- ZHS Newsletter Volume 9 #45 06/29/09
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- A look ahead @ ZHS:
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- 6/29 GC open summer hours Monday’s 8:00-9:00 am
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- 6/30 Pathfinders Hike
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- 7/02 ASB Work Day 7:00-5:00
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- 7/04 Independence Day
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- 7/06 GC open summer hours Monday’s 8:00-9:00 am
- Pathfinders Hike
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- 7/08 ASB Work Day
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- 7/09 ASB Work Day
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- 7/10 ASB Work Day
- YV Tech Summer School ends
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- 7/13 GC open summer hours Monday’s 8:00-9:00 am
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- 7/15 Pathfinders Hike @ North Cascades Trail
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- Summer Guidance Hours: Mondays in June and July the ZHS
Guidance Center will be open from 8:00-9:00 am to assist students
and parents, and also post secondary schools, military, etc as
needed I will also check my email
griffin_j@zsd.wednet.edu once a day during June and July.
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- ZHS Office Closed Until August. If you have business
that needs addressing please call the District Administration Office
at 829-5911. If you have fines/fees to pay and wish to get your
grades/transcripts, take care of this at the Administration Office.
ZHS will resume regular business hours August 10.
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- Skyward Family Access: Skyward Family Access has been
disabled for the summer. It will be reactivated in August and you
will have to come into complete your registration paperwork to get
your new log in and password account information.
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- Basics of College Planning from
Talbots Planning Book online
www.talbotsbook.com/ by Scott White, Director of Guidance
at Montclair High School
- in Montclair, NJ. Preparing to go to college is one of the most
anxiety producing times in the lives of students and their parents.
For students, it is one of the most significant steps toward
independence and adulthood. For both the parents and student it can
be a period of great uncertainty, stress, and sometimes, frustration
- This year, many high school students
and their parents will attend college fairs. These are wonderful
places to learn about a variety of colleges across the country.
Before you go you should be thinking about what kind of college
might interest you. Some things to consider are:
- 1. What size school do you prefer: small (less than 2,000
students), medium (2,000 to 5,000), large (5,000 to 12,000), or very
large (more than 12,000 students)?
- 2. Do you want to be in an urban, suburban, or rural area?
- 3. What part of the country would you prefer: northeast, south,
midwest, or west?
- 4. If you already have an idea of what your major will be, does
the college offer a strong program?
- 5. Would you prefer a small, liberal arts college; a
comprehensive college (medium size with liberal arts and
pr-professional majors); or a university (usually larger with
separate colleges and offering graduate study).
- 6. Are there certain things that will limit your search, such as
a diverse student body, study abroad program, fraternity/sorority
participation, cost, particular student activities, cooperative
education?
- Many other factors will affect your
decision. But it is most important to decide these global factors
first. One question that may come to mind is, “How do I know what I
want when I don’t know the difference between, for example, life at
a large vs. a small college?” There are five sources of information
to aid you.
- Guidance offices: One of your best
sources of information about colleges is your guidance counselor.
Unfortunately, many high schools don’t provide enough counselors to
properly work with all the students, usually because of budgetary
restraints. In those schools it is even more important to form a
close relationship with a counselor as early as possible. It’s up to
you to make sure your counselor knows enough about you to help guide
you toward appropriate colleges.
- College guides: There are two basic
types of college guides: the objective, factual guides
- provide necessary information and are generally quite reliable
but rarely give you a “feel” for a college; the subjective,
anecdotal guides give you a sense of the intangibles of a college or
of college life. You can find these in any bookstore or library.
- College viewbooks: The spring of your
junior year is a good time to get on college mailing lists. You can
write a note to the college with your name, address, potential major
and specific information you want to know (e.g. sports, financial
aid, etc.), or you can sign up at a college fair. The first piece
you’ll receive is the college viewbook, their marketing piece.
- College websites: If you have access
to the web, use it for your college search. The nice thing is you
can usually get answers to specific questions. You can find the
college by keying
- in some form of its name followed by .edu.
- Visits: Visits are excellent ways of
exploring different kinds of colleges (size, location, setting,
etc.) and getting a “feel” for the college atmosphere. Other things
to consider that affect college life are student/faculty ratios
(although that can be misleading depending on how many teaching
assistants are counted), average class size (this can be misleading
too depending on the number of labs and lectures), and the number of
PhD’s on the faculty (again, potentially misleading if the PhD only
does research or teaches only graduate students).
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- 10 Tips for Successful Career Planning by Randall S. Hansen,
Ph.D. Career
planning is not an activity that should be done once -- in high
school or college -- and then left behind as we move forward in our
jobs and
careers. Rather, career planning is an activity that is best
done on a regular basis -- especially given the data that the
average worker will change careers (not
jobs) multiple times over his or her lifetime. And it's never
too soon or too late to start your career planning.
- Career planning is not a hard
activity, not something to be dreaded or put off, but rather an
activity that should be liberating and fulfilling, providing goals
to achieve in your current career or plans for beginning a
transition to a new career. Career planning should be a rewarding
and positive experience. Here, then, are 10 tips to help you
achieve successful career planning.
- 1. Make Career Planning an Annual
Event
Many of us have physicals, visit the eye doctor and dentist, and do
a myriad of other things on an annual basis, so why not career
planning? Find a day or weekend once a year -- more often if you
feel the need or if you're planning a
major career change -- and schedule a retreat for yourself. Try
to block out all distractions so that you have the time to truly
focus on your career -- what you really want out of your career, out
of your life.
- By making career planning an annual event, you will feel more
secure in your career choice and direction -- and you'll be better
prepared for the many uncertainties and difficulties that lie ahead
in all of our jobs and career.
- 2. Map Your Path Since Last Career
Planning
One of your first activities whenever you take on career planning is
spending time mapping out your job and career path since the last
time you did any sort of career planning. While you should not dwell
on your past, taking the time to review and reflect on the path --
whether straight and narrow or one filled with any curves and
dead-ends -- will help you plan for the future. Once you've mapped
your past, take the time to reflect on your course -- and note why
it looks the way it does. Are you happy with your path? Could you
have done things better? What might you have done differently? What
can you do differently in the future?
- 3. Reflect on Your Likes and Dislikes,
Needs and Wants
Change is a factor of life; everybody changes, as do our likes and
dislikes. Something we loved doing two years ago may now give us
displeasure. So always take time to reflect on the things in your
life -- not just in your job -- that you feel most strongly about.
Make a two-column list of your major likes and dislikes. Then use
this list to examine your current job and career path. If your job
and career still fall mostly in the like column, then you know you
are still on the right path; however, if your job activities fall
mostly in the dislike column, now is the time to begin examining new
jobs and new careers. Finally, take the time to really think about
what it is you want or need from your work, from your career. Are
you looking to make a difference in the world? To be famous? To
become financially independent? To effect change? Take the time to
understand the motives that drive your sense of success and
happiness.
- 4. Examine Your Pastimes and Hobbies
Career planning provides a great time to also examine the activities
you like doing when you're not working. It may sound a bit odd, to
examine non-work activities when doing career planning, but it's
not. Many times your hobbies and leisurely pursuits can give you
great insight into future career paths. Think you can't make a hobby
into a career? People do it all the time. The great painter Paul
Gauguin was a successful business person who painted on the side. It
actually wasn't until he was encouraged by an artist he admired to
continue painting that he finally took a serious look at his hobby
and decided he should change careers. He was good at business, but
his love was painting.
- 5. Make Note of Your Past
Accomplishments
Most people don't keep a very good record of work accomplishments
and then struggle with creating a powerful
resume when it's time to search for a new job. Making note of
your past accomplishments -- keeping a record of them -- is not only
useful for building your resume, it's also useful for career
planning. Sometimes reviewing your past accomplishments will reveal
forgotten successes, one or more which may trigger researching and
planning a career shift so that you can be in a job that allows you
to accomplish the types of things that make you most happy and
proud. For more about accomplishments, read:
Tracking and Leveraging Accomplishments.
- 6. Look Beyond Your Current Job for
Transferable Skills
- Some workers get so wrapped up in their job titles that they
don't see any other career possibilities for themselves. Every job
requires a certain set of skills, and it's much better to categorize
yourself in terms of these skill sets than be so myopic as to focus
just on job titles.
- For example, one
job-seeker who was trying to accomplish career planning found
herself stuck because she identified herself as a reporter. But once
she looked beyond her job title, she could see that she had this
strong collection of transferable skills -- such as writing,
editing, researching, investigating, interviewing, juggling multiple
tasks, meeting goals and deadlines, and managing time and
information -- skills that could easily be applied to a wide variety
of jobs in many different careers. For more about transferable
skills, read:
Transferable Skills.
- 7. Review Career and Job Trends
Everyone makes his or her own job and
career opportunities, so that even if your career is shrinking,
if you have excellent skills and know how to market yourself, you
should be able to find a new job. However, having information about
career trends is vital to long-term career planning success. A
career path that is expanding today could easily shrink tomorrow --
or next year. It's important to see where job growth is expected,
especially in the career fields that most interest you. Besides
knowledge of these trends, the other advantage of conducting this
research is the power it gives you to adjust and strengthen your
position, your unique selling proposition. One of the keys to job
and career success is having a unique set of accomplishments,
skills, and education that make you better than all others in your
career. For more about researching careers, review our
Career Research Checklist.
- 8. Set Career and Job Goals
Develop a roadmap for your job and career success. Can you be
successful in your career without setting goals? Of course. Can you
be even more successful through goal-setting? Most research says
yes. A major component of career planning is setting short-term (in
the coming year) and long-term (beyond a year) career and job goals.
Once you initiate this process, another component of career planning
becomes reviewing and adjusting those goals as your career plans
progress or change - and developing new goals once you accomplish
your previous goals.
- 9. Explore New Education/Training
Opportunities
It's somewhat of a cliche, but information really does lead to power
and success. Never pass up chances to learn and grow more as a
person and as a worker; part of career planning is going beyond
passive acceptance of training opportunities to finding new ones
that will help enhance or further your career. Take the time to
contemplate what types of educational experiences will help you
achieve your career goals. Look within your company, your
professional association, your local universities and community
colleges, as well as online distance learning programs, to find
potential career-enhancing opportunities -- and then find a way
achieve them.
- 10. Research Further Career/Job
Advancement Opportunities
One of the really fun outcomes of career planning is picturing
yourself in the future. Where will you be in a year? In five years?
A key component to developing multiple scenarios of that future is
researching career paths. Of course, if you're in what you consider
a dead-end job, this activity becomes even more essential to you,
but all job-seekers should take the time to research various career
paths -- and then develop scenarios for seeing one or more of these
visions become reality. Look within your current
employer and current career field, but again, as with all
aspects of career planning, do not be afraid to look beyond to other
possible careers.
- Final Thoughts on Career Planning
Don't wait too long between career planning sessions. Career
planning can have multiple benefits, from goal-setting to career
change, to a more successful life. Once you begin regularly
reviewing and planning your career using the tips provided in this
article, you'll find yourself better prepared for whatever lies
ahead in your career -- and in your life.
- Find this article helpful? There are
plenty of other great career planning articles in this section of
Quintessential Careers:
Career Planning Articles.
- Questions about some of the
terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions
and links) on key college, career, and job-search terms by going to
our
Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
- Dr. Randall S. Hansen is founder of
Quintessential Careers, one of the oldest and most comprehensive
career development sites on the Web, as well CEO of
EmpoweringSites.com. He is also founder of
MyCollegeSuccessStory.com and
EnhanceMyVocabulary.com. He is publisher of
Quintessential Careers Press, including the Quintessential
Careers electronic newsletter,
QuintZine. Dr. Hansen is also a published author, with several
books, chapters in books, and hundreds of articles. He's often
quoted in the media and conducts empowering workshops around the
country. Finally, Dr. Hansen is also an educator, having taught at
the college level for more than 15 years. Visit his
personal Website or reach him by email at
randall(at)quintcareers.com.
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- ZHS-ZHS-ZHS-ZHS ZHS-ZHS-ZHS-ZHS
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- ZHS Questions & Answers:
If you have a question about Zillah High
School and/ or a guidance related question, please contact me.
When the question would be of interest to others I will post them
here anonymously. Send your questions to
griffin_j@zsd.wednet.edu
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- Q. Can we use the BEP website of the Yakima Chamber of
Commerce for Job Shadow experiences for PEARLS this summer?
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- A. No the BEP website job shadow services through the YCC
end in May each year. You will remember that this was announced
many times via the ZHS daily bulletin, newsletters, special intercom
announcements and the ZHS master calendar of events.
- All is not lost however. All ZHS students are
required to do at least 1 job shadow in a career of interest prior
to October 1 of their senior year. You are also encouraged to try a
couple of other job shadows in careers of interest prior to the
senior year. You can arrange job shadows on your own during the
summer. You do not have to rely on the BEP-YCC to set this up for
you.
- Often I am asked can I just do a job shadow with my
parent? While you can, we would like you to consider that you
already know a lot about your parents careers. Even if that is a
career you wish to also enter, we would like to have you shadow
someone else. This way you can get the chance to experience the
career through the experiences of people other than your parents.
It will be more valuable for you to get this “second opinion”.
- Still another job shadow question is can I just do
any job shadow to meet the requirement or are their special
considerations for approval? The answer to this one is that the
only condition is that the job shadow must be done in a career area
that you are serious about doing yourself, once you complete your
post secondary training. So if you want to be a lawn care
specialist or landscaper, it is fine to schedule a job shadow with
someone in that area, even interviewing your summer job employer if
you are doing summer landscaping. What is not approved is to do
this landscaping job shadow when you want to be an chef or plumber
or physical therapist. You should seek out the desired careers.
- So this usually leads to a couple of other questions
such as how long does the job shadow need to be, are there forms to
complete and how do I schedule one on my own?
- To answer these I would tell you that
as an example job shadows can run from a 1 hour interview with a
doctor to spending the entire day with a lawyer or architect.
Someone may spend 4 hours with a mechanic or 2 hours with a chef
during lunch rush. It all depends on the individual you shadow.
You can work out the details.
- You can find all the job shadow forms
at the website
www.zillahschools.org/PEARLS
- Finally you can call and arrange your
own job shadows. If you want to job shadow a veterinarian or a
dental hygienist, why not call your family vet or dental clinic and
ask to schedule a time? Sometimes people are busy and they can only
give you a time for a interview, while others will put you to work
on the job to experience things. It all varies. What if you want
to job shadow a judge or an accountant, but don’t know any? Talk
with family or friends to see if they can refer you to someone.
Usually there is some way to identify a professional in this career
area. These are only examples. Work with your parents on this.
Often parents have a stronger network to tap into for help with job
shadow placements.
- Remember the whole idea regarding job
shadows is for you to do research on a career, using things like
WOIS and then experience the career “in action”, to ask questions
and determine if this is truly your career goal. Once that has been
established we can work with you to find the best source of
post-secondary training and also help you tailor your classes at ZHS
to help reach your goals. This is why we strongly recommend that
students do these as sophomores and early in the junior year.
Waiting until September of the senior year, just because it is due
prior to October 1 does not help you.
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- Q. Since some of us students work during the day we can not
leave our summer job to come into the Guidance Center to work on
PEARLS or get help. Can you move your hours to evenings so that we
can come in after work?
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- A. I tried evening office hours several summers ago.
They did not show any need as only one or two people ever dropped in
or scheduled an appointment. For the past 20 or so years, overall
the first few weeks in summer in the mornings showed the greatest
demand for guidance services. I am not opposed to coming in on say
Monday evenings, but there has to be a need. I check my ZHS emails
once a day and yours is the first to ask about evening
appointments. At this time I will keep the Monday morning office
hours and if need be on a case by case basis, I will try to assist
those who need help at other times. Please realize any help during
this time is all a special service from the ZSD to the families. It
is not required and few if any other schools in the state offer this
service of convenience. Please try to work within these parameters
so we can assist you.
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- Q. Why do you update the bulletin and calendar pages during
the summer? There is not much going on is there?
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- A. While there may not be much “going on” during the
summer, there are activities and updates that come in and I do my
best to communicate that out to our families. The methods of course
are this newsletter, the ZHS Bulletin (which goes from Daily to
Weekly in the summer)
http://www.zillahschools.org/ZHS/bulletin.htm and our calendar
of events
http://www.zillahschools.org/ZHS/calzhs.htm. Thank you for
noticing that we do indeed try to keep you informed throughout the
year, not just during school time.
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- Keep informed:
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a.
ZHS Daily Bulletin:
www.zillahschools.org/ZHS/bulletin.htm
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b.
ZSD News:
www.zillahschools.org/news
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c.
ZHS Monthly Calendars:
www.zillahschools.org/ZHS/calzhs.htm
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d.
ZHS Alumni & Supporters:
www.zillahschools.org/zhsalumni
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This is the latest issue of the
Zillah High School Parents Email Newsletter. This newsletter service
is open to all ZHS student sand their parents and grandparents, ZHS
Alumni, Zillah Community Boosters, and ZSD Staff in an attempt to
enhance communication between school, home and the community.
Usually a news update is sent each week. To
unsubscribe to this newsletter, email
griffin_j@zsd.wednet.edu with your request.
-
-
John
Griffin
-
griffin_j@zsd.wednet.edu
- Guidance Counselor
- Academics/Careers/Post Secondary
- Zillah High School
- 1602 Second Avenue
- Zillah, WA 98953-9682
- Phone: 509-829-5565 Fax:
509-829-5285
- http://www.zillahschools.org/ZHS
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