Q–R

Quality control specialist
Quality engineer
Rabbi
Radio announcer
Radio producer
Radiologic (X-ray) technician
Radiologist
Reader
Real estate developer
Realtor
Receptionist
Recording engineer
Recreational director
Recruiter
Referee
Registrar
Rehabilitation therapist
Reporter
Research assistant
Researcher
Reservations agent
Respiratory therapist
Restaurant manager
Restoration architect
Restorer
Retail manager
Roboticist
Roofer

S

Safety inspector
Sales agent
Sales person
School nurse
School psychologist
Science teacher
Science writer
Scientist
Scout
Screenwriter
Seamstress
Securities trader
Security officer
Sheet-metal worker
Seismologist
Set designer
Shop steward
Singer
Ski instructor
Skip tracer
Social worker
Sociologist
Software developer
Sound mixer
Special events director
Speech pathologist
Speechwriter
Sports agent
Sportscaster
Statistician
Stockbroker
Store detective
Stunt person
Surveyor
Systems engineer

T

Tattoo artist
Tax analyst
Tax attorney
Teacher
Technical writer
Theater manager
Tool and die maker
Tour guide
Tour operator
Toy designer
Trainer
Translator
Travel agent
Travel clerk
Trucker
Trust officer
Typist

U–V

Ultrasound technician
Underwriter
Upholsterer
Urban planner
Urologist
Utility worker
Veterinarian
Veterinary technician

W–Z

Waiter
Webmaster
Wedding consultant
Welder
Wildlife conservationist
Woodworker
Writer
Youth counselor
Zookeeper
Zoologist

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N

Nanny
Naprapath
Naturalist
Navigator
Neurologist
Neuropsychologist
Newspaper columnist
Newspaper editor
Newspaper publisher
Newspaper reporter
Newswriter
Nuclear engineer
Numerical control (NC) machine-tool operator
Nurse
Nurse-anesthetist
Nurse-consultant
Nurse educator
Nurse-midwife
Nurse’s aide
Nursing home administrator
Nutritionist

O

Obstetrician
Occupational health and safety
inspector
Occupational therapist
Oceanographer
Office manager
Operations manager
Ophthalmologist
Optician
Optometrist
Oral surgeon
Organizational psychologist
Osteopath
Otolaryngologist
Outplacement consultant
Outreach worker

P

Painter
Paleontologist
Paralegal (Legal assistant)
Park ranger
Parole officer
Party planner
Pathologist
Patient representative
Pawnbroker
Payroll clerk
Pediatric nurse
Pediatrician
Penologist
Personal injury attorney
Personal shopper
Pharmacist
Pharmacy technician
Photogrammetrist
Photographer
Photojournalist
Physical therapist
Physician
Physician assistant
Physicist
Physiologist
Piano tuner
Pipe fitter
Plumber
Podiatrist
Poet
Police officer
Political scientist
Politician
Preschool teacher
Priest
Producer
Professor
Program analyst
Program director
Proofreader
Property manager
Prosthetist
Psychiatrist
Psychoanalyst
Psychologist
Psychometrist
Public affairs specialist
Public relations representative
Publicist
Publisher
Purchasing agent

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G

Game designer
Gamekeeper
Gardener
Gemologist
Genealogist
General contractor
General manager
Genetic counselor
Geneticist
Geodetic surveyor
Geographer
Geologist
Geophysicist
Geriatric nurse
Geriatric social worker
Gerontologist
Glass blower
Glazier
Government chief executive
Graphic artist
Graphic designer
Groundskeeper
Guidance counselor
Gynecologist

H

Health care administrator
Health care worker
Health educator
Health physicist
Historian
History teacher
Home inspector
Horse trainer
Horticultural therapist
Horticultural worker
Hospice worker
Hospital administrator
Host
Hotel clerk
Hotel manager
Housekeeper
Housekeeping supervisor
Human resources director
Human resources representative
Hypnotist

I–J

Illustrator
Image consultant
Immigration attorney
Importer
Industrial engineer
Industrial hygienist
Information specialist
Information systems consultant
Inspector
Installer
Instructional designer
Instructor
Insurance broker
Interior designer
International meeting planner
Interpreter
Interviewer
Inventor
Investigator
Investment banker
Ironworker
Janitor
Jeweler
Job counselor
Journalist
Judge

L

Labor attorney
Labor relations specialist
Laboratory technician
Landscape architect
Landscape gardener
Law librarian
Lawyer
Legal assistant
Legislative aide
Legislative analyst
Legislator
Librarian
Linguist
Literary agent
Loan officer
Lobbyist
Lyricist

M

Machinist
Magician
Maintenance engineer
Make-up artist
Management consultant
Manager
Manufacturer’s representative
Map editor
Marine biologist
Marine geologist
Marketing assistant
Marketing communications director
Marketing research analyst
Massage therapist
Materials scientist
Mathematician
Mechanical engineer
Media relations specialist
Mediator
Medical assistant
Medical examiner
Medical illustrator
Medical photographer
Medical records clerk
Medical social worker
Medical technologist
Mental health worker
Metallurgist
Meteorologist
Microbiologist
Military (enlisted)
Military officer
Minister
Model
Mortgage broker
Mortician
Motivational speaker
Motorcycle mechanic
Music therapist
Musical instrument repairer
Musician
Musicologist
Mycologist

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Self-assessment is an important part of the career choice process, but it is also essential
to marry that assessment to your understanding of a dynamically changing job market.
The following list is designed to increase your knowledge of job possibilities. Read
through the list and circle job titles that interest you. If you are not familiar with a particular
job title (but would like to learn more about it), put a question mark next to that
particular title as a reminder to do some research.

A
Accountant
Accounting clerk
Activities therapist
Actor
Actuary
Acupuncturist
Addictions counselor
Administrative assistant
Adult education instructor
Advertising executive
Aerobics instructor
Agent
Air traffic controller
Airline pilot
Analyst
Animal trainer
Animator
Anthropologist
Antique dealer
Appraiser
Archaeologist
Architect
Archivist
Art dealer
Art director
Art teacher
Art therapist
Artist
Artist’s representative
Astrologer
Astronomer
Athlete
Athletic coach
Athletic director
Athletic trainer
Attorney
Auctioneer
Audiologist
Author
Auto dealer
Automotive body repairer
Automotive mechanic
Aviation engineer
Aviation mechanic

B

Bail bonding agent
Baker
Banker
Barber
Bartender
Beautician
Belly dancer
Biochemist
Biogeneticist
Biological weapons expert
Biologist
Biology teacher
Biomedical engineer
Bodyguard
Book binder
Book editor
Bookkeeper
Botanist
Brand manager
Bricklayer
Broadcast journalist
Broadcast technician
Building contractor
Building inspector
Building manager
Bus driver
Business home economist
Buyer

C

Cake decorator
Candy maker
Captain
Cardiologist
Career coach
Career counselor
Carpenter
Cartographer
Cartoonist
Cashier
Caterer
Chauffeur
Chef
Chemical engineer
Chemist
Chemistry teacher
Child care worker
Child psychologist
Child welfare worker
Chiropractor
Chocolatier
Choreographer
Cinematographer
City manager
Civil engineer
Civil engineering technician
Claims adjuster
Climatologist
Clinical psychologist
Clown
College admissions officer
Columnist
Comedian
Comedy writer
Commercial artist
Commodities trader
Communications consultant
Community activist
Community educator
Community relations director
Competitive intelligence analyst
Compliance officer
Composer
Comptroller
Computer equipment repairer
Computer game tester
Computer graphics artist
Computer operator
Computer security specialist
Computer systems analyst
Conductor
Conservationist
Conservator
Construction worker
Consultant
Convention/conference planner
Cook
Copy writer
Coroner
Corrections officer
Cosmetologist
Costume designer
Court reporter
Credit analyst
Credit officer
Criminologist
Cross-cultural trainer
Croupier
Cruise director
Curator
Customer service representative
Cytotechnologist

D

Dance choreographer
Dance teacher
Dance therapist
Dancer
Data processing operator
Data processing supervisor
Day care director
Dean
Dental assistant
Dental hygienist
Dentist
Design engineer
Designer
Detective
Development officer
Diamond cutter
Diesel mechanic
Dietitian
Diplomat
Director
Disc jockey (Announcer)
Dispatcher
Distance education instructor
Diver
Diving instructor
Dog groomer
Dog trainer
Dog walker
Dollmaker
Drafter
Drama coach
Dramateur
Dressmaker
Driver

E

Ecologist
Economist
Editor
Educational administrator (Principal,
Superintendent)
Educational psychologist
EEG technologist
EKG technician
Electrical/electronic engineer
Electrician
Elementary school teacher
Emergency medical technician
Employee assistance counselor
Employee benefits specialist
Engineering technician
Engraver
Entertainer
Environmental attorney
Environmental educator
Environmental engineer
Environmentalist
Ergonomics engineer
Estimator
Evangelist
Examiner
Excavator
Executive assistant
Executive coach
Executive recruiter
Executive secretary
Exercise physiologist
Exporter

F

Facilities engineer
Family life educator
Family therapist
Farm manager
Farm operator
Fashion designer
Fashion illustrator
Financial analyst
Financial director
Financial planner
Firefighter
Fisher
Fitness instructor
Flight attendant
Floral designer
Florist
Food scientist
Food service supervisor
Food service worker
Foreign service officer
Forensic accountant
Forensic pathologist
Forensic psychologist
Forest ranger
Forester
Freelance writer
Fundraiser
Furniture designer
Furrier

Read More...

For those readers who are interested in a more objective form of self-assessment, it often
makes sense to invest in vocational testing. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

1. There is no perfect test that is right for everyone. The goal of vocational
testing is to help you understand yourself better in order to make better career decisions.
When choosing the right test for you, you need to find a comfortable format
as well as the right content.

2. Tests make more sense when interpreted by experts. Experts are familiar
with what the results mean and can help you figure out how to make the best career
decisions based on that information. If you aren’t familiar with the range of tests
available, seek out the services of a qualified career counselor to help you make that
determination and interpret the test results.

3. There is no perfect answer. A test will not provide you with the “perfect
answer” to your career choice questions. It can only provide guidelines to help you
discover the best answers for yourself. Although it’s understandable to want a test to
tell you who are and what you should do, the real value of tests is exploratory. A
good test can provide new insights and ideas.

4. If one is good, then two (or three or four) are better. Take a variety of
tests in order to get a more comprehensive picture of your skills, interests, preferences,
and personality style. When you take a whole series of tests, you are in a better
position to identify overlapping and complementary themes.

5. Tests are designed to facilitate self-knowledge, not replace it. No test
results should ever be treated as gospel if they don’t seem accurate to you. They
can’t provide easy answers to serve as a substitute for genuine soul-searching. Trust
your intuition. Always listen to your heart.

6. You are more complicated than your test results. While test results can
seem uncannily accurate, they are always, at best, approximations of who you are.
Rather than viewing them as a complete picture of yourself, use them as a basis for
further exploration.

Read More...

Although you may not get everything you want, it is important to determine your work
priorities and negotiate for the things that are more important to you.
Put a check mark next to the conditions that you consider non-negotiable (in other
words, your must-haves).

____ short commute
____ casual work environment
____ flexible schedule
____ private office
____ job security
____ reasonable hours
____ on-site day care facility
____ employee parking
____ company car
____ performance bonuses
____ nice offices
____ liberal vacation policy
____ sick leave
____ insurance benefits
____ on-the-job training
____ fast pace
____ holiday pay
____ room for advancement
____ privacy
____ state-of-the-art technology
____ tuition reimbursement
____ family leave policy
____ good working conditions
____ professional working environment
____ other __________________
____ other __________________
____ other __________________

Read More...

One of the most popular personality profiles is the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, which
uses four dimensions of personality to help individuals determine their specific personality
type.

Extraversion Introversion

Extraversion (E) means that you Introversion (I) means that you are
are energized by the outer world of energized by and relate more easily to
people rather than the inner world the world of ideas.
of ideas.

Sensing iNtuition

Sensing (S) means that you prefer Intuition (N) means that you prefer to
to work with concrete, practical work with possibilities and relationships
facts and are oriented toward rather than facts.
the present tense.

Thinking Feeling

Thinking (T) means that you base Feeling (F) means that you base your
your judgments on impersonal judgments more on personal values and
analysis and logic. feelings than objective analysis.

Judging Perceiving

Judging (J) means that you prefer a Perceiving (P) means that you prefer a
planned, orderly, structured way of flexible, spontaneous way of life and may
life and are often results-oriented. be more process-oriented.

Read More...

Recognizing your values is an important part of the self-assessment process. Review
the following work-related values and rate them 1-5 (with 1 being most important and
5 being least important).

____ money
____ job security
____ autonomy
____ affiliation with people you like
____ safe working conditions
____ location
____ benefits
____ interesting work
____ making a contribution
____ innovation and creativity
____ opportunities for advancement
____ professional development
____ recognition
____ challenge
____ power
____ flexibility
____ work–life balance
____ growth
____ variety
____ leadership
____ challenge
____ meaning
____ technical competence
____ prestigious organization
____ resources
____ other__________________
____ other__________________
____ other__________________

Read More...

Psychologist John Holland developed a well-known classification system that you can use
to organize your thinking about your interests. He believed that most people can categorize
their interests according to six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social,
Enterprising, and Conventional.

A review of these categories may help you define your strongest areas of vocational interest.
Keep in mind that most jobs and occupations combine aspects of several interest categories
instead of falling under the exclusive domain of any one category.

✔ Realistic: Individuals with realistic interests prefer activities that involve working
with tools, machinery, or animals. They often enjoy working with their hands and
being outdoors. Typical realistic jobs include engineers, machinists, and farmers.

✔ Investigative: Investigative people are usually analytical, methodical, precise,
and curious. They enjoy solving complex mathematical problems, scientific inquiry,
and research. Typical investigative careers include biologists, mathematicians,
research scientists, and physicians.

✔ Artistic: Artistic individuals are often creative, non-conforming, original, and
introspective. They tend to like flexible, unstructured environments that value
innovation and creativity. Typical occupations include artists, writers, designers,
and musicians.

✔ Social: People with social interests enjoy helping and teaching others. They are
often social workers, counselors, teachers, and bartenders.

✔ Enterprising: Enterprising individuals are often drawn to the business world. They
enjoy influencing, persuading, and leading others for the purpose of economic or organizational
gain. Salespeople, attorneys, and managers are often enterprising types.

✔ Conventional: People with conventional interests enjoy working with data and
paper. They are often drawn to jobs or professions with high levels of administrative
activities, such as accountants, secretaries, and administrators.

Read More...

To determine your best career choices, you must be able to identify and build on your
skills and abilities. In the following checklist, I ask you to give more thought to those
dimensions of yourself. Rate yourself Excellent, Good, or Fair on each skill and then
choose your top ten skills in each area.

SKILLS WORKING WITH PEOPLE

Acting
Advising
Advocacy
Arbitration
Clarifying
Client/customer relations
Coaching
Collaborating
Communicating
Conflict management
Consulting
Counseling
Creating synergies
Debating
Decision-making
Delegating
Demonstrating
Developing people
Diplomacy/tact
Directing
Effecting change
Entertaining
Facilitating
Helping others
Hosting
Influencing
Initiating
Instructing
Interrogating
Interviewing
Leadership
Listening
Litigation
Managing people
Mediation
Mentoring
Monitoring
Motivating
Negotiation
Nurturing
Performing
Placating
Policing
Promoting
Public speaking
Recruiting
Representing
Sales
Socializing
Supervising
Teaching
Team-building
Training

SKILLS WORKING WITH PEOPLE

Accounting
Analyzing
Appraising
Assessing
Auditing
Bookkeeping
Budgeting
Calculating
Cataloguing
Charting
Classifying
Compiling data
Computer programming
Conceptualizing
Creating
Designing
Drafting
Drawing
Driving
Editing
Evaluating
Experimenting
Financial planning
Fund-raising
Forecasting
Formulating policy
Hypothesizing
Interpreting
Inventing
Investing
Machine operation
Mechanical aptitude
Planning
Policy analysis
Policy development
Problem analysis
Problem-solving
Program design
Program development
Project design
Project development
Project management
Reading blueprints
Reducing costs
Regulating
Reorganizing
Researching
Reviewing
Scheduling
Spatial relations
Surveying
System analysis
System design
Testing
Troubleshooting
Typing
Using tools

Read More...

Rule 1: Motivation is the key to success.

The key to understanding personal motivation is in knowing what energizes you—
what kinds of activities, people, places, and situations are personally stimulating and
fulfilling—and then capitalizing on those motivations.

Rule 2: Success takes hard work.

Success takes preparation and hard work. Thomas Edison once remarked, “A genius is
a talented person who does his homework.” Bill Gates was a computer geek before he
was catapulted into the limelight. Michael Jordan was a hardworking and determined
high-school and college athlete before he became one of the greatest athletes of all time.
These men are rich, but they devoted themselves to their work, have been willing to work
hard, and haven’t been daunted by failure.

Rule 3: Learn from your mistakes.

Success depends on learning from mistakes and overcoming challenges.
It’s not enough to be ambitious. The world is filled with ambition, and the path to success
is littered with discarded dreams and disillusioned people who never achieved the
recognition or success they felt they deserved.

Rule 4: Follow your dreams.

Missions are the values or dreams that drive super-achievers to pursue excellence.

Rule 5: Honor your talents.

When Harvard University psychologist Howard Gardner conducted his landmark
research on multiple intelligences, he opened the door to a fuller understanding of human
potential. In contrast to society’s traditional emphasis on verbal and analytical abilities as
the pinnacle of intelligence, Dr. Gardner put forth a more expanded vision that includes
linguistic, musical, spatial, kinesthetic, emotional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences.
Understanding yourself as a multifaceted individual with many talents and possibilities
enables you to expand your vision of your own career potential.

Rule 6: Manage yourself.

There’s no direct correlation between success and mental health. You don’t have to be
a nice person to be successful. You can win the rat race and still be a rat. But if you
manage yourself well, you can win the rat race without turning into a rat. This involves
developing a good working relationship with your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Rule 7: Take calculated risks.

Most of us were raised with rules and know the consequences of disobeying them. But
if those rules have taught you that it’s dangerous to take risks, you are limiting your
rewards. When building a career in the competitive work world, you must be willing to
take risks to reap the rewards you seek. Successful risk-taking involves knowing your risk
tolerance. What many otherwise ambitious careerists fail to realize is that not taking a
risk is also a risk. There’s a risk involved in not trying, and along with the risk of failing,
there’s the risk of regret.

Read More...

1. Honor your talents, interests, and values.
2. Choose a career that matters to you.
3. Build more competence every day.
4. Learn from your mistakes.
5. Seek out mentors whom you respect and admire.
6. Be an individual performer and a team player.
7. Strive for visibility.
8. Accept responsibility for your successes and your failures.
9. Keep things in balance and perspective.
10. Cultivate a supportive network of people for the good times and the bad.

Read More...