EDUC Learning Framework

Career Exploration Assignment

PART III: CAREER ASSIGNMENT REVIEW

Name: Noelle Cummings

Using FOCUS2 to Explore Careers and Majors

FOCUS 2 Occupation Reflection Question

To answer the following questions, go to your “Combined Assessments” List of Best Fit
Occupations and click on an occupation title to review the “Occupation Details”. You will have
to click on the plus + symbol to see your choices.

1. What is the name/title for one of the occupations suggested for you based on your assessment
results?

Video Game Designer

2. Which Job Tasks for this career would you enjoy the most and why?

The ones relating to art, because I am good at art and I would enjoy doing it as a career. I also
think the programming aspect of it would be fun, but I am not experienced in that enough yet.

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3. Which Job Tasks would you enjoy the least and why?

Debugging programs and fixing errors in the code.

4. For the Work Interest Profile, the red bar indicates the typical interests for individuals in this
occupation and the blue bar indicates your interest levels. What do you notice? Are your top 3
interest bars (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, or Conventional) similar to the
top 3 interest bars of those who are in that occupation? What is similar and what is different?

My artistic and enterprising bars are similar to that of the game designer, but my realistic, which is
high, is low for the game designer. I also have a higher social score and a lower investigative
score.

5. Name at least 3 specific job related Skills needed for this occupation. Are any of them similar to
the skills that you chose as your top strengths in the Skills Assessment?

Skills needed: Computer Programming, Decision Making, and Designing.

I chose designing as one of my top strengths in the skills assessment, but I am also good at decision
making and I think that computer programming is something I would be good at.

6. Name some of the Values associated with this occupation. Do any of them match the values that
you identified as being important to you in the Values Assessment?

Values needed: Artistic Creativity, Creativity, Independence, Tangible Results

All 3 of my picked values fit into this (Artistic Creativity, Creativity, Tangible Results).

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 7. What are the Education Requirements for this occupation (most common education levels or
credentials for those in this field)?

Most common educational levels are: 2 year degree, Bachelor Degree, Masters Degree

And what are the most common majors/areas of study?

Computer Programming, Computer Science, Game and Interactive Media Design, Mathematics,
Visual Communications and Design, Computer Graphics, Digital Arts and Media

8. What is the Outlook or projected employment percentage growth for this occupation?

Is the growth rate expected to decline, remain average, or be faster than average?

9. What are the Earnings or salary range for this occupation?

10. Is this an occupation or career that you would consider? If so, why? If not, what are your
concerns?

I would consider it because I love playing video games and creating things. I would love to
develop and create art or program for video games in the future.

FOCUS2 Exploring Majors

Go to the HOME page of FOCUS2 and scroll down to click on Explore the Possibilities:
What Can I Do If I Majored In….

11. Click the PLUS/+ symbol next to “Suggested Majors Matching Your Work Interest Assessment” and
select a major that you might consider. What is the name of that major?

Game and Interactive Media Design

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 And what are some occupation names/titles associated with that major?

 Computer Programmer

 Computer Systems Analyst

 Graphic Designer

 Software Developer

 Video Game Designer

 Web Art Director

Is this a major that could be a good fit for you and that you might choose? Why or why not?

This major could be a good fit for me because of the profession I aspire to work as in the future.

12. Return to the FOCUS2 HOME page and scroll down to What Can I Do If I Majored In….? and
choose a different major to explore. What is the name of that major?

Mechanical Engineering

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And what are some occupation names/titles associated with that major?

 Petroleum Engineer

 Aerospace Engineer

 Engineering Professor

 Mechatronics Engineer

 Robotics Engineer

 Solar Energy System Engineer

 Automotive Engineer

 Mechanical Engineer

 Industrial Engineer

Is this a major that could be a good fit for you and that you might choose? Why or why not?

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 This is my current major, but I’m unsure if I like it well enough to stick with it or switch over to
something more artistic, like Game and Interactive Media Design.

13. Reflection: Has completing the FOCUS2 career assessments given you a better understanding of
career exploration? Did the assessments help to confirm a previous area of interest, introduce a new
area of interest, or do you need more time to explore? How can you use this information in your next
meeting with your area of study advisor?

Completing the FOCUS2 career assessments have given me a better understanding of what I want to do,
and introduced me to the fact that I want to major in game design. I want to talk to my area of study
advisor about maybe switching majors after I get a better feel for mechanical engineering and whether I
want to stick with it.