Career Life Connections

Career Research Project

PLANNING YOUR CAREER
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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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project
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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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project
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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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project
RESEARCH AT LEAST 3 CAREERS.
At least 1 career must be from the suggested list at careerinsite.

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 (2-Year Medical/Technical Career)

Name: Ewan Moncalieri

Career Name: Animal Health Technologist (2-year Medical/Technical)

1. Education required and or recommendations: Animal Health Technology Diploma_____

2. Suggested Post-Secondary Institutions: NAIT, Olds College, ABVMA

3. Cost of training in Canadian $ (full program cost for all years): $13,000

4. Salary range: $35,000 – $125,000

5. Job description: Animal health technologists assist veterinarians with their daily duties.
They also diagnose and help treat both companion pets, and livestock.

6. Number or people employed in this occupation (indicate whether the number refers to
BC or Canada) 2,100 BC or Canada (circle one)

7. Employment prospects: Animal Health Technologists are not heavily in-demand, but
seeing as how they can assist Veterinarians, they are always useful.

8. Related Jobs (list at least 3):

 Pet Groomer and Animal Care Worker

 Veterinarian
 Agriculture Technologist

9. Skills or characteristics required: Love and interest for animals, interest in medicine,
ability to work under pressure, and able to work as a team.

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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project
10. Disadvantages of occupation: Dealing with animals in critical conditions, dealing with
blood and bodily fluids, and may have to tell bad news to owners.

11. Describe how your values, skills and interests relate to this career option: My family has
3 cats at the moment which I deal with on a daily basis. Ever since a young age, I’ve had
a cat, and my extended family have owned pets as well. Throughout my whole life there
has been a pet. I am also interested in a STEM-related field, and this job falls right into
this category.

12. What courses and grades are needed to enter this occupation? Foundations of
Mathematics 11, Chemistry 11, Life Sciences 11, Anatomy 12, English 12. All these
courses need a C+ minimum. _______________________

13. Working conditions: Emergency call out work may be required. Stress is a major aspect,
having to deal with hurt animals being put down is a big issue for people.____________

14. Typical hours of work: Typical hours are about 40 to 50 a week based on the clinic you
work at.

15. Describe what has influenced your choice of this occupation: My love for pets
throughout my whole life, and the fact it is in the general scope of what I want to go into
education-wise makes this job a viable option.

16. What are the future trends of this occupation: This job is expected to have roughly 610
new openings in the next 10 years. That is a total +3.3% in openings.

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. The need for good computer skills.

2. Could possible work in a zoo, or other non-clinic locations.

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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project
CAREER TWO (Dream Career)
Name: Ewan Moncalieri

Career Name: Aerospace Engineer

18. Education required and or recommendations: Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace

Engineering _____________________________

19. Suggested Post-Secondary Institutions: UFT, McGill University, University of Windsor

20. Cost of training in Canadian $ (full program cost for all years): $56,000

21. Salary range: $80,000 - $131,000

22. Job description: Research, develop, and design aerospace components, vehicles, and
systems. Perform duties and testing on aerospace vehicles, systems, and components.

23. Number or people employed in this occupation (indicate whether the number refers to
BC or Canada) 300 BC or Canada (circle one)

24. Employment prospects: Aerospace Engineers are not in-demand at the current
moment, the need for employment is small, due to the specific specialization. You may
need to travel to other countries for hiring.

25. Related Jobs (list at least 3):

 Mechanical Engineer
 Electrical Engineer
 Aircraft Mechanic

26. Skills or characteristics required: Intelligence, determination, intuitive, and precision.

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27. Disadvantages of occupation: Getting into this career is very hard, and the work can
get very precise due to the importance of what’s being made. Stress can affect certain
people.

28. Describe how your values, skills and interests relate to this career option: I have an
interest in engineering, and STEM-related things in general. This career is very hard to
get into, and I don’t think I could deal with the work load.

29. What courses and grades are needed to enter this occupation? At least a 70% in
English, Advanced Functions, Physics, Chemistry, and Calculus 12.

30. Working conditions: Work is typically done in a structured environment, such as an

office workplace.

31. Typical hours of work: Hours are on a regular day-time schedule. This career does not
go weird with the hours and days.

32. Describe what has influenced your choice of this occupation: This job falls into the
STEM category, which is an area I am interested in, and this job deals specifically with
an area of engineering that can make big advancements for exploration, which is
something that I would love to take apart of.

33. What are the future trends of this occupation: This job is going to have roughly 90 job
openings in BC, with a +1.4% forecasted employment growth in the next 10 years.

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. Work is done on planes, and other plane-like vehicles, not just rocket ships.

2.

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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project
CAREER THREE (Realistic Career)
Name: Ewan Moncalieri

Career Name: Mechanical Engineer

35. Education required and or recommendations: Bachelor of Engineering

36. Suggested Post-Secondary Institutions: BCIT, UBC, and SFU

37. Cost of training in Canadian $ (full program cost for all years): $20,000

38. Salary range: $45,000 - $120,000

39. Job description: Mechanical engineers typically research, design and develop
machinery and systems for heating, ventilating and air conditioning, power generation,
transportation, processing and manufacturing.

40. Number or people employed in this occupation (indicate whether the number refers to
BC or Canada) 5,200 BC or Canada (circle one)

41. Employment prospects: Mechanical engineers can be confirmed a job, as the amount of
them is lowering each year, thus the need grows. If you were to walk out with a degree,
you could get a job in relative time.

42. Related Jobs (list at least 3):

 Industrial and Manufacturing Engineers

 Metallurgical Engineers
 Power Engineers

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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project
43. Skills or characteristics required: Critical thinking, determination, and good analysis
skills are highly recommended.

44. Disadvantages of occupation: There are not a lot of disadvantages to this occupation.
Overcoming obstacles may cause issues for some people.

45. Describe how your values, skills and interests relate to this career option: This career is
exactly what I am interested in and it is not a hard job to get into. I am really interested in
this job because I can help advance the current way we have things established.

46. What courses and grades are needed to enter this occupation? English 12 (67%),
Physics 11 (73%), Chemistry (67%), and Pre-Calculus (73%) _________________

47. Working conditions: Work is typically done in an office environment, but at times the
environment of a workplace can be altered (temperature, humidity, etc…) for the______
objective at the time. _____

48. Typical hours of work: Hours are regular, and days are typical.

49. Describe what has influenced your choice of this occupation: My already existing
interest in a career like this is what influenced my choice. I am already planning on going
into a career similar to this.

50. What are the future trends of this occupation: There are 1,850 job openings in the next
10 years. This about +2.2% forecasted employment growth.

51. 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. Men make up about 92% of the workforce.__________________________________

2. Only 5% of Mechanical Engineers are in the utilities industry.

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Career Life Connections - Career Research Project