To make effective career decisions, you require sufficient, relevant and reliable information, which you need to integrate with what you know about yourself, your career vision and goals. Your career research will connect you to others who will help you to do the following:
Before you explore any career and study options, you need to understand what you need. What are you unsure about? What questions do you still have before making a career decision?
As you search, keep a record of the information you find and set reminders to follow up on certain aspects. You also need to be aware that you need to make decisions at some stage. If you find that you are gathering a lot of information but still struggle to make a decision, you could contact a counsellor to talk about your options.
You must be able to evaluate the information you find online. Evaluate the information at hand of the following questions:
A wide range of sources is available to find career information.
Om effektiewe loopbaanbesluite te kan neem, benodig jy voldoende, relevante en betroubare inligting, wat jy moet integreer met wat jy van jouself, jou loopbaanvisie en doelwitte weet. Jou loopbaannavorsing sal jou in verbinding bring met ander wat jou sal help om die volgende te doen:
Voordat jy enige loopbaan- en studie-opsies verken, moet jy verstaan wat jy benodig. Waaroor is jy onseker? Watter vrae het jy nog voordat jy ʼn loopbaanbesluit neem?
Hou rekord van die inligting wat jy vind terwyl jy soek en stel herinneringsnotas om sekere aspekte op te volg. Jy moet ook bewus wees dat jy op ʼn stadium besluite moet neem. As jy vind dat jy baie inligting insamel, maar steeds sukkel om ʼn besluit te neem, kan jy ʼn voorligter kontak om oor jou opsies te praat.
Jy moet die inligting wat jy aanlyn vind, kan evalueer. Evalueer die inligting wat beskikbaar is na aanleiding van die volgende vrae:
ʼn Wye reeks bronne is beskikbaar om loopbaaninligting te vind.
Ho etsa diqeto tse lokileng tsa mosebetsi, o hloka lesedi le lekaneng, le amanang le mosebetsi ebile le tshepahala, leo o hlokang ho le amahanya le bowena, seo o se tsebang ka ponelopele ya lekala la hao la mosebetsi le tseo o batlang ho di fihlella. Dipatlisiso tsa lekala la hao la mosebetsi di tla o kopanya le batho ba bang ba tlang ho o thusa ho etsa tse latelang:
Pele o hlahloba dikgetho tsa lekala la mosebetsi le tsa thuto, o hloka ho utlwisisa seo o se hlokang.Ke eng seo o se nang bonnete ba sona? Ke dipotso di feng tseo o ntseng o na le tsona pele o nka qeto ya lekala la mosebetsi?
Ha o ntse o batlisisa, boloka rekoto ya Lesedi leo o le fumanang mme o etse dikgopotso tsa ho latella dintlha tse itseng. Hape o hloka ho ba hlokolosi hore o tshwanela hon ka qeto a nako e itseng. Haeba o bona o ntse o bokella lesedi le lengata empa o ntse o sokola ho nka qeto, o ka ikopanya le moeletsi ho buisana ka dikgetho tsa hao.
O tlameha ho kgona ho hlahloba lesedi leo o le fumanang inthaneteng. Hlahloba lesedi leo o nang le lona mabapi le dipotso tse latelang:
Mehlodi e mengata e fapaneng ya fumaneha ho fumana lesedi la lekala la mosebetsi.
Gore o tseye ditshwetso tse di siameng malebana le tiro ya gago, o tlhoka tshedimosetso e e lekaneng, e e maleba le e e ikanyegang, e o tshwanetseng go e kopanya le se o se itseng ka ga wena, pono ya gago ya tiro le maikaelelo a gago. Patlisiso ya gago ya tiro e tla go golaganya le batho ba bangwe ba ba tla go thusang go dira tse di latelang:
Pele ga o sekaseka ditlhopho dingwe le dingwe tsa tiro le thuto, o tshwanetse go tlhaloganya se o se tlhokang. Ke eng se o sa tlhomamang ka sone? Ke dipotso dife tse o sa ntseng o na le tsona pele ga o tsaya tshwetso ya tiro?
Fa o ntse o batlisisa, boloka rekoto ya tshedimosetso e o e bonang mme o ipeele dikgopotso gore o sale morago dintlha dingwe. Gape o tshwanetse go itse gore o tshwanetse go tsaya ditshwetso ka nako nngwe. Fa o fitlhela gore o kokoanya tshedimosetso e ntsi mme o sa ntse o kgaratlhela go tsaya tshwetso, o ka ikgolaganya le mogakolodi gore lo tlotle ka ditlhopho tsa gago.
O tshwanetse go kgona go sekaseka tshedimosetso e o e bonang mo inthaneteng. Sekaseka tshedimosetso eo o dirisa dipotso tse di latelang:
Go na le metswedi e mentsi e e farologaneng e o ka e dirisang go bona tshedimosetso ya tiro.
Kute wente tincumo letiphumelelako temsebenti, udzinga lwati lolwanele, lolufanele nalolwetsembekile, loludzinga kutsi uluhlanganise naloko lokwatiko ngawe, umbono wakho wemsebenti kanye nemigomo yakho. Lucwaningo lwakho lwemsebenti lutakuhlanganisa nalabanye labatakusita kutsi wente loku lokulandzelako:
Ngaphambi kwekutsi uhlole nobe ngumuphi umsebenti kanye nekukhetsa tifundvo, kufanele ucondze kutsi yini lokudzingako. Yini longaciniseki ngayo? Ngumiphi imibuto losenayo ngaphambi kwekutsi wente sincumo semsebenti?
Njengobe usesha, gcina umlandvo welwati lolutfolako bese ubeka tikhumbuto tekulandzelela tincenye letitsite. Kufanele wati nekutsi kufanele wente tincumo ngalesinye sikhatsi. Nangabe utfola kutsi uhlanganisa lwati lolunyenti kodvwa usalwa nekutsatsa sincumo, ungatsintsana nemeluleki kute ukhulume ngetintfo longatikhetsa.
Kufanele ukhone kuhlola lwati lolutfola ku-inthanethi. Hlola lwati lolukhona ngalemibuto lelandzelako:
Imitfombo leyehlukahlukene iyatfolakala kutfola lwati lwemsebenti.
U dzhia tsheo dza buḓo dzi shumaho, u tea u ṱoḓa zwo eḓanaho, mafhungo o teaho na a fulufhedzeaho, ane wa tea u a ṱanganya na zwine wa zwi ḓivha nga ha iwe muṋe, bono ḽau ḽa buḓo na zwipikwa. Tsedzuluso yaṋu ya buḓo i ḓo ni ṱumanya na vhaṅwe vhane vha ḓo ni thusa u ita zwi tevhelaho:
Musi ni sa athu ṱolisisa buḓo ḽinwe na ḽinwe na u khetha u guda, ni fanela u pfesesa zwine na zwi ṱoḓa. Ndi zwifhio zwine na vha na vhungoho hazwo? Ndi mbudziso dzifhio dzine na kha ḓi vha nadzo musi ni sa athu dzhia tsheo ya buḓo?
Musi ni tshi khou ṱoḓa, ṅwalani rekhodo ya mafhungo ane na a wana nahone ni vhee zwihumbudzo zwa u tevhela maṅwe masia. Ni fanela u dovha na ḓivha uri ni fanela u dzhia tsheo nga tshiṅwe tshifhinga. Arali na wana uri ni khou kuvhanganya mafhungo manzhi fhedzi ni tshi kha ḓi tambula nga u dzhia tsheo, ni nga kwama mueletshedzi u itela u amba nga ha zwine na nga zwi khetha.
U fanela u kona u ṱolisisa mafhungo ane a a wana kha inthanethe. Ṱolisisani mafhungo a re hone kha mbudziso dzi tevhelaho:
Zwisima zwo fhambanaho zwi hone u itela u wana mafhungo a buḓo.
Ku teka swiboho swa ntirhovutomi leswi tirhaka kahle, u lava vuxokoxoko byo ringanela, lebyi faneleke na ku va byo tshembeka, lebyi u byi dingaka ku pfanganisa leswi u swi tivaka hi ndlela leyi tirhaka kahle na wena, xivono na swikongomelo swa ntirhovutomi wa wena. Ndzavisiso wa ntirhovutomi wa wena wu ta ku hlanganisa na van'wana lava va nga ta ku pfuna ku endla leswi landzelaka:
U nga si valanga ntirhovutomi wihi na swihlawuriwa swa tidyondzo, u dinga ku twisisa leswi u swi dingaka. Xana hi swihi leswi u kanakanaka hi mayelana na swona? Xana hi swihi swivutiso leswi wa ha riki na swona u nga si teka xiboho xa ntirhovutomi?
Loko u ri karhi u secha, hlayisa rhekodo ya vuxokoxoko lebyi u byi kumaka kutani u veka switsundzuxo leswi u faneleke ku landzelerisa hi mayelana na swona eka swiphemu swin'wana. U tlhela u dinga ku lemuka leswaku u dinga ku teka swiboho eka xiteji xin'wana. Loko u kuma leswaku u le ku hlengeleteni vuxokoxoko byo tala kambe wa ha kayakayaka ku teka xiboho u nga ha tihlanganisa na mukhongoteri ku vulavula hi mayelana na swihlawuriwa swa wena.
U boheka ku kambela vuxokoxoko lebyi u byi kumaka eka inthanete. Kambela vuxokoxoko lebyi u nga na byona bya swivutiso leswi landzelaka:
Vunavi byo angarhela bya swihlovo bya kumeka ku kuma vuxokoxoko bya mitirhovutomi.
Ukwenza izinqumo eziphumelelayo zemisebenzi, udinga ulwazi olwanele, olufanele noluthembekile, okudingeka uluhlanganise nalokho okwaziyo ngawe, umbono wakho wemisebenzi kanye nezinjongo zakho. Ucwaningo lwakho lomsebenzi luzokuxhumanisa nabanye abazokusiza ukuthi wenze lokhu okulandelayo:
Ngaphambi kokuthi uhlole noma yimuphi umsebenzi kanye nezinketho zokufunda, udinga ukuqonda nokwazi ukuthi yini oyidingayo. Yini ongaqinisekile ngayo? Imiphi imibuzo osenayo ngaphambi kokwenza isinqumo sezomsebenzi owukhethayo?
Njengoba usesha, gcina irekhodi lolwazi olutholayo futhi usethe izikhumbuzi ukuze ulandelele izici ezithile. Kufanele futhi wazi ukuthi kufanele uthathe izinqumo ngesikhathi esithile. Uma uthola ukuthi uqoqa ulwazi oluningi kodwa usadonsa kanzima ukwenza isinqumo, ungathintana nomeluleki ukukhuluma ngezinketho zakho.
Kufanele ukwazi ukuhlola ulwazi oluthola ku-inthanethi. Linganisa ulwazi olutholakala kule mibuzo elandelayo:
Imithombo eminingi iyatholakala ukuze mayelana nokuthola ulwazi lwezomsebenzi.
We have developed several brochures for specific fields of study to help you explore career opportunities related to a specific field. View and download these here.
The following websites will help you to learn more about specific job titles:
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| Career options related to Unisa qualifications | Find information about opportunities related to qualifications at Unisa. |
| Search for information about specific job titles. | |
| Learn about career areas such as IT, tourism, engineering and more. The website also contains information about learnerships and student finance. | |
| Explore job titles related to different categories such as your interests, skills, values, typical work activities, and more. You could also browse through groups of occupations related to specific industries or economic sectors. | |
| Explore different job titles related to job sectors and what you could do with your major subject. |
Go to any of the above occupational information websites and search for the job titles you identified during the Google search activity.
Use the example below to gather information to further explore your top three occupational interests.
Example table:
| Job title |
Website |
Related job titles? |
Pros |
Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career counsellor | O*Net | School psychologist; Social worker; Marriage therapist; Teacher | The tasks for this person seem related to my interests and values. | Seems to be a lot of paperwork involved (writing reports; answering e-mails, etc). |
Attending a careers fair event allows you to speak to people from different industries. You may be studying a qualification that does not seem to have a direct link to the exhibitors or the presenters, but they have one thing in common: they employ people, who work in organisations, and who do business with all kinds of suppliers and services. Somewhere in this value chain, your qualification will find a place to fit – either as a customer or as an employer or employee.
Visit the Careers Fair webpage for updates or e-mail counselling@unisa.ac.za for further information.
Many professional bodies offer student registration categories to enable those who are still studying towards a qualification in the field, to join and receive specific benefits such as training, development and networking opportunities. The professional bodies' websites are also valuable sources of information should you wish to do research related to specific occupations. Many professional websites also list practitioners or organisations in the field and allow you to identify individuals who you could contact for further conversations about your career.
Download a list of professional bodies related to Unisa fields of study.
Explore what your field of study is about by watching and listening to online lectures and reading free open textbooks.
Search for courses and open textbooks related to your field of study on these sites:
You may be wondering how volunteering is related to your studies and your career. We would encourage responsible volunteering where the organisation and community you are supporting benefit from your contribution. You also have the opportunity to apply and further develop your skills and knowledge as a student. Your volunteer work links to your career vision and planning: before you volunteer, think about where you want to invest your effort.
Volunteering will help you to:
Some questions to think about:
Your volunteer work could lead to other opportunities, so it is important to treat it professionally: keep to your commitment, communicate when you cannot volunteer and update your portfolio with examples of what you have learnt and achieved. As a volunteer, you are already working as a professional – you need to conduct yourself as you would conduct yourself in a work environment. As you are volunteering, you are building your reputation (your “brand”): you would not want to build a reputation as an exploiter or as an unreliable worker.
Your volunteer environment will help you develop what is valued in professional environments. This may include punctuality, problem-solving and effective communication. In this sense, volunteering contributes to your development as a unique graduate: one who has subject-specific knowledge and an understanding of professional workplace behaviour. The one thing to remember about volunteering is that your conduct needs to be accountable and ethical. Your work within the community must be done with the utmost respect.
Identify volunteer opportunities in your area through conversations with members of your community. Search online for volunteer opportunities in your community related to your interests.
Volunteering helps you to contribute to a community and learn valuable skills. Volunteering will allow you to clarify your interests in terms of helping others and expanding and strengthening your network.
Make a list of the organisations you want to contact to explore volunteer opportunities.
| Volunteering and your career (MP3) Volunteering and your career (MP3) |
Find out more about how volunteering can form an important part of your career development and contribute to your skills development and growing a network. |
Job search websites are useful when researching specific job titles linked to different industries. Finding job advertisements that interest you is a worthwhile activity, even if you are not currently applying for jobs. You may not yet be eligible to apply for your dream job, but you can still gain a lot of information for your career planning.
You can use this information to make career goals and think strategically about how you can develop experiences which will help you meet more of the selection criteria in the future.
Job search sites include:
Use the Indeed.co.za website to search for job advertisements that mention the words “[your field of study] graduate”, and “[your field of study] degree”. Write down the job titles that you find. The table below provides examples of job titles found related to "psychology graduate" and "psychology degree".
| An example list of job titles related to a bachelor’s degree in psychology: |
|---|
|
Use one of the websites above to search for “[name of your major, e.g. economics]”. Read through at least three advertisements and then complete a summary for each as per the example below.
Example (used indeed.co.za)
| Job title |
Report writer |
|---|---|
|
Salary |
R10 000 per month |
|
Organisation (name, location) |
For a psychologist; working hours are 8:00-16:00 on Mondays to Thursdays |
|
Responsibilities/ duties/ tasks |
Writing reports |
|
Requirements (qualifications) |
Honours or Master’s Degree in Psychology; Being a Registered Psychometrist would be an advantage; Experience in report writing and psychometric testing will also be an advantage. |
|
Requirements (experience) |
Did not state |
|
Requirements (skills) |
|
If you have not done so already, start building your network on LinkedIn today.
Register for a free account and start connecting with your network online. Join groups relevant to your career field so that you could participate in discussions, ask questions and provide answers related to specific topics and search for people, organisations and jobs in your field of interest. Research companies and employees to help you identify opportunities.
Learn more about using LinkedIn effectively.
Use a search engine such as Google to search for information related to your questions.
Imagine that you need to find out about career opportunities related to anthropology and archaeology. What do you do?
Remember to bookmark pages you would want to return to and make notes about what you find and what you would still like to find out about. Use online services or apps such as Evernote (http://www.evernote.com), Diigo (http://www.diigo.com) or Notion (https://www.notion.so/) to keep track of your research online.
Once you have done some research about specific options, your next step is to talk to individuals in the type of job/ industry that you are interested in. The goal of these conversations (informational interviews) is to explore your career options, expand your network, build confidence, access information and identify your strengths and areas of development.
For example, you read an article about a new programme for addiction treatment and you are curious about how the researchers went about evaluating the programme. You could contact one of the authors of the article to ask if they would be willing to share how they went about gaining access to the information they needed for their evaluation.
The best informational interviews are two-way exchanges of information, more like a conversation than an interrogation. You are offering the information you have collected via your research and the interviewee is adding his or her thoughts and ideas. You come across not as the novice looking for a favour and more as a colleague brainstorming ideas.
People are busy and don’t always take the time to read business news, attend trade association meetings, or do the in-depth research you will be doing. They will appreciate you bringing them the latest news. By being well researched and prepared, you do not have to feel like you are imposing on someone when asking for an informational interview.
You want to get to know your interviewee by asking questions such as the following:
Interest in their specific background establishes rapport because it shows you care about them specifically. It also gives you a foundation for questions to ask later because you know more about their experience.
You want to get broader information about the industry, so you ask questions that reflect your research:
This is why research before the informational interview is so critical. You use your research findings as a springboard for conversation. You are not relying on the interviewee to think of everything and be the sole source of information. You are offering ideas, too.
Pick several research findings to test, and choose what to ask based on what level and type of experience your interviewee has. If your interviewee is very experienced and senior, you can ask broad strategy questions. If your interviewee is focused on a very specific area, say technology, focus on technology-related issues in the discussion.
You want to get career-related information, such as salary and environment, and a candid sense of your chances in this job, organisation, or industry:
These questions enable you to get information on the touchy issues of compensation and lifestyle and candid feedback on your hiring prospects. By offering ideas, you take the pressure off the interviewee to reveal sensitive information. People will also appreciate that you have done some salary research, as they might not have time to see what is happening in the market, and they may want to reciprocate by sharing something they know.
Other sample informational interview questions include the following:
If you look at the structure of the informational interview, many questions use secondary research as a springboard for the question.
When you invite your interviewee to an informational interview, make sure they know that you have done some interesting research and would like to share and confirm the results with them. Many job seekers do not do this research, so you differentiate yourself immediately and assure the interviewee that it is worth their time to see you. You are more likely to land informational interviews if the interviewee knows that you have done some work in advance and have interesting insights and questions to share.
Remember to keep track of the information you have gathered and how you make sense of it. Also, track the questions you still have and how you think you would be able to get answers to these questions.
A current student, Ms Nomalanga Mnisi, shares her experience of conducting informational interviews:
How did you prepare for the interviews?
I started by reflecting on my career vision, as well as making notes of how I think my vision is related to the organisation I will be contacting for interviews, as well as the possible career fields within the company that are related to my studies and my career vision.
I did research to help me understand more about the organisation, for example, the different divisions, where they are, what their main business is, and the kind of jobs available. This helped me to know which questions I need to ask so that I could clarify uncertainties.
I also wrote an introduction letter (who am I, previous and current qualifications, why I am interested or what I know about the organisation, the purpose of the information interview and how it will contribute to my career development and also careers that I am interested in within the organisation).
I made a list of aspects I am curious about, including in which department is my qualification in demand within the organisation, and which career positions I can be considered for with my qualifications?; different career titles within the company related to my studies?; other requirements for those positions, e.g. skills, driver's licence, physical health etc.; how to structure my CV and cover letter; what to include when I apply for positions in the organisation?; information about internships, learnerships or volunteering programmes that I can apply for to enhance my skills.
What did you do before the interview?
I sent an email confirming my appointment and also I included keywords that I wanted the interview to cover and specified that among others those are features I wanted to discuss with them. Both gave me feedback that my email also helped them to prepare for the interview.
What did you gain from the interviews?
The two individuals I spoke to helped me to understand what I needed to ask during my next interviews in specific sections.
Watch these videos to learn more about informational interviews: