128 Principles of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock.com Figure 3-28. Sample position announcements used to occur only through the classified ads. Today, online job boards also list the job requirements for career openings. What kind of job will suit you best? you can find someone who currently works in that career to give you a complete overview of what the job entails. It may also be helpful to look at position announcements, which are full job descriptions published by companies when they are looking to hire for a specific position, Figure 3-28. They include items like job duties, work environment, skills and training required, educational requirements, and potential salary. Once you find the job description for a career that you are interested in, crosswalk it to the list of your interests and talents. Some questions you might want to ask yourself as you analyze the job description include: „ Where do the things in the job description align with my talents and interests? „ Are there points in the job description that I might not enjoy doing? Are they things I can deal with, or will they really bother me? „ Can I make a plan that will allow me to gain the required education? „ Will the salary cover my expenses? „ What opportunities are there for growth in this career? On-Site Experience The next step in selecting a career is to gain some real-life experience. You can conduct interviews with someone who already has this career, or you can gain an in-depth view through on-site experiences. On-site career experiences vary from job shadowing for a short period of time, to unpaid internships as an assistant, to full-time paid employment in jobs closely related to your career of choice, Figure 3-29. Remember that these types of experiences qualify as part of your overall SAE program. Preparing to Be an Employee Once you have selected a particular career that interests you, take some time to think about how you will prepare to be successful in that job. Studies have shown that the skills employers want most in an employee are not related to the actual job description. To make a Juergen Faelchle/Shutterstock.com Figure 3-29. On-site career experience is sometimes called an internship. Having the opportunity to learn the job through unpaid experiences is a great way to prepare yourself for a future career. Can you think of an internship opportunity in a field in which you are interested? auremar/Shutterstock.com