Words to know
interest
An activity or subject you enjoy and are curious about.
value
A belief about what is important to you, such as helping others, security or creativity.
strength
Something you do especially well, including personal qualities like patience or curiosity.
need
Something you require in order to learn, work and live well, such as an accommodation, a location or a certain amount of income.
inventory
A questionnaire that helps you discover your interests, values, personality or abilities.
aptitude
A natural ability to learn a certain kind of skill quickly.
RIASEC
Holland's six interest types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional.
personal profile
An organized summary of your interests, values, skills, strengths and needs, used for planning.
Hook: "So, what do you want to be?"
Adults love asking this question, and many Grade 10 students have no idea how to answer. That's normal. A better first question is "Who am I?" What do I enjoy? What matters to me? What am I good at? What do I need?
The curriculum asks you to investigate your interests, values, skills, strengths and needs and record your findings in a personal profile. Your profile is the foundation for everything in the rest of this unit and the next: comparing careers, choosing courses and planning your pathway. And because you'll keep changing, it is something you update, not something you finish.
Interests: what do I enjoy?
Psychologist John Holland developed a widely used theory that sorts work interests into six types, often called RIASEC:
- Realistic (doers): hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals; being outdoors.
- Investigative (thinkers): solving problems, researching, science and math.
- Artistic (creators): expressing ideas through art, music, writing, design or performance.
- Social (helpers): teaching, caring for, advising or serving people.
- Enterprising (persuaders): leading, selling, starting projects, influencing.
- Conventional (organizers): organizing information, data and details; following clear procedures.
Most people are a mix. An interest inventory gives you scores for each type, and your top two or three letters form your interest code (for example, SIA or RIC). Many Ontario schools use online career-planning tools (your school may use one such as myBlueprint) that include interest inventories.
Values, skills, strengths and needs
Values: what matters to me? Work values include helping others, creativity, security (a steady income), independence, high income, prestige, variety, working outdoors, time with family, and contributing to my community or culture. When a job clashes with your values, even a high salary may not make you happy.
Skills: what can I do? Include your transferable skills (Lessons 3 and 4) and technical skills (for example, coding, cooking, first aid, a second language).
Strengths: what do I do best? Strengths include skills you excel at and personal qualities such as patience, curiosity, humour, calm under pressure or creativity. Aptitude tests can suggest areas where you learn quickly, for example spatial reasoning or numerical reasoning.
Needs: what do I need to thrive? This might include learning needs or accommodations (for example, extra time or assistive technology), health needs, family responsibilities, wanting to stay close to home or community, the need to earn money soon after high school, or a work environment you prefer (quiet or busy, indoors or outdoors). Needs are not weaknesses; they are information for good planning.
Inventories suggest; you decide
Inventories are a starting point, not a verdict. They reflect how you answered on one day. If an inventory suggests "accountant" and you can't stand spreadsheets, that is useful information too. Compare inventory results with your experiences and with feedback from people who know you: teachers, coaches, employers, family members, and Elders, Métis Senators, knowledge keepers or knowledge holders in your community.
Worked exampleLet's build Sam's profile and interest code
Sam takes a short interest inventory and gets these scores (out of 10): Realistic 4, Investigative 7, Artistic 2, Social 9, Enterprising 3, Conventional 5. Sam values helping people and a steady income, is strong in listening and biology, and wants to stay near family in Thunder Bay. Build Sam's profile and suggest careers worth researching.
- Rank the scores: Social 9, Investigative 7, Conventional 5, Realistic 4, Enterprising 3, Artistic 2.
- Interest code: the top three letters, in order: S I C. Sam enjoys helping people, figuring things out, and organized work.
- Values: helping others; security (steady income).
- Skills and strengths: listening (communication), biology knowledge, patience (from feedback: Sam's coach says Sam is calm with younger players).
- Needs: to stay near family in Thunder Bay; a program or job available in or near the city.
- Suggest careers to research: work that combines helping (S) and investigating (I), such as nursing, respiratory therapy, physiotherapy or medical laboratory work. Health care also offers steady employment in many communities.
- Check with reality: Sam will research programs available in Thunder Bay and talk to someone who works in health care. The profile points to careers worth researching; it does not decide for Sam.
Sam's interest code is SIC. With values of helping and security, strengths in listening and biology, and a need to stay near family, health-care careers are a good area to research next.
Hands-on activityBuild your personal profile
You need: an online interest inventory (from your school's career-planning tool, or the Government of Canada's Job Bank, which has career quizzes), or the six RIASEC descriptions in this lesson; paper or a document.
- Interests: take an interest inventory, or rate yourself 1 to 10 on each RIASEC type using the descriptions above. Write your top-three interest code.
- Values: from the list in this lesson, choose your top five work values and rank them.
- Skills: copy your top transferable skills from Lesson 4 and add at least two technical skills.
- Strengths: list three strengths, including at least one personal quality.
- Needs: list at least two things you need to thrive.
- Feedback: ask one adult who knows you well: What do you think I'm good at? What kind of work can you picture me enjoying? Record the answer.
- Using your profile, list three careers worth researching, and save the profile in your Individual Pathways Plan.
What to look for: all five parts filled in, a feedback quote, and three careers that clearly connect to the profile (not just the careers the student already had in mind).
For parents and teachersBig idea: Expectation B2.1 asks students to investigate their interests, values, skills, strengths and needs using tools such as inventories and feedback, and to record their findings in a personal profile. The curriculum names Elders, Métis Senators, knowledge keepers and knowledge holders, as well as family and teachers, as sources of feedback.
How to help at home: Answer the feedback question honestly and kindly. Share what you notice your teen enjoying and doing well. Try not to steer them toward a specific career at this stage; the goal is self-knowledge and a list of careers to research.
Common difficulties:
- Treating inventory results as a final answer, or dismissing them entirely.
- Confusing interests (what I enjoy) with values (what I think is important).
- Leaving the needs section empty. Help your teen think about location, money, accommodations and family responsibilities.
Privacy: If your teen uses an online inventory, check that it comes from the school or a government source.