Module 1
Module 1
Introduction
Module 1 of Grade 11 Career Guidance Manual entitled “Road to the Right Choice” covers different professions and life
choices for Grade 11 learners. It provides information on the different senior high school curriculum exits and professions that will
facilitate their career decision making as they pursue college. This module also tackles the different factors affecting learner’s life
and career choices considering that deciding for career and life is not an easy task for Grade 11 learners.
Objectives:
At the end of this module, the learners are expected to:
1. Enumerate the different professions and life choices;
2. Explain the different factors affecting the choices in life and profession; and
3. Appreciate the factors in choosing a profession
“I am convinced that every effort must be made in childhood to teach the young to use their own minds. For one thing is sure: If
they don’t make up their minds, someone will do it for them.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
1. What or who influenced your choice of senior high school track and strand, was it your personal decision? Your parent’s
decision? Because of pressure from friends?
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Life is a choice. Our choices are influenced by different factors – personal, family, or social. These influences are unique in
every individual and dependent upon the situation the individual is in that time the choice was made.
Personal Factors
Skills and Abilities. Are you aware of your skills and abilities? Do you know what you are capable of doing? When individuals are
in jobs best suited their abilities they perform best and their productivity is highest. Parson’s Trait and Factor Theory of
Occupational Choice emphasized the importance of analyzing one’s skills, values, interests and personality, and then match these
up to jobs which use these.
Interest and Personality Types. Do you know your interests and personality type? Holland’s Career Typology established a
classification system that matches personality characteristics and personal preferences to job characteristics. According to John
Holland’s theory, most people are one of six personality types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and
conventional. Knowing your personality fits your career choice.
Life Roles. What do you think is your role in life – a leader? An organizer? A mediator? A designer? According to Super’s Lifespan
Theory, how we think about ourselves in these roles, their requirements of them, and the external forces that affect them, may
influence how we look at careers in general and how we make for ourselves.
Previous Experiences. Did you think of pursuing task which you have been successful n the past? One aspect od the Social
Cognitive Career Theory addresses the fact that we are likely to consider continuing particular task if we have had a positive
experience doing it. In this way, we focus on areas in which we have had proven success and achieved positive self-esteem.
Childhood Fantasies. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Perhaps this frequently asked questions during our
childhood years may have helped shape what we thought we would be then, as well as later in life.
Family Factors
“The matter of choosing a career in the Philippine setting is clearly a family affair.” (Clemena, 2002)
Parental Influence. How many percent of your career decision is influenced by your parents? Many children grow up idealizing
the professions of their parents. Parents may intentionally or unintentionally push their child towards a particular path, especially in
the cases of family-owned businesses where parents expect their children to take over the company Still other parents apply
pressure on their offspring to strive for particular high-profile careers, feeling they are encouraging their children to reach high.
If your parents were uneducated or were always struggling to get by financially, you may decide not to be in the same
position. This may prompt you to pursue a totally different career path – to have a stable. High earning job. Likewise, if you have
parents who are workaholics and were never around when you are a child, you may decide to pursue line of work with flexibility
that gives you more time with your children.
Financial Resources. In choosing a career por profession, there is a need to consider the capability to support the course or
career to be pursued. Social Cognitive Career Theory and Social Learning Theory address this and recognize that events that take
place in our lives may affect the choices available to us and even dictate our choices to a certain degree. When your family has
limited financial resources for instance, will you insist on pursuing medicine? Or would you rather take up other related courses first
and pursue medicine when you are capable of shouldering the expenses yourself?
Family Beliefs and Traditions. Beliefs and traditions are another family factor to consider when making a career choice. It is
tradition for example that all male siblings in the clan take up engineering courses. Being a family tradition, this could somehow be
relevant when making a career choice.
Social Factors
Influence of Media/Technology. The influence of social media may have positive and negative effects. Nowadays, career
information is available to 21st century learners. These information may be used or may influence you in deciding for their career.
Influence of Friends and Peers. Peer pressure is common among learners. There are learners who decide on the career to
pursue based on the opinion or choice of their friends. Who among you will choose the same course as your friends? Why? There
are many reasons for this – you may want to be in, would not want to make new friends and make new adjustments, or too much
attachment to old friens.
Industry Demands and Expectations. Our career choices take place within the context of society and the economy. Graduates
have been practical n considering the demands and expectations of the industries before coming u with their career decisions.
These guide them in deciding what to do and where to go. Changes in the economy and resulting job market may also affect how
their careers develop.
As a senior high school learner, are you aware of the different choices of professions and career? Do you know where to
go after senior high school?
Employment
The SHS program opens employment opportunities for graduates. Graduates of the Technical-Vocational Livelihood (TVL)
track may apply for TESDA Certificates of Competency (COCs) and National Certificates (NCs). Partnerships with different
companies for technical and vocational courses expose students to the real world of work. Students also gain work experience
while studying, and companies can even hire them after they graduate.
Entrepreneurship
With the inclusion of entrepreneurship subject in the curriculum, SHS graduates are better equipped for small-scale
business activities, such as running a family business or starting one’s own business.
Higher Education
Some subjects in the College General Education curriculum have now been integrated into the SHS curriculum., leaving
only the subjects that are more focused and relevant to your chosen major.