Step 1 - Santa Cruz County Regional Occupational Program

INTRODUCTION TO WORK VALUES INVENTORYIntroduce Values – Values are the core principles that give meaning to your life. When your valuesare aligned with your work activities and surroundings, you will be more satisfied. Ask and discuss:• “What is very important to you and gives meaning to your life?” (family, friends, money,honesty, trust)• Now think about your future and imagine yourself working in a career that you reallyenjoy. “What is important to you in your work?” (challenging work, money, teamwork,open communication)Hand out the Work Values Inventory. Explain that the values are divided into four areas:• Core Values• Work Environments• Work Interactions with co-workers• Work ActivitiesRank each value to its importance – Always Important, Sort Of Important or Not Important.When completed, have students go back and identify their top five values from the “AlwaysImportant” column, ranking them in order of importance. For homework, have students completethe “My Values Work Story”.INTRODUCTION TO CAREER INTERESTSInterests play an important role in the kind of work you naturally enjoy. Have your studentsimagine if they had a few hours to do anything they wanted, what would they do? Have studentsget in pairs and discuss. Ask for volunteers to share their interests. Core interests tend to remainthe same. Interests play a key role in career satisfaction and are instrumental in determiningfuture work.The Party Game – Based on the work of John Holland, a career theorist. The Party is a fun way tointroduce interests to your students. Post in your classroom the following letters – R, I, A, S, E,C, or use The Party worksheet. Describe each area as follows:Realistic (Adventuring/Producing) – Interested in athletics, good with their hands, prefer to workwith objects, machines, plants or animals rather than people. Prefer to do the job without a lot oftalk or argument, do it right the first time, get to the point.Investigative (Analytic) – Like to observe, learn, evaluate, or solve problems. This type isassociated with scientific/academic pursuits. Prefer to analyze a problem, evaluate options anddata, set a plan of action, and analyze the results.Artistic (Creative) – Interested in artistic expression. Like to work in unstructured situationsusing imagination and creativity. Prefer creative approach to problem-solving and planning whichrelies heavily on intuition and imagination.Santa Cruz County ROP 2 Step 1 Introduction