Research Report #5
A Model for Career Decision Making

Career Decision Making – Importance to You

Making a decision about what career to pursue is of great importance. You should devote considerable time to making a decision. The SM-14 model, guide, or system will keep you on the right pathespecially when it is involved with career decision making. Using it avoids stumbling or just using chance.

Remember this quote from Brain Power by Karl Albrecht (1980):

“The typical human life seems to be quite unplanned, undirected, unlived, and unsavored. Only those who consciously think about the adventure of living as a matter of choices among options, which they have found for themselves, ever establish real self-control and live their lives fully.”

Here is how to follow SM-14 in choosing a career. Use it with the full explanation of the stages on this site.

Career Decision Making Stage 1 – Curious Observation

First, it is important to be curious and make observations about yourself in deciding your career. Base your inquiry on what you like to do. What jobs have you always found appealing or been curious about? What jobs do you think are challenging? What have you always wanted to do?

Second, a career-conscious person always keeps an eye out for possible career opportunities, literature, fairs, classes, and other leads. This alertness should become second nature.

Career Decision Making Stage 2 – Is There a Problem?

At this stage, try to pinpoint the problem. Is your problem “What career shall I choose? Or “What career information should I study to prepare for the time when I’m ready to make a decision?” What are my natural abilities? When defining your problem, there are other considerations besides finding a way to earn money. There are your goals in life and what you can contribute to make this world a better place in which to live.

Career Decision Making Stage 3 – Goals and Planning

Your goal is to choose a career by making a study of various careers and analyzing yourself to see which ones suite your talents and emotional requirements. Start now! Plan early for your career.

Complete a list of desirable careers. This will reduce the scope of your search. Review basic principles for planning.

Investigate the type of education and training required. Prepare a plan of action and things to do for each ingredient.

Career Decision Making Stage 4 – Search, Explore, and Gather the Evidence

Develop a passion for learning about various careers. Read stage 4 in the full explanation of SM-14 on this site. The helpful guidance will aid in you to search, explore, and gather evidence. Build up a list of tentative careers. Use a notebook page for each one to make notes. Back it up with a folder on each career or category. Keep records of which books, periodicals, or websites have the best information about specific careers.

Career Decision Making Stage 5 – Generate Creative and Logical Alternative Solutions

While gathering information, build your list of tentative career choices. Make only minor evaluations at this stage so that the size of your list is practical. Do not fully evaluate or judge your choices yet.

There is not just one job that is right for you. There are many careers in which a person can be successful and happy. Consider creating your own career. There are many successful people who made their own job by filling a need not currently being met.

Career Decision Making Stage 6 – Evaluate the Evidence

Now work on a better evaluation and weigh the evidence for each career on your tentative list. Take a systematic approach. Prepare a spreadsheet. If a computer is available, use it. Establish criteria such as money, personal appeal, physical suitability, education required vs. cost, etc.

Rate each career on your list by a scale or grade you devise. You might have to do more research to properly grade them. Experiment by spending a day on a job in the chosen fields or working in community service.

Career Decision Making Stage 7 – Make the Educated Guess (Hypothesis)

After reviewing your spreadsheet, make an educated guess. Usually you have only one hypothesis, but in the case of career choice you may want to research several careers. Then, over a period of years you must constantly review and compare.

Write your hypothesis in statement form. Explain the reasoning that supports your choice. For each career, prepare predictions about earnings, education time, job enjoyment, service to society, etc.

Career Decision Making Stage 8 – Challenge the Hypothesis

Challenge your hypothesis by trying out your career choice. Suggestions:

While experimenting with your career choice, make observations and ask questions. Continue to search for evidence.

Career Decision Making Stage 9 – Reach a Conclusion

Okay, you made a choice and you challenged it. Does it still appeal to you? How do you like this career field? Does it appear to be the best possible choice? Why or why not? Summarize what you have learned.

If you do have second thoughts or doubts about your choice, remember that in using SM-14 there is a lot of backtracking, jumping, and skipping. Perhaps you should go back to the exploration stage and begin again.

Career Decision Making Stage 10 – Suspend Judgment

Keep an open mind and be willing to accept new information regarding your career choice.

For example, if new career forecasts predict an oversupply of employees in your field, or while you were doing volunteer work you discovered aspects you didn’t like, you should reconsider. Go back to stage 4 to renew your search.

Consider cross-training; be able to pursue several different careers.

Adaptability will be essential in the fast-changing times ahead.

Career Decision Making Stage 11 – Take Action

Anticipate action – plan ahead! The action you take depends on your grade level or stage of life. If you will soon graduate from high school, you must apply at selected colleges. If you expect to enter the workforce, you must investigate which companies offer the best opportunities. Whether you are college bound, changing careers, or entering the workforce, remember that some action should be taken.

Career Decision Making Supporting Ingredients:

Creative, Non-logical, Logical, and Technical Methods

Procedural Principles and Theories

Attributes and Thinking Skills

For information on the supporting ingredients, see the description of SM-14.

By including these supporting ingredients, the SM-14 formula reflects the whole system of science and the system of the complete method of creative problem solving and decision making.

For teaching students and for general understanding of the scientific method, we need to properly identify the working, action, effective, and applied methods that produce actual results. These are used under the first eleven stages of SM-14. “Methods” as used here include such elements and auxiliary actions as:

There is no exact line dividing types of methods, as one type often blends into another.

Additional Helpful Information on Careers:

•    Libraries – Check your school and county library for career books.
•    Internet – There are many sites offering information.
•    SM-14 – Will be a tremendous help if you ever decide to change careers.
•    Intuitive base – The more career information you retain in memory, the more precise your career decision will be.
•    Day on the job – Arrange to spend a day “on the job” in types of careers in which you are interested. Participate in Career Day or Week activities.

Watch and take advantage of: