Career Life Connections

Career Research Project

PLANNING YOUR CAREER

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Step 1
Finding out what careers are available for you to explore with your personal goals and
interests. Go to

1. Career Cruising at www.careercrusing.com (ID: Tweedsmuir Password:

Careers)
2. Careerinsite www.careerinsite.alberta.ca and create your personal account.
3. My Blue Print and create a login

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Step 2
Go to the know yourself section and take ALL the self-assessment quizzes. It is
important to do all the quizzes to get a full picture of your interests and a more accurate
assessment of your interests.

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Answer all the questions to the best of your ability giving thought to your own personal
values and idea’s.

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When you have completed all the tests you will be able to go to the “my career plan
section” and see what occupations have been recommended for you. You can click on
any of the occupations in this section and explore the possibilities for each.

Once you have completed all the quizzes and have an idea of what is being suggested
for you go to Education Planner (https://www.educationplannerbc.ca/) and WorkBC
(http://www.workbc.ca/)

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RESEARCH AT LEAST 3 CAREERS.
At least 1 career must be from the suggested list at careerinsite.

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The second career can be from there or any other career you may be interested in that
might not have appeared on your list.

The third career must be in the trades area.

Go to the ITA – Industry Trade Authority (Ihttp://www.itabc.ca/) and

Discover Skills BC (http://discoverskillsbc.ca/)

Go to http://alis.alberta.ca/videoplayer/player.aspx and view the video’s for your

suggested occupations.

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Answer the following for EACH of the three careers.

CAREER ONE
Name: Harneet Mangat

Career Name: Pharmacist

1. Education required and or recommendations: A Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy
is required.
2. Suggested Post-Secondary Institutions: SFU, UBC, and University of Toronto.

3. Cost of training in Canadian $ (full program cost for all years): 25,322 for 4 years.

4. Salary range: The median average salary is 99,000.

5. Job description: Pharmacists fill prescriptions based on the doctor’s instructions on the
proper amount of medication to give to the patient. They are also expected to see
whether or not the patient is taking any other medication or has a medical condition that
can interfere with the prescribed medicine. They also need to give the patient details
about the dosage, potential side effects, advice on diet and exercise, and other medical
advice.

6. Number or people employed in this occupation (indicate whether the number refers to BC
or Canada) 46,000 BC or Canada (circle one)

7. Employment prospects: the employment prospects for pharmacists is really good (three
stars) for BC. Employment is supposed to grow 6 percent from 2016-2026.

8. Related Jobs (list at least 3):

Pharmacy Technicians
Pharmacy Informaticist
Clinical Pharmacist

9. Skills or characteristics required: Analytical skills, Communication skills, Computer

skills, Detail oriented, and managing skills.

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10. Disadvantages of occupation: You must be very careful, as even the slightest error in
dosage could be fatal for a patient. There may not be set hours, and you are on your feet
for long periods of time.

11. Describe how your values, skills and interests relate to this career option: I am very
detail-oriented. I also enjoy being able to work with others. I would like to have a job in
the medical field and also enjoy helping others ,

12. What courses and grades are needed to enter this occupation? English 12 with 70%,
Pre-Calculus 12 with 67%, Bio 12, Chem 12 or Physics 12. For grade 11 you need a
language 11, chem 11, physics 11, and pre-calculus 11.

13. Working conditions: They work in pharmacies, including the ones in drug stores and
grocery stores, or in hospitals and clinics. They spend most of their time on their feet.

14. Typical hours of work: Pharmacist usually have 40 hour work weeks. It is also common
for them to work over night as most pharmacies are open 24/7. Most work 8 hours a day,
but retail pharmacist work 12-14 hours.

15. Describe what has influenced your choice of this occupation: Pharamcists have
reasonably good hours, and good pay, which is a major influence in my choice, but I also
wanted to be working in the medical field to help others outside of the hospital.

16. What are the future trends of this occupation: Pharmacy revenues are shifting from
traditional brand-name drugs to specialty drugs, new technology is increasing to aid
pharmacists with medicine dispensing, and improved health care networks.

17. Go to Work BC Website (http://www.workbc.ca/) and Education Planner

(https://www.educationplannerbc.ca/) list 2 points of information you felt were important
and were not covered.

1. Before you can do the pharmacy degree, you will need 60 transferable credits.
2. There are other degrees that require more education, such as a masters and
doctoral.

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CAREER TWO

Name: Harneet Mangat

Career Name: CPA Accountant

18. Education required and or recommendations: University education is required. A

diploma in Accounting or Bachelor of Business (or Commerce) could also be required.

19. Suggested Post-Secondary Institutions: BCIT, KPU, and UBC

20. Cost of training in Canadian $ (full program cost for all years): $28,434

21. Salary range: The median salary is around $60,000

22. Job description: Accountants do a range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting
tasks. Their clients include corporations, governments, and individuals and they work
with financial documents that clients are required by law to disclose.

23. Number or people employed in this occupation (indicate whether the number refers to
BC or Canada) 230600 people BC or Canada (circle one)

24. Employment prospects: There is a two star outlook for accounting in BC, which is okay,
but not the best compared to other provinces. Employment is expected to grow 10
percent from 2016-2026.

25. Related Jobs (list at least 3):

• Cost Accountant
• Finacial Reporting Accountant
• General Accountant

26. Skills or characteristics required: Analytical skills, Communication skills, Detailed-

oriented, Math skills, and Organizational skills.

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27. Disadvantages of occupation: An accountant could easily lose their reputation in the
market due to making errors on financial reports, if you have accountants working with
you in a company or under you and they make a mistake, they could possibly have to
pay 3% of charges for that mistake.

28. Describe how your values, skills and interests relate to this career option: I am a very
focused person and although math isn’t my favourite subject, I would not mind doing
math every day.

29. What courses and grades are needed to enter this occupation? At least 70% in English
12 and 11, Pre-Calculus 12 and 11, a language 11 and a science 11. Other courses
should be related to math are social studies.

30. Working conditions: They work in offices, from home, or travel to their clients homes.
Their work is fast paced and can be stressful. They usually work alone but could work in
teams for companies.

31. Typical hours of work: They usually work around 45 hours a week, but during tax
season they could work up to 60-70 hours a week.

32. Describe what has influenced your choice of this occupation: I have family members
who have this job, so it interested me. I also can see myself going into business,

33. What are the future trends of this occupation: Accounting technology is increasing to
perform more accurate data reports at a higher speed. Data and Process Automation is
the most dominant trend, which improves the reliability and integrity of the data.

34. Go to Work BC Website (http://www.workbc.ca/) or Education Planner

(https://www.educationplannerbc.ca/) and list 2 points of information you felt were
important and were not covered.

1. Tuition and living expenses are important to keep in mind, I think while I am
attending university, I will be working part time.
2. Self-employment could be for some, but not for all, you should take some time to
strategize if you are thinking of self-employment.

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TRADES CAREER
Name: Harneet Mangat

Career Name: Hairstylist

35. Education required and or recommendations: 2-

3 year apprenticeship program or completion of a
college in hairstyling combined with on-the-job
training is required
36. Suggested Post-Secondary Institutions: College
of the Rockies, Vancouver community college
37. Cost of training in Canadian $ (full program cost
for all years): $2067

38. Salary range: The median salary in around

$30,000
39. Job description: Hairstylists, cut, shampoo,
colour, and style hair. They also advise their
clients how to take care of their hair at home.
They also keep records of products they use and
services for their clients such as treatment,
colour, shampoo and conditioner. They often use
curling wands, blow dryers, straighteners,
scissors, and hair brushes.

40. Number or people employed in this occupation

(indicate whether the number refers to BC or
Canada) 37200 BC or Canada (circle one)
41. Employment prospects: There is a two star
outlook in BC which is not bad compared to other
provinces. Employment is expected to grow 13%
from 2016-2026.

42. Related Jobs (list at least 3):

• Hairdresser
• Barber
• Cosmetologist

43. Skills or characteristics required: Creativity, Customer-Service skills, Lisrtening skills,

Physical Stamina, Tidiness, and Time-Management Skills.

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44. Disadvantages of occupation: Lack or health insurance and benefits. You never know
how much you are going to make, paying rent for the salon, have to provide some of
your products for customers, dealing with different customers.

45. Describe how your values, skills and interests relate to this career option: I enjoy doing
different hairstyles, and styling hair different ways. I would also love working with other
people or meeting new people every day, so you don’t get bored at your job.I am a good
listener and I can manage my time well.

46. What courses and grades are needed to enter this occupation? You need to Graduate
highschool, and it,s good to have experience at a salon.

47. Working conditions: They can work at salons, spas, hotels, resorts, or open up their
own shops.

48. Typical hours of work: They will usually work 40 hour work weeks. Although stylists with
their own shops are usually working longer hours.

49. Describe what has influenced your choice of this occupation: I love seeing hair
transformations on social media, especially hairstylists who do different hair colours and
know how to dye hair correctly without damaging the hair too much.

50. What are the future trends of this occupation: The Hairstylist industry was doing very
well this year and is expected to in the future years. Social media has really influenced
lots of people and has been an easy tool to publicize.

51. Go to ITA http://www.itabc.ca/ or the Discover Skills BC Website

http://discoverskillsbc.ca/ and list 2 points of information you felt were important and
were not covered.

1. You will be required to have lots of hours of Practical Training.

2. There are many steps and things to learn, such as how to sanitize your tools
properly, and safety procedures to learn before becoming a hairstylist.

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