Finance

Lately in our Career Exploration class we have researched the Finance Cluster. The two careers I choose from this cluster were tellers and insurnance sales agents. These two careers were both similar and different in theri own types of ways. A big thing both careers shared was having to know a lot about customer and personal service. No one would want to buy an insurance plan with someone who didnt have a lot of social skills, or if they were always in a bad mood. Also, you want a person with good customer service as a teller so you can talk to them to cash your checks and recieve checks. They both also shared the work stlye of paying attetnion to detail. If you go to a teller to desposit a check you hope that they give you the right amount and mess it up. Tellers need to always have the exact amount of money or the result could be bad. Insurance Sales Agents also need to pay attention to detail so when soemthing goes wrong they know where their problem is. The work values relationships and independence were shard by both careers as well. Although they have their similarities, they also had some major differences. The projected growth was drastically different for the two careers. For a teller the growht was only -2% to 2%, while an insurance sales agent the growth was faster than average 20% to 28%. Another big differnece between the two was their salary. The annual wages for a teller was $24,940 while an insurance sales agent was $48,150. The insurance sales agent is alomst double then what the tellers was. Also, it is good to have a Bachelor's Degree for an insurance sales agent while only a high school diploma, or equivalent for a teller. After doing this research I concluded that I could see myself pursuing a career in finance. I love to work with money and I like the idea of working in one set spot such as a teller. Im excited to see what the future has in store for me and if I will have a career in the Finance cluster.

Government adn Public Administration

This week in our Career Exploration class we researched out of the Government and Public Administration cluster. The two careers I choose were Political Scientists and Tax Preparers. Although they have their similarities, the two careers both shared some differences as well. Aside from their differneces they had quite a few similariteis. One thing they both share in common is that they both have to a very vast knowledge of Law and Government. Without knowing about Law and Government you couldn't achieve things in these jobs. As well as Law and Government both jobs share these qualities: english language, customer and personal service, active learning, reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing, near vision, oral expression, and writing comprehension. These jobs are also very differnet from each other. One big differnece is there wages. For a Political Scientists they make $49.04 hourly and $102,000 annually. While a Tax Preparer only makes $16.22 hourly and $37,900 annually. Another major difference is the education required. You have to have a higher education to be a Political Scientist, most have a doctoral or professioal degree. A Tax Preparer though only needs to have a high school diploma or equivalent. As well as wages and edication there projected growth is different as well. A Political Scintists projected growth is only 3% to 9%, while for a Tax Preparer their growth is 10% to 19%. I think this cluster is very intresting but I could not pursue a job very well. The careers in this cluster do not really appeal to me as some of the other careers. But, without these careers we would have no government and the world would be quite different.

Weekly Status

This week in my Career Exploration class we had a very busy week. On Monday we researched two careers out of the Education and Training cluster. Followed up by sharing about them on Tuesday. I feel that getting to research two careers of our choice out of a cluster really helps us get an idea about that cluster. I think that the researching is fun becuase you are learning new things about careers you didnt know before. On Tuesday we shared about the two careers similarties. I think this helped us realize that most careers have a few things that they share in common while some are drastically differnent. On Wednesday we were required to finish one career in the Agriculture cluster. This again is making our knowledge grow in the many diffeent careers in the world. Next, on Thursday we side stepped and went back to True Colors. During true colors we found out which color was our dominant one and which one was last. We then filled out a paper better helping our understaning of a career that was our lowest color. My lowest color was a green and I found it that none of those jobs seemed to intrest me. WHat I did find out though was that my oragne somewhat reflects on to the green as well. This week has been quite a lerning experience for me and hopefully it was for the rest of the class.

Arts, Audio-Video Technology and Communications

Last week we researched two careers out of the Arts, Audio-Video Technology and Communications. The two carrers I choose were film and video editors and set exhibit designers. Film and video editors edit moving images on film, video, or other media. They may edit or synchronize soundtracks with images. The tasks they have to be able to do are to organize and string together raw footage into a continuous whole according to scripts or the instructions of directors and oreducers. They also have to review and assemble films or edited videotapes on screens to determine if corrections are necessary. To be a film and video editor you have to know about communications and media, computers and electronics, production and reasoning, english language, and customer and personal service. A film and video editor needs at least a Bachelor's Degree in school. The hourly pay is $24.66 and the annual pay for California is $81,800. I think this job would not be a good fit for me becuase I cannot stare at a sceen for too long becuase I get bored easily and my eyes start to hurt. The next carrer I choose was a set and exhibit designer. They design special exhibits in movie, television, and theater sets. They also study scripts, confer with directors, and conduct research to determine appropiate architectural styles. Some taskes for this job include examining objects to be included in exhibits in order to plan where and how to display them. They plan for location issues such as space limitations, traffic flow patterns, and saftey concerns. To be a set and exhibit desinger you must know about design, fine arts, administration, comunications and media, and computers and electronics. The minimum education required is a Bachelor's Degree. The hourly pay is $24.18 and the annual for California was $58,400. I think a set and exhibit desinger fits my personality more because I like the elements of design and I think it would be a fun and exciting carrer to pursue.

My True Colors

Yesterday we took an assesment about what our True Colors were. We recieved a booklet that had columns describing different descriptions of characteristics. When we finished totaling the cloumns we got to see what our colors were in order. My colors went in the order of orange(23),blue(16),gold(11),and green(10). When I read the descriptions of each card at the beginning of class I thought I was going to defintley be an orange. My results seem to be correct by a lot. The orange card read: witty,charming,spontaneous,generous,physical,eager. I need to be "hands on"; I like to play games and compete and to perform. I enjoy flexibility, changes of pace, and variety. This defintion I think is a perfect way to sum up my emotions and the way I act. My second color was blue with a score of 16. Although your first color might be your dominat one your second color really effects on how you act. The blue really shows through my orange at times. The blue card read: enthusiastic,sympathetic,personal. I like to be happy and loving. I love intimate talks and warm feelings. My blue shows through quite a lot for me. I love being surrounded by people I love, like my family adn freinds. I'm also very sensetive when it comes to rejection and conflicts between my family and freinds. I always want to be outgoing and acitve with my orange, but at the same time I want everyone to get along and just be surrounded by love.

True Colors

Our Career Exploration class is learning about True Colors. The true colors are four different colors that mean different things. Blue means loving and calm, green means they want to help you learn and they want to learn, orange means energetic and outgoing, and yellow means they always have to have everything go a specific way. Mr. Dundas I say is the color yellow. This is because he always has to have class go a certain way and to stay on task. Mrs. Rigdon I think is orange. I think this becuase she is very, very energetic and makes every moment she can in class count. Mr.Tripp on the other hand though I think he is green. He always is trying to learn new things musically and wants to help teenagers learn as well. The last teacher is Mr. Boyars. I think Mr. Boyars is blue. He is alwasy calm and is never angry. Some of my friends are different though. My friend Hannah is defintely orange. She is very crazy and always energetic. My friend Ali though is very blue. Whenever I need a freind to talk to or someone to make my day better I know she always will be able to. Ivy is yellow. She is very compettive and wants to always be on the winning team. She is very organized as well and likes things to go a certain way. My last friends would be Kamryn. Kamryn I feel is very green. She alwasy likes to learn new things and is always rather calm. I can't wait for Monday to come to see what my true colors are!

Business, Management, and Administration

The two careers I choose from the Business Management and Administration cluster were Medical Secretaries and File Clerks. Medical Secretaries perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge or medical terminology. These duties may include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compilling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence. The skills needed are: spekaing, active listening, service orientation, reading comprehension, social perceptiveness, and speech clarity. To become a medical secretarie you need at least some college, but no degree. As well as some college you need one or two years of experience, or on-the-job training. My second carrer I choose was File Clerks. File Clerks file correspondence cards, invoices, receipts, and other records in alphabetical or numerical order. File Clerks also locate and remove material from file when requested. The skilld needed to become a filr clerk include: reading comprehension, active listening, speaking, time management, writing, information ordering, and personal service skills. In order to be a file clerk you need at least a high school diploma or equivalent. As well as a high school diploma you need two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training.

Learning Styles

In my career exploration class we recently took a survey on Carrer Crusing. This survey, or assessment, told us what our learning style is. After I finished my assessment I found out my learning style, or how I learn the best, and my results wer tactile. Tactile means that I learn the best with hands-on-activities. This means many differnt things to me. This means to me that I'd rather have a teacher or instructor let me experiment with my hands and get to mkae things instead of just listening or watching someone. Being tactile also impacts my learning. When I go into class and all teachers do is talk or lecture us about a topic I tend to zone out. No matter how hard I try I can't keep my focus on them no matter how hard I try. This could result in me getting bad grades on my homework assignments, test grades, and to some extremes, even on my report card. One positive impact though can be when teachers do provide with tactile activities. This is one of the best possible outcomes for me. I actually can understand what the teacher is saying and I get to experiment and use my hands to help me. There are a few ways I can use this learning style to make things easier in high school and beyond. One way is now that I know I'm a tactile learning I can start looking at what classes I want to take throughout the rest of my highschool year. I can now figure out what classes involve a lot of hands-on-activities and which ones do not. I probably wouldn't enjoy going to a class such as Algebra, but maybe I would perfer going to a foods class where you can learn by mixing and practicing with the food. This also means that I can sort of eliminate some careers. Since my style is tactile I could choose a job with hands-on-experience. I though the assessment was very useful and now I can carry out the information that I learned.

Architecture and Construction

The past two months our Career Exploration class has been researching out of the 16 career academies. We currently researched from the catergory of architecture and construction. The two jobs I choose were landscape architects and glaziers. The two jobs are drastically different but also share some similarities. Landscape architects plan and design land areas for projects such as parks, schools, hospitals, and recreational facilities. They also get to prepare site plans, specifications, or cost estimates for land development. To be a landscape architect you at least need a bachelor's degree. On the other hand, glaziers install glass in windows, skylights, store fronts, and display cases, or on surfaces, such as building fornts, interior walls, celiings, and table tops. As well as installing windows they also read and interpret blue prints or specifications to determine size, shape, color, type, or thickness of galss. To become a glazier you must have a high school dipoloma or equivalent. Some similarities between the two occupations was that you have to have a lot of knowledge on building and construction. If you tried to design and make a new landscape it would be rather hard if you didnt know how to build or construct it. You wouldn't even know where to begin. It also would be hard for glaziers. If you didn't know how to construct, you surely wouldn't be able to install a window. I think that researching these academies is very important. Although we are only freshman we need to have a good idea on which pathway we want to take in life. By researching out of the 16 academies we can have a good idea on which ones we like and which ones we don't. I already can tell that I don't want to be a glazier, but a landscape architect might seem intresting to me. I think that by researching these careers will help us get a better understanding on what we will do with our lifes in the future.

STEM similarities

This week we researched the STEM catergory. My two careers that I choose from this catergory were Aerospace Engineers and Electronic Drafters. To be in the STEM category your occupation has to deal with either science, technology, electronics, or math. First off, Aerspace deals with both engineering and technology mainly. Also, Electronic Drafters deal with engineering and technology as well. These tie both careers into the STEM catergory. One way the two occupations are similar is that you have to always have a very close attention to detail. If you build a plane and don't pay attention to what you're doing the end result could be deathly. Or if you don't pay attention when desiging a wiring diagram the final product could end up not functionin properly. They both also deal a lot with mathematics and computers and electronics. Their projected growth is also the same, which is slower than average, 3 to 9 percent.

STEM

I think the teachers here at PCHS would name one of the four academies STEM and not any other academie for a few reasons. My fist reason is simply becasue the STEM (science, technology, engeering, and math)career pathway is very important for students knowledge. Society has changed over the years and it's getting harder and harder for students coming out of school to get jobs. People hiring are now looking for those people with more knowledge and more abilities than than have years in the past. This is why it is important for students to learn STEM in school so they can suceed in getting a job. In 20 years technology is going to be much more advanced, therfore us students need to learn about that. Also, most jobs if not all require some knowledge in the STEM category. You can't be an accountant without knowing math, or you can't be a scientist if you don't know science.If we didn't have the STEM catergory our job options would be very slim and most people probaly would not enjoy their job. Another reason I think the teachers only choose to keep STEM the same name and not the rest is because STEM is very straghit forward. The other academies involve many different pathways and can be switched around in years to come. The STEM catergory though can only involve a certain criteria. If the teachers were to change the name what would they change to? It would be difficult to find a name for the STEM catergory because it already makes enough sense the way the name is. If the name changed it would start getting complicated to understand. I think the teachers and staff here at PCHS made a great decison by keeping STEM the only career cluster that matches exactly with one of PCHS's Academies.

Connecting

By doing these researches I'm starting to find some connections. One is that in most of the careers if not all of them, you have to know how to write and read very well. Most jobs now a days you have to be able to write flunetly and have a good knolwedge on the correct way to write. Also, Illinois salaries tend to be less than the U.S salary. This maybe because Illinois is one of the poorest states in the U.S. These are just a few of the connections we have made so far with lots of more to come.

Welcome to Career Exploration

Career Exploration is a class where we research and learn about all the different careers and their clusters. This is going to help us learn about what we might want to do in the future and what we don't want to do in the future. We are going to blog about all the differnt careers we research to make it even more interesting, so enjoy!