Exploration takes your self-assessment a step further, helping you narrow down the possibilities and orient yourself toward a particular career.
Career exploration is an important step, as by exploring the world of work, you will be able to identify occupations and jobs that best fit your skills, interests, values, and personality. It is best to start career exploration during or after defining your professional preferences through a self-assessment.
“Mehnati” offers videos that describe a variety of technical careers, explain career paths, offer possible options, and guide you through the decision-making process. In addition, you can go further and do the following:
- Talk to professionals who work in jobs that interest you.
- As a student, conduct interviews with employers, where you ask them questions and receive tips for entering the career field.
- Practice job shadowing, a way of observing professionals at work or accompanying them like their shadows. Sometimes it only lasts an hour or two, and at other times it can last a day or more.
- Participate in the activities organized by vocational and technical schools and universities on the specializations they have.
After you've done your initial research, you can start cutting out occupations that you don't like and getting additional details about the ones you like.
Develop
The third step in planning your career is to improve your skills to match the profession you want. This is an added value to your career path and future workplace.
Improving your skills is an essential part of your career development. The skills you choose to work on might be the ones you need to build now for future success (such as good behavior during future job interviews) or to develop in your current studies (such as research skills, writing, etc.)
If you focus on improving them one by one, you will be better prepared to enter the professional world through the wide door. In this context, the "Mehnati" team is constantly working on studying the requirements of the labor market, in terms of the skills and qualifications required and missing among technical graduates. In parallel, it shares with you, valuable tips, videos, and information about the labor market, so that you can learn about them and develop your skills in the right direction.
Plan
Here you plan the steps you need to take to put your future project into action. Use everything you've learned about your skills, interests, and values, as well as the information you've gathered about the world of work, to create your plan. During this step, you will write a career business plan, which will serve as a guide to your ultimate goal of getting a job in the profession that you consider suitable for you. Determine the long-term and short-term goals that you need to achieve to reach your end goal.
Start by asking yourself the following questions:
- What are the procedures or steps that will help me achieve my goals in work, training, and career?
- Where can I get help?
- Who will support me?
“Mehnati” shares a selection of articles and videos related to these points, and it has produced videos to help you prepare for entering the labor market and to apply for jobs. The website provides you with a CV template, which you can fill out and upload to get a good CV. Our HR and Capacity Building experts have worked together to share with you all the necessary information and advice to help you better prepare.
Finally, schedule a one-on-one meeting with the Career Guidance and Employment Office at your school. During these appointments, the concerned specialist will talk with you about your career goals, questions and concerns, and outline career assessments and tests that may be of use to you. Ultimately, they will be by your side to help you integrate into the job market and identify vacancies.