Career Planning Final Project

My Personal Assessment

• Name: Kaitlin Riall• Age: 16

• Holland Code: SIC (Social, Investigative, Conventional)• Birkman Colors: Interests: Yellow

Usual Style: Yellow

My Career Path

• I chose to investigate the career of an Occupational Therapist. I found that it matched my desires the most because I want to have a career where I am constantly helping others. Similar to Nursing, an Occupational Therapist assists patients with rehabilitation and learning new skills to improve their lifestyle.

Required Skills

Listening: Always listen to what the client has to say, and allow their input in activities to enhance their handicaps.

Speaking: The ability to communicate with the client and teach them about what services they require and how to make their situation better.

Problem Solving: The ability to diagnosis any problems that may be present during the treatment.

Critical Thinking: You must be able to think on your feet, and make accurate, quick decisions that will benefit the patient.

Time Management: Is essential, due to the fact that you may have many files to work on, and you must distribute your time evenly between each one.

A Day in the Life• Daily Tasks:• 1. Must be able to plan, organize and conduct therapy programs

in a hospital or community setting, to help those whom are ill, injured, or have developmental problems.

• 2. Have the ability to create activities and tasks for the patients to perform and assist them along the way, as well as evaluating the patient’s strengths and weaknesses to set goals for them to achieve based on their progress.

• 3. If a patient is near the end of a hospital visit or requires home care, an Occupational Therapist should train all other caregivers to provide the patient with the necessary exercises they should practice.

• 4. They must keep detailed records of the patient, and note any changes in routine or activities.

Required Skills:1. Active Listening: Always listen to what the client has to say, and allow

their input in activities to enhance their handicaps. 2. Speaking: The ability to communicate with the client and teach them about

what services they require and how to make their situation better.3. Service Orientation: Always be on the lookout for ways to help the patients

achieve goals and succeed.4. Monitoring: Keep constant track of the patients’ progress and condition.5. Problem Sensitivity: The ability to diagnosis any problems that may be

present during the treatment.6. Oral Comprehension: Have the ability to comprehend and understand

information communicated through words and sentences.7. Speech Clarity: Be able to correctly pronounce words and sounds correctly

so that the patient can understand and benefit from the therapy.8. Oral Expression: Having the ability to communicate with patients, so that

they understand what you are trying to convey.

Typical Day:A typical day in the life of an Occupational Therapist depends upon

the environment you choose to work in. If you choose a hospital setting, you may be assisting several patients a day. If you work in a private practice, you may have scheduled appointments with varying patients each day. Some choose to work in schools, where they assist the same group of kids each day. The day would generally consist of therapy exercises and observations of the variety of patients.

Job Outlook and Projections

Job Outlook:The amount of employment is expected to increase 26% between 2008 and 2018. The demand is expected to increase mainly with the elderly and disabled, due to the increasing population in these areas. Hospitals will be expected to increase their employment rate, due to the increase in ill and disabled patients. Also, schools will be expected to increase as well to accommodate the disabled students.

Projections Data:• Based on the employment of Occupational Therapists in

2008, which was 104,500, the estimated number of jobs available in 2018 is around 131,300.

Earnings/Salary

Earnings:• Earnings will vary depending on the setting you choose to work

in. In home or health care facility settings, the annual earning are in the $70,000 range, while in hospital and school settings, the average is in the mid-$60,000.

Estimated Earnings:Home health care services $74,510Nursing care facilities $72,790Offices of other health care practitioners $69,360General medical and surgical hospitals $68,100Elementary and secondary schools $60,020

The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

• The American Occupational Therapy Association, also known as AOTA, is an excellent group to join if you are interested in this field. It provides excellent benefits for its members.

• You can have access to much more than the average Occupational Therapist. For example, you are given discounted magazine issue prices, discounted registration prices for educational classes, as well as receiving discounts on books.

Educational Path• You can achieve either a Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree or Doctoral

Degree in Occupational Therapy, depending upon what you choose to do. You may choose whether you would like a 2 or 4 year degree. Most choose to go with Master’s Degrees., as it is the minimal requirement to enter the work force.

• If you choose to work as an Occupational Therapist, you must attend an academic program associated with the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, or ACOTE, in order to qualify sitting for the exam.

• High school courses you should take include biology, chemistry, physics, health, art, and the social sciences. Also, they must have completed the minimum 24 works of supervised work in this field.

• Becoming certified is optional. In order to become certified, the National Board for Certifying Occupational Therapy certifies them through an exam.

• Licensure is another option that Occupational Therapists can take. If you qualify with the state, you can take the exam. If you pass, you earn the title of OTR, or Occupational Therapist Registered.

Related Occupations• Physical Therapist – Has a similar Holland Code SIR (Social,

Investigative and Realistic), similar interest of helping others recuperate from injuries.

• Recreational Therapist – Holland Code is SA (Social and Artistic), also shares the similar interest of assisting others recover.

• Directors, Religious Activities and Education – Holland Code is ESC (Enterprise, Social and Conventional), similar to an Occupational Therapist, they coordinate activities and exercises.

• Social and Human Services Assistant – Holland Code is CSE (Conventional, Social and Enterprise), similar in the way that they keep organized files of the patients and oversee daily activities.

Job Shadowing Experience• For my job shadow experience, I chose to attend the Fed Ex

sponsored Junior Achievement Leadership Conference. We learned the concepts of what it means to work together as a team.

• We were split into groups and competed against each other in several different activities to see which team used teamwork the best. We were presented with obstacles along the way that challenged us to work as a team better.

• We also practiced communication skills when we prepare for job interviews and learned valuable leadership skills, and what it takes to be a great leader.

• Towards the end of the Conference, we were provided with a tour of the Dowling College Campus.

• The keynote speaker provided us with his personal experiences and how teamwork and leadership qualities assisted him in his career path.