“CAREER PASSPORT FOR ALL” NAME: ____________________________________

BEAVER LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL

Ohio Career Passport:
CAREER GOAL NARRATIVE

updated: 4-18-02
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Having a "Career Goal Narrative" is important for many reasons!
first - the research you do to get all the information on the career will help you decide
if it really is an area you want to explore as a possible future career
second - it helps you organize your thoughts on your current career goal
third - if it is well written it might fit the criteria for a college or scholarship essay

Of course the first step is to find a career to research!
We always start this process with an "Interest Inventory" of some kind. There are many on the market,
some are quite expensive. We use a simple one-page vocabulary/phrase list. In it you rate each word/phrase
as a 0,1,2, or 3 depending on how much interest you have in that area.

Then you add up all the numbers that were beside an "R - realistic" word/phrase, then we do the same for
the "I - investigative", "A - artistic", "S - social", "E - enterprising", and "C - conventional" words.

From this you find the 3 letters we scored the highest in - this results in a "Holland Code" which we use to
narrow down career choices to a more manageable size! You get list of careers that match your 3-letter
Holland Code to investigate, careers that you have an "interest in".

After you look through the lists, you choose a few to research on the internet or in career and college
books. You then choose one that you want to use as your main interest right now and a secondary one
to use as a back up!

Then you are ready to start your "Career Narrative".

In the CAREER GOAL NARRATIVE (which must be double-spaced and typed) you will EXPLAIN
YOUR main CAREER GOAL and HOW and WHY you have decided on it at this time. It is a ONE
PAGE support or reflection, written by each student that DEFINES their CAREER GOAL, and explains
their NEXT STEP after HIGH SCHOOL. You also must include a short paragraph (one or two lines), a
PLAN "B" that must be included at the end because we all need alternate plans in case our first plans
do not work out!

To write the Career Narrative use:
- Good CRITICAL THINKING skills. Admissions Officers and Potential Employers want to
know that this was not a "SNAP" decision and that it is a thought out Plan! And it helps
them see if your SKILLS and ABILITIES match your Career Goal! (example: Student with
a GPA of 1.901 & an ACT of 12 is not a good match at this time to become a Heart Surgeon.)

- Good WRITING SKILLS. It also gives them a sample of your writing. Communication is
very important and good writing skills are needed in every career and/or college!

- Good OBJECTIVE DATA. Such as:
*ACT/SAT scores (also PLAN, PSAT and ASVAB scores if available
*results of CAREER ASSESSMENTS
*actual WORK EXPERIENCE, COMMUNITY SERVICE, or VOLUNTEER WORK in Career Area
*CLUB/ORGANIZATION memberships in Career Area
*INTERNSHIPS, *JOB SHADOWING, *MENTORSHIPS in Career Area.
*Highlight GRADES in courses that support Career Goal.

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CAREER GOAL NARRATIVE

(name)

After I graduate from high school my plans are to ______________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________

If my first career goal doesn’t become a reality I would like to pursue a career in the

field of _________________________________________________________ because

_____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

(you can also use some of the following to begin or your own beginning:
My main career goal is to ……..
I plan on achieving this goal by ……….. I know this is a good career match for me because my
Holland Code is __ __ __ and this means……
etc! :)
Try your best! Good Career Narratives can also be used for some scholarship and college essays! :)