Topic 3: Tools to support meandering

Helping our clients/students

How can we help our students/clients to actively have a sense of exploration and discovery when it comes to career development? How do we help them and ourselves push the boundaries of what we think is possible and be positive in uncertain labour market?

What follows are two approaches to support the concept of meandering: Ten things you love to do and the personal profile.

Ten things you love to do

(Adapted from Amundson, 2009)

Along the left side of a blank piece of paper, list 10 things you love to do. You need not limit yourself to work-related loves – you can list things you love to do from any part of your life.

  • Put a $ beside anything that costs more than 10 00-$ to do;
  • Put a A beside anything you prefer to do alone;
  • Put a P beside anything you need to plan in order to do, that is you cannot do it spontaneously;
  • Put a M beside anything that involves moving your body;
  • Put an O beside anything you prefer to do outdoors;
  • Put a check mark beside anything actually done in the last few weeks.

There is handout in the resource section that you can share with your clients and students when using this activity.

Ten things: in action

(Adapted from Amundson, 2009)

Reflect on how you feel about your list – happy, surprised, anything they would want to change? Do you see any interesting patterns? In what ways do these activities add fulfillment to your life?

You can see this activity facilitated with a group in the following videos.

Include the videos

Personal profile activity

We all have the potential to do more than one thing in our lives and careers. In fact, in today’s labour market, it’s essential to plan for having more than one job throughout one’s career. The personal profile activity helps students and clients explore these options and reach out to their networks for career exploration suggestions. The worksheet for this activity in the resource section.

We suggest that you do the activity for yourself before sharing it with a client student.

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