Let's Think about You

P.J. Hammel is a professor of Education at the University of
Saskatchewan.

The Career Planning series consists of four volumes designed to provide the individual with guidance in making wise career choices. The program was developed “for classroom use, guidance counselling programs and self-study...for students in high schools, community colleges and universities and to those already in the labour force who are anxious to change fields or upgrade themselves in their chosen career.” Book 1 , Let’s Think about You, assists the reader to gain a clearer understanding of himself in relation to career choice; Book 2 , Set Your Course, is concerned with specific career choice and preparation plans in the light of the earlier self-analysis; Book 3, Choices for Tomorrow, provides information about post-secondary programs leading to careers; Book 4, Get the Job, is a practical job-search program.

Book 1 (the book in hand) is a revised edition; the previous edition was not available for comparison. Similarly, Books 2, 3, 4 were not available for examination and, therefore, no comments can be made about the quality or consistency of the entire series.

Each chapter in Book 1 provides specific expository information for self-analysis, followed by “Let’s Think” (general questions about issues raised in the chapter) and “About You” (questions, activities, and exercises that help the reader apply the information to himself). It is recommended that the “Career Work Book,” in the form of an ordinary notebook, be used to record conclusions reached in this latter portion of the chapter. In this manner, the book presents a section encouraging career planning and self-analysis; a section in which the individual examines his personal traits, his environmental influences, his current activities, and information provided by specific tests; a section that focuses on his interest patterns, values, abilities, and behaviour trends; and, finally, a section on the development of a “balance sheet,” which will help to guide him to a broad interest field, to provide a number of options, and to recognize the need for self-improvement.

Although simply written and systematically developed, this work will qualify as a self-help guide only to those who have already achieved a reasonable level of maturity and self-analysis. High school students and those without post-secondary education will probably require the assistance of a teacher or counsellor to acquire the full benefit of this program.