My current stage in my career exploration process is just exploration. I have a good idea what field I want to have a career in and what job I want but I’m keeping an open mind to other options. I decided to work for a career in environmental sciences because I love animals and I want to help protect them. My parents are scientists and my aunt is as well and I’ve always wanted to be one as well. At the beginning of the year I was a Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife major but I switched to Natural Resources Management recently. I made the change because I wanted to work more in education that research. The curriculum for Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife is more heavy in mathematics than I would like. Natural Resources Management has more classes with identification, education, and policies which I enjoy more than math. I’m planning on doing some job shadowing or volunteering with organizations that align with my career interest. When we completed this workshop, a lot of what I thought previously about myself were reinforced but in some ways, it made me see some of my traits as strengths that I thought were weaknesses.
My first letter in the RIASEC test results was the letter “A”. I knew I was very emotive, sensitive, and expressive. I knew this was true before because I like to express my thoughts and feelings to others and I’m usually very sensitive to other people’s feelings and opinions. For a while I thought that being sensitive and emotive weren’t good traits for jobs but the RIASEC test showed me that it can be a good characteristic of a worker especially one who works with the public. My second letter in my results was “S”. I’ve known that I’m a very social person but I learned that people who have the letter “S” in their code are often suited for occupations that teach, interact and help people which sounds very appealing to me. I remember that used to want to be an actress when I was younger because I loved to entertain people and make them laugh. I was very outgoing and I loved interacting with people and it is still true. My last letter was “R”. I thought that I was only somewhat realistic in the conventional meaning. I often thought I was more imaginative but I learned that isn’t necessarily what “realistic” meant. I do think that I love to do hands on work and I would love to work with animals for a living. After taking the RIASEC test I now feel like I fit in the “realistic” category well.
O*Net gave me one result for my code which was “Park Naturalist” and that is exactly what I want to do after college. I want to work in the park system teaching the public about the importance of animal and environmental conservancy to hopefully inspire others to do their part to help save wild animals and their environment and protect them in the future. I am passionate about providing and protecting the creatures I’ve deeply loved my whole life and it excites me to work with animals. O*Net says that I need a four-year Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science which is exactly my plan for college. I do not wish to attend graduate school. It also said that I need experience working in the field to make my chances of being hired more likely, which is something I plan to gain over the summers during college.
I have a few ideas for what I can do next to help gain some experience. Over the summer next year, I hope to get an internship with ODNR or at least volunteer for the organization. Another option would be to volunteer with an animal shelter, namely the Union County Humane Society near my home town. I hope by working at an animal shelter I could gain valuable experience working with animals which would look good on a resume. My last option for gaining work experience would be to volunteer my time to help with a project with ODNR surveying bats.
The RIASEC test showed me that I have chosen a career path that fits my skills and strengths well and should bring success in the future. It is very encouraging that the test said I should be a park naturalist because I’m very passionate about animals and I love being outside so being a naturalist would be a perfect fit for me.