Investigating Jobs

What jobs are there?

How to decide if a particular job is right for you can be a difficult decision. If you have already reviewed your skills and preferences through a test on the web or looked at the self reflection workbook (51 KB), you may want to find out more about how you will fit with a particular job.

Learning about jobs and careers is similar to learning about yourself. The more you know, the better position you are in to make a decision. Investigating a role helps you to understand;

• what will be expected of a role in the work place
• the work undertaken in the role
• the type of interactions the role has with people
• the challenges of the role
• the skills, experiences and/or qualifications the role may need
• the type of environment it works in, or
• the values of the work area

If you are ready to find out more about the types of jobs and careers available, you may have reached this point either through reflecting on you skills or after having completed further tests, interviews or research. If you are at this point, you have the opportunity to explore different career options or learn how to build on what you are currently doing. Putting time into researching jobs which interest you, will offer you the most informed choice, and will enable you to more accurately plan the skills you will need.

Researching particular jobs can be done in a number of ways, including:

• Talk to people currently doing the job. You may need to go outside your immediate work area to find the right person to talk to.
• Check out the library
• Hop on the Internet, bookmark the Employment opportunities page on the Careers at Deakin website. You can get an idea of the jobs that are being advertised and it provides you with the chance to read position descriptions. Position descriptions will give you a good idea about what a job requires and the scope of the role. If you would like to know more, phone the contact person to ask more detailed questions.
• Speak to your supervisor/manager/senior staff.
• See the Career Development & Employment group in Division of Student Life

When you are exploring possible roles, develop a list of what is required in the role alike to the self reflections workbook you have developed.