Evoke Development

Introduction

In a world full of choices, making the right career decision can be difficult. The new career decision-making videotape, A Tour of Your Tomorrow (1993), by Rich Feller and Joe Vasos, allows individuals of all ages to see and understand many of the career choices available to them. The two-part videotape series divides the working world into six Holland type-of-interest categories:

• Crafts
• Scientific
• The Arts
• Social
• Business
• Office Operations

Segments on each category encourage individuals to use their strengths and diversity to find careers in which success and happiness rely on continuous improvement through lifelong learning and job satisfaction.  This article was originally published in the Journal of Employment Counseling, March 1997, Volume 34.

Features

In addition to the wide variety of career options featured throughout the videotape, “real-life” workers discuss their roles and responsibilities in today’s hectic and ever-changing workforce. They emphasize the importance of connecting career development to:

• Personal beliefs
• Goals
• Motivational factors
• Desired rewards

These workers also discuss how their careers naturally progressed once they identified preferred behavior patterns and interests. See Table 1 for a description of careers in each category.

Critique

The videotape provides vignettes introducing various career fields and “real-life” workers in each category. The videotape probably should have listed additional career options and educational opportunities at the end of each segment, as was done in the Craft section. However, the career fields illustrated in the videotape address the wide variety of general high school or college degrees rather than specific vocational training.

A Tour of Your Tomorrow provides an interesting and visually stimulating outlook on today’s workforce for viewers of all ages. Viewers learn the importance of identifying their behavioral, social, and developmental needs in their search for a satisfying and rewarding career. The emphasis that the videotape places on lifelong learning and personal development is refreshing and greatly needed in today’s unstable work environment. Individuals recognize the importance of finding a career that meets both personal and transactional needs. This videotape series can be a useful tool in helping individuals with that process.

Descriptions of Careers Discussed in A Tour of Your Tomorrow