Your Challenges,

Your Path
HOW TO USE YOUR CHALLENGE PROFILE
TO CREATE YOUR PATH

MYSPARKPATH.COM
Chal l enge P r of il e
Your Unique Challenge Profile
On the next three pages, you will see the top challenges you chose from the
Challenge Cards exercise. Together, they represent your unique challenge
profile. In this guide, you'll learn how to use your challenge profile to create a
unique path to an inspiring career.

Chal l enge P r of il e
 Redesign the Health
Care System
The he a l th ca re sy ste m i ncl u d e s the
p e o p le , i nsti tu ti o ns a nd re so u rce s tha t
ke e p u s i n g o o d he al th. I n a d d i ti o n to
d o cto rs a nd nu rse s, t he re a re hu nd re d s
o f ro l e s re q u i re d to m a ke thi s sy ste m
w o rk. The re a re op p o rtu ni ti e s to
i m p ro ve he al th c a re b y : re d u ci n g wa i t
ti m e s, cu tti ng co sts, u si ng ne w
te chno l o g y a nd i nve sti ng i n i nno va ti o n,
e tc.

Sample Careers
The re a re m a ny ro le s tha t ca n
co ntri b u te , su ch a s:

• D o cto r
• Cy to te chno l o g i st
• N u rse
• H e a l th Re se a rche r
• Me d i ca l Scie nce Li a i so n
• H e a l th Ca re Ma na g e r
• Ep i d e m io l o g i st
• D a ta Ana l y st
• P o l i cy Offi ce r
• Me d i ca l I l lu stra to r
• Entre p re ne u r
+ Ad d yo u r o wn i d ea

REDESIGN THE The he a l th ca re sy ste m i s a n e sse nti a l

p a rt o f so ci e ty , y e t i t i s ve ry co stl y to
HEALTH CARE ru n. W e ne e d to fi nd ne w a nd i nno va ti ve
w a y s to o ffe r b e tte r se rvi ce s to m o re

SYSTEM p e o p le , b u t a t l o we r co sts. W e a l so
ne e d to p re ve nt he a l th p ro b l em s
i nste a d o f ju st fi xi ng t he m , b y p ro m o ti ng
he a l thy b e ha vi o rs, fo r e xa m p le . As the
p o p u l a ti o n a ge s a nd te chno l o g y
i m p ro ve s, b ig cha ng e s a re ne ed e d to
o ffe r m o re se rvi ce s o u tsi de o f ho sp i ta l s
a nd o nl i ne .

Chal l enge P r of il e
 Engineer Better
Medicine Better
Engineer
Medicine
Medicines have allowed us to extend and
improve human life at a scale our ancestors
would
Me d i cihave never
ne s ha ve aimagined.
l l ow e d uThanks
s to e xte to nd
aadvances
nd i m p roinve
DNA
hu mresearch,
a n l i fe athere
t a scaarel e ou r
aunprecedented
nce sto rs w o u lopportunities
d ha ve ne veto r icreate
m a gi ne d .
Tha nks to a dmedicines
personalized va nce s i nbased
D N A reonse a rch,
people’s
the re a re genetic
individual u np re ce d e nte d op p o rtu ni ti e s
data.
to cre a te p e rso na l iz e d me d i ci ne s b a se d
o n p e o p le ’ s i nd i vi d u al g e ne ti c d a ta .

Sample Careers
Sample Careers
There are many roles that can
The re a re such
contribute, m a nyas:
ro le s tha t ca n
co ntri b u te , su ch a s:
z Geneticist
• G e ne ti ci st
z Pharmacist
• P ha rm a ci st
Biologist
B i o l o gi st
z
•
z
•
Chemist
Che m i st
z
• Pharmaceutical
P ha rm a ce u ti c a Scientist
l Scie nti st
•
z Pharmacologist
P ha rm a co l o gi st
•
z Biomedical
B i o me d i caEngineer
l Eng i nee r
•
z Clinical
Cl i ni caSpecialist
l Sp e ci a li st
z• Health
H e a l thTechnologist
Te chno l o g i st
z+ Sales
Ad d yo Representative
u r o wn i d ea
z Regulatory Specialist

+ Add your own idea

D o cto rs ha ve l o ng kno w n tha t p e o p l e
d i ffe r i n ho w the y re sp o nd to m e d i ci ne s.
HDoctors
o we vehave longu tknown
r, w i tho that nd
u nd e rsta people
i ng adiffer
nd
in how they respond to medicines.
a d ju sti ng to i nd i vi d u a l d i ffe re nce However,
s,
tre a tm eunderstanding
without nts d e ve l o p ed haadjusting
and ve g e ne ra toll y
ENGINEER BETTER b
the
e e n creadifferences,
individual
havefegenerally
te d fo r thetreatments
w . The rebeen
m a ny , ra the
a re created
op p o rtuforni tithe
r tha n
developed
e s many,
to
d e ve l othan
p new the sy steThere
m s toare u se g e ne ti c
MEDICINE b
rather
ito
nfo
o
rm a ti o n, d
few.
e te ct sm a
develop new systems to use genetic
d y , cre a te a nd a sse ss
l l
ne
opportunities
cha
w
ng e s i n the
d ru
information, detect small changes in gthe
s, a nd
p ro d u ce spe ci fi c va cci ne s.
body, create and assess new drugs, and
produce specific vaccines.

Chal l enge P r of il e
 Reverse Engineer
the Brain Engineer the
Reverse
Brain
An improved understanding of the
brain could help us enhance our true
mental
An i m p potential.
ro ve d u nd Inethe
rstafuture,
nd i ngimagine
o f the b ra i n
theupossibility
co l d he l p u sofesending
nha nce downloadable
o u r tru e me nta l
p o te nti a l . sensations,
emotions, I n the fu tuand re , memories.
i m a g i ne the New
p o ssi band
scans i l i tytests
o f se ndallow
will i ng d usowto nl o a d a band
follow le
e m o tithoughts
map o ns, se nsa ti o ns, ina nd
traveling the m e m o ri e s.
brain.
N e w sca ns a nd te sts w i l l a l l o w u s to
fo l l o w a nd m a p tho u g hts tra ve l i ng i n
the b ra i n.
Sample Careers
Sample Careers
There are many roles that can
contribute, such as:
The re a re m a ny ro le s tha t ca n
co ntri b u te , su ch a s:
z Electrical Engineer
Neuroscientist
• El e ctri ca l Eng i ne e rs
z

z Neuropsychologist
• N e u ro scie nti st
z Neurologist
• N e u ro p sy cho lo g i st
z Manufacturing Technician
• N e u ro l og i st
z Researcher
• Ma nu fa ctu ri ng Te chni ci a n
z• Professor
Re se a rche r
z• Scientist
P ro fe sso r
z• Psychiatrist
Sci e nti st
+• Add
P syyour
chi aown
tri stidea
+ Ad d yo u r o wn i d ea
REVERSE ENGINEER Scientists have begun to design computer

REVERSE ENGINEER
Sci
chipse nti stsmimic
that ha ve the b e gbrain’s
u n to own d e si g n
THE BRAIN co m p u te r chi p s tha
communication skills. Tools such t m i m i c theasb ear
o w n co m m u ni ca ti o n ski l l s. To o l s su ch a s
ra i n’ s

REVERSE ENGINEER implants, artificial retinas, and limbs are

THE BRAIN
e a r i m p la nts, a rti fi ci a l re ti na s, a nd l i m b s
aimproving
re i m p ro people’s
vi ng p e op lives.
l e’ sOnel i veday,
s. One perhaps
day,
pwe’ll
e rha bep sable
w e’to upload
l l be a b leknowledge
to u p l o a ddirectly
THE BRAIN
REVERSE ENGINEER b
into w
kno a lbrain.
ra i n re
future
e d geThe
sehave
will
d i rebrain
a rche the
ctl y researchers
rs power
i nto a b ra i n.ofThe
o f theto furadically
the
tu re w i l l ha ve

THE BRAIN the

m
change
e d
p o wthe
i cal ,
e r medical,
sci
to ra d i cascientific,
e nti fi c, a
l l y cha ng
landscape for the benefit of humanity. nd so ci a
e the
and
l l a
social
nd sca p e
fo r the b e ne fi t o f hu m a ni ty .

Chal l enge P r of il e
Your Challenges, Your Career

When you sorted through the Challenge Cards, you discovered some of the
tremendous opportunities that the world has to offer.

The choices you made revealed important information about you. They
revealed your interests, your values, and the unique contribution you can
make to the world.

What happens next?

It’s interesting to discover your challenge profile, but what is even more
important is how you use it to guide your career exploration!

This guide will show you how.

Follow the step-by-step instructions in this guide in order to connect your

challenge profile to a path forward.

Are you ready? Let's get started!

Challenge Profile
“What do you want to be
when you grow up?”

Have you ever been asked this question? How does it make you feel?

Frustrated, confused, and maybe a bit scared?

If so, don't worry. It's perfectly normal not to know. And even if you knew what
job title you wanted, your preference might change by the time you enter the
workforce.

Nobody has one job title for their entire career. That's why “what do you want
to be?” isn't a helpful question.

This is where your challenge profile can help you flip the way you think about
your career, because it helps you ask yourself different questions, like:

• What challenges do I want to work on?

• Who is working on these challenges now?

• What do I need to learn to be able to do that?

You have already discovered the challenges that inspire you. Now you're
ready to discover the careers that fit your Challenge Profile.

Challenge Profile
5 Steps to Your Career Discovery

Step 1: Research potential employers

Step 2: Research job

Step 3: Find interesting people

Step 4: Identify what you want to learn

Step 5: Reach out

Challenge Profile
Step 1: Research potential employers

Research different organizations working on the challenges you are interested

in. First, identify four organizations you would like to work. Then, write their
names and draw their logos in the boxes below.

Why does this help?

This exercise helps you learn about the types of workplaces that focus on your
challenge areas.

Challenge Profile
Step 2: Research jobs

Choose your top three organizations from the ones you just picked. Now , do
further research to find out what types of jobs are available at those
organizations.

Choose three different jobs and write down what interests you about each one
(e.g. tasks or responsibilities, skills or knowledge, impact, etc.)

Jobs What interests you

Job 1:

Job 2:

Job 3:

Example

Being responsible for selling new software

Product Manager Helping organizations improve their processes
Generating ideas for new software

Why does this help?

This exercise helps you narrow down the types of work you would most like to
do at an organization that is working to solve challenges you care about.

Challenge Profile
Step 3: Find interesting people

Now that you know what types of jobs interest you, look for people who do
this kind of work. You can look on the websites of the organizations to find
employee profiles, or try using LinkedIn.com to search for p eople who do this
type of work.

Write down the names of three people and add a sentence or two to describe
what interests you about each one.

People What interests you

1:

2:

3:

Example

Presenting to large audiences

Meredith Awani Working for an important cause
Collaborating with a team of experts

Why does this help?

This exercise helps you learn about the types of people who have successfully
built a career in the type of job that interests you.

Challenge Profile
Step 4: Identify what you want to learn

Now that you have a list of people whose careers look interesting, take a
closer look at the skills, experiences and education they have (LinkedIn.com
will help you collect this information.)

Once you do this, you will find out what you need to learn to be able to work
on the challenges you care about.

Skills: (eg: Public Speaking)

1.
2.
Experiences: (eg: Managing a team)
1.
2.
Education: (eg: Mechanical Engineering Degree)
1.
2.

What other education programs are you interested in?

Identify 10 potential education programs that interest you. You can do this by
reviewing a list of education programs on websites of trade schools, colleges
or universities. By reading each program description, you can decide which
programs are the best fit for you.

Why does this help?

This exercise helps you identify the learning path you will need to take in
order to prepare for this type of career.

Challenge Profile
Step 5: Reach out

You now have a list of people whose career choices interest you. These
individuals can help you make choices about your own career.

While company websites and LinkedIn can teach you a lot, you can learn even
more by reaching out to people who are doing work that interest s you and
asking them to speak with you.

People are often thrilled to share their stories and advice. You can email them
and ask to meet for a coffee or to have a video call. Here are some questions
to guide the conversation:

• What do you like the most about your job? What do you like the least?

• What problem is your organization trying to solve? What is the simplest

way to describe it?

• How do you contribute to solving that problem?

• What career advice do you have for me? What education programs
would you recommend?

• What did you do yesterday?

• What experiences best prepared you for your job?

• Is there something you wish you’d known or a skill you wish you’d had
when starting out?

• What traits, skills, or experiences do employers in your field look for in

candidates?

• Would you choose this field if you had to do over again? Is there
anything you would do differently?

Why does this help?

This exercise enables you to learn unique information about your challenges
that you cannot learn through online research .

Challenge Profile
Take Action

The world needs you to help solve its problems, meet its challenges and take
advantage of the opportunities it has to offer.

The activities you have completed in this guide have helped you identify
exciting work and learning options. There is no r eason to delay your
enthusiasm and excitement for your future.

At this time, you do not have to commit to one field, trade, specialization, job
or career for the rest of your life. Instead, you can start small experiments to
find how you can contribute to the challenges you care about.

For example, you can meet with someone, job shadow, volunteer, take an
internship, apply for a job, etc.

To find out which step you need to take next, schedule some time to meet
with someone who can help you. This could be:

• Someone at your school, like a counselor, an advisor or a coach

• A mentor

• A parent

• A friend

Start working on your action plan and continue

your journey towards an extraordinary career!

Challenge Profile