What do you want to do after secondary school? No one expects you to have all of the answers. Instead of trying to decide exactly what you want to do, start thinking about your likes, dislikes and interests and how they might influence your future choices.
This is not as easy as it sounds. To help describe yourself, speak to a family member, teacher or guidance counsellor and talk about your ideas for the future. With help, you can develop a really good idea of who you are.
Below are some things to think about and record in your IPP:
Abilities: Identify the things you do well like writing, speaking, listening, singing, building things or solving math problems.
Accomplishments: List the things have you completed or achieved like awards, certifications, competitions or specialized training.
Assessments/Personal Inventories: Describe your multiple intelligences, skills and work preferences, or use various assessments within My Pathway Planner to unlock Career compatibility options based on your learning skills, personality, interests, knowledge and motivation.
Interests: List what you enjoy doing like playing sports, reading books, working with your hands or socializing with your friends.
Learning Skills and Work Habits: Look at the learning skills and work habits section of your report cards and consider the feedback from your teachers. What are your strengths? What are the suggested next steps?
Values: Identify the things that are important to you like achievement, family, helping others or independence.
As you have new experiences and accomplishments, you will find that you need to revise and add to your IPP.
Having a good understanding of yourself is important when making school, career and life choices. Look for opportunities at school or in your community that build on your existing skills or help you develop new skills.
How does your skill set connect to the careers that interest you? All occupations have a specific set of essential skills and work habits. Explore Ontario Skills Passport for more information.
If you would like to see how you would score on the essential skills or to explore some more careers go to Measure Up!.