Transition Year Advice We are here to help you

Advice for Transition Year Students

Interest Inventory

Do you know what kinds of jobs/subjects you would be good at? If not an interest inventory is a great way to give you the answers.

This test will help you understand what types of careers/subjects you will enjoy and be successful in. Interest based career testing determines what you are interested in doing, then matched with your personality profile and ability testing you will discover what you are passionate about.

Personality Profile

Do you know who you are? What are your dominant traits? By answering a personality profile questionnaire this can help you see your traits. Personality traits reflect your characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

No personality type is “better” than any other—just different. And each perspective brings something new and interesting to the table. Maybe you have always hated talking on the phone, but never really understood why. Or perhaps you’ve always needed a little extra time to think about a problem before making a decision. By learning more about where you lie on the extroversion/introversion and thinking/feeling continuums, you might be better able to understand why you prefer certain things and dislike others. This can come in handy when you are trying to make important decisions that might have an impact on the course of your life, such as choosing a college course or career. Selecting a college course and profession that is well-aligned with your personal preferences might mean that you end up being happier and more satisfied with your choice and your work in the long run.

Look At Strengths

It’s so important to know your strengths and what direction you can go with those strengths. This will make it easier to make future decisions.

FUTURE PLANNING & GOALS

How do you want to contribute to the world? Who do you want to be? Do you want to work abroad or in Ireland? Lots of questions firstly it helps to have some answers to start with. By knowing your own strengths this information can begin the journey of planning and goals.

Do you know enough about careers that are a good strength fit for you? How do you go about getting work experience? Putting all of the questions in a plan helps you to start a process that will include goals and steps you need to put in place to achieve those goals.

NEXT STAGES – COLLEGE / PLC/ APPRENTICES:

Transition year is a great year, giving you time to try different careers and it’s a year to start to plan your next stage if it’s College/PLC/Apprenticeship. By starting your research in transition year, this gives you time to plan and get information. Check out colleges, which subjects do they require for that course/degree, by knowing this information you can pick the correct subjects in 5th year. From your work experience you will get to know people in the industry and they could make recommendations for that career. Which college offers what course. What is the curriculum? What will you be qualified for? Will this involve you moving away if so what is the accommodation situation like? Look at grant’s and what financial assistance can you receive. Once your research is done you can get on in 5th/6th year focused on the leaving certificate with the assurance you are informed.

GOALS

OCCUPATIONAL ABILITY TESTING

Do you know what your abilities and strengths are? When making a decision about your future it is very valuable to know what your ability strengths are by taking the ability testing.

Ability tests include numerical, verbal and logical reasoning, problem-solving skills, and the ability to identify mistakes accurately. Combining the three tests will give you a very good picture about what career choices/college courses will suit you best.

HOW TO GO ABOUT WORK EXPERIENCE

Transition year is a great time to take time out to consider your future and put your toes into the world outside school and try out different roles in careers that you might be considering.

This is a great opportunity to ask people who work in these careers what its like what kind of different roles are in the career. This is also a great networking opportunity to get connected with that industry.

Transition Year Programmes

There are a number of programmes for transition year students provided by institutions and companies. It’s really good to know about these programmes and take advantage of the opportunities to network and ask questions and get a feel for the environment.

They try to give you a feel for their industry, careers and particular roles and what’s involved with getting into that industry or career.