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.