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Career Exploration
Career exploration and planning is a process that takes place over time and involves a series of decisions. Choosing a college major is just one of the decisions you make in the process. To make decisions that are satisfying to you now and in the future, it is helpful to know how your interests and strengths can be used in making career choices.- Overview of the career development process
- Self-assessment
- Career and job search web sites
- Other ways to self-assess
- Exploration of career and educational options
- Informational interviewing
- Transfer information and planning guide
- Decision-making and goal setting
Overview
Career Development is an ongoing process consisting of a continuum of stages or components including:- Self-Assessment - Identifying your interests, skills, abilities, values, goals, and personal qualities, particularly as they relate to the world of work.
- Exploration of Career and Educational Options - Increasing your awareness of options by reading career literature, talking with professionals, visiting those involved in the field (informational interviews), and researching educational options (majors, course work, graduate study, and additional training).
- Decision Making/Goal Setting - Making choices to pursue your interests and opportunities in certain areas; possible securing an internship, cooperative education position, part-time job, or volunteer experience in the field.
- Action Taking/Implementation - Putting your decisions into action; conducting an effective job search; and finding employment.
- Adjustment to Transition/Re-Evaluation - Assessing the transition and formulating new plans; constantly evaluating choices, and continuing the career development process.
Self-Assessment
The first stage of the career development process is finding out about yourself. Most people think they know themselves fairly well, but when confronted with the need to make choices, they may lack the clarity necessary to find a career that matches their interests, abilities, and values. During the process you will evaluate your career and educational options based upon your own characteristics, paving the way for a more informed and satisfactory career choice.Career and Job Search Web Sites
The links below are helpful for conducting career, job search, and labor market research. Come to the Counseling/Career Center for additional resources.- America's Career InfoNet - national information for occupations, wages, and projecdted employment outlook
- Occupational Outlook Handbook - national Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Washington Job Training Results - information on Washington state training program completion rates and wages
- O*NET Online - national information on occupations and skills match component
- www.wilma.org/wdclists/ - Washington state occupational demand and decline lists
- Workforce Explorer - Washington state occupational descriptions and labor market information
- America's Job Bank - Information on a wide range of job openings from around the country and includes listings by state and job title.
- The Black Collegian Online - This site gives abundant career planning and job search information as well as commentaries by leading African American writers. It includes general information on college life and news of what's happening on college campuses today.
- Career and Educational Guidance Library: Career Exploration Links - This site maintained by UC Berkeley has a database of over 700 links for occupational and educational preparation programs.
- California Careers - Important links from this site include career and labor market information specific to California, career videos, and a list of training schools and community colleges from the "Tools and Resources" link.
- Personality Quiz
- Career Builder.com - Career information includes company research, salary calculator, work visas, and resume advice. Job listings posts more than 300,000 jobs representing 25,000 employers. Personal Search agent allows candidates to apply for jobs and manage resumes.
- Career Chase - Click on "Career Information Categories." Good source for reading "informational interviews with people who really enjoy their jobs."
- Career Cruising - A short inventory of career interests, valuable information interview samples, and occupational information.
- Careers, Not Just Jobs - Produced by Dow Jones & Company, Inc., this site includes articles by career columnists and gives information about who is hiring and about salaries and profiles.
- Career Research - Go to undergraduate students, note four year plan, click on Junior Year and go to web resources at bottom of left column.
- Career Voyages - Nationwide information on apprenticeships, community college, university and other training programs including the fastest growing and highest need vocational programs (automotive, construction, advanced manufacturing, energy, financial services, health care, biotechnology and transportation).
- Careers Online Virtual Careers Show - This directory contains over 1,000 job and occupational descriptions from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The user can review jobs by exploring 12 interest categories.
- Coast Careers - This career decision-making site helps students discover what they may most enjoy in a major or career, assess values, interests and skills, explore occupational information, decide on occupations, and take action to find majors.
- College Board Online - This site provides extensive guidance and information about jobs and careers and how they relate to college majors.
- craigslist.org - Craigslist is a non-commercial web site dedicated to assisting people in finding everything from jobs to apartments. Search their extensive job listings in over 20 areas of interest.
- Princeton Review - Sound information on choosing a major and career includes useful tips on college majors, careers, internships.
- Emotional Intelligence Survey - Identify your strengths and your personality traits that could use further development.
- Eureka - Career Information System of occupational and career-related information. Over 400 careers, financial aid, international jobs, univerisites, job outlook.
- Hospitality Jobs Online - Jobs in the hospitality industry.
- Hot Jobs - Company profiles, information on hot jobs, and job listings.
- ProvenResume.com
- Career tips for students, parents, and educators (ages 15+)
- State Occupational Information (free assessments/resources)
- Majors to Careers
- Monster Board - Lists thousands of jobs worldwide and a large database of information for job seekers and employers.
- O*Net - All occupations listed are described using skills, knowledge, interests, and activities, worker characteristics and occupational experience. It also gives occupation specific tasks, job outlooks, and salary ranges.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook - This site gives the full content of the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It includes information on over 200 popular occupations including compensation, training requirements, and typical work.
- Quick Assessments - This site links assessments with California job information but has useful easy to use assessments. Under "Assess Yourself" try the Holland Code based assessment first. You may explore job information by industry sector also, i.e. Media, Health, Education.
- Spotlight on Careers - Go to spotlight on careers and explore. You may find other good links on this website such as the Internet Public Library that links with Assocations.
- Telecomm Jobs - Entry Level telecommunications jobs.
- University of North Carolina Majors Site - A very popular site that lists career related to majors at University of North Carolina, along with nicely formatted information about getting into the field.
- The Riley Guide: Job Resources on the Internet - Excellent resources for researching and gathering occupational information.
- Saludos Hispanos - This site links Latinos with career opportunities including the ability to post free resumes. Its goal is to connect career-minded Hispanics with organizations who have an interest in promoting them up the corporate ladder.
- San Francisco State University - An excellent example of a college career center. Click on "Student" and go to "Career Resources" and "What Can I do With A Major In?" In Career Resources see "Work Abroad," and "Information for students with disabilities." Site includes a section for alumni information and graduate job information.
- Uplifting Positive Thinking - Go to Quotes for uplifting and inspirational ideas.
- What Can I Do with a Major In? - Career Center and internet resources by major, frequently asked questions about majors and careers, and information about the Peace Corps.
- WorkSmart - Sponsored by the Employment Development Department (EDD) from the state of California, "WorkSmart" provides useful information for job seekers on work skills and employment.
- Military Career Guide Online, U.S. Government Defense Manpower Data Center - This comprehensive site gives information about careers in the U.S. Armed Services, describes opportunities for enlisted personnel, and provides occupational descriptions as well as phone numbers to use for requesting more information.
Other Ways to Self-Assess
- Make an appointment with a career counselor to discuss your interests, plans, and/or concerns; perhaps also to confirm what you've discovered in the above assessments.
- Participate in additional self-assessment activities including the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, available in the Counseling/Career Center, and talk to a career counselor about the results.
- Come in and use WOIS, a computerized self-assessment program available in the Counseling/Career Center.
- Enroll in Career Planning (SDEV 105A), a career awareness and development course.
- Attend career workshops put on by Counseling/Career Center staff.
- Discuss your interests, abilities, and values with friends, parents, faculty members, or other college staff.
- Make career development an integral part of your life!
Exploring Your Career and Educational Options
Once you have completed your self-assessment and know your Holland Code, your next step is to explore occupations. You can then make decisions about which careers best fit your interests, values, skills, and abilities and use Choosing a Major to look for possible Centralia College majors that will prepare you for this career. There are four basic ways to explore your career options:- Read about careers (books, magazines, Internet, etc.). The Counseling/Career Center offers many career-related resources for your research. One useful book is the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), which you can use to research careers by looking up a specific career or occupational area.
- Listen to talks or presentations about careers.
- Talk with people about their careers.
- Explore a career field by securing a job, cooperative education position, volunteer experience, or an internship. Here are some links to internship information:
http://www.InternshipPrograms.com
http://www.careerplanit.com/world/internship.cfm
http://www.internjobs.com
- Attend job fairs and transfer days.
- Research the Internet links given above and in Choosing a Major.
- Come to the Counseling/Career Center and use WOIS, an excellent, simple-to-use computer program that gives information about occupations, educational programs, wages, outlook, etc. for Washington. One of the most useful features of WOIS is that it tells which colleges and universities offer the program in which you're interested. Our staff will be glad to help you get started using WOIS. You can access a limited edition of WOIS online. A similar site for Michigan, MOIS, also has a short career assessment to take and lets you get a little further into the careers.
- Read written career information available in the Counseling/Career Center.
- Participate in workshops and classes put on by Counseling/Career Center staff.
- Try out a career by obtaining a full- or part-time, and/or summer job consistent with your interests.
- Perform volunteer work in your field(s) of interest.
- Gather first-hand information about careers from faculty and administrators and through survey courses in major areas of study.
- Initiate informational interviews (see below) with various career professionals.
- Interview alumni involved in various career fields.
- Consult with Counseling/Career Center counselors and educational planners.
Informational Interviewing
The information-gathering interview should be conducted after you have analyzed your skills, interests, and abilities and have studied other sources of career information. The informational interview:- Increases your knowledge about your field(s) of interest.
- Helps you clarify your career goals.
- Allows potential employers to know you in a pleasant, low-stress atmosphere.
- Establishes a network of contacts that could lead to future employment.
Transfer Information
Many students take the first two years of a four-year degree at a community college and then transfer to a 4-year school to complete the degree. Costs are generally lower at the colleges, and students can often live at home. Also, there are usually smaller classes, and more individual attention can be given to students at a community college. Centralia College has the reputation of being a very personal, friendly place to start your higher education. However, the student needs to be sure that their credits will transfer to the chosen university. To help in doing this, transfer agreements exist between community colleges and universities in each state. You can find copies of these agreements for Washington in a rack outside the Counseling/Career Center. And our counselors and educational planners are glad to meet with you to ensure that the credits you take at Centralia College will transfer. We advise you to do this as soon as possible so classes will not have to be retaken once you get to the university.More transfer information, including a students rights in the transfer process, common questions, and links to all the Washington colleges and universities that accept the direct transfer degree is on another page. Centralia College has put together Transfer Planning Guidelines to help you plan your transfer to a 4-year school.
Does a 4-year school fit into your career plans? If you are thinking about attending a 4-year school, it is essential to explore your options carefully. Enrolling in a 4-year school requires early planning, including knowing deadlines for admission and submission of detailed applications and transcripts.
Before making the decision to attend a 4-year school, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I have a career objective which requires a bachelor's degree?
- Have I identified my interests and skills and assessed how they relate to my academic subject area?
- Am I aware of the career areas for which the degree will prepare me and the employment outlook for these fields?
- Do I know how the degree will aid me in gaining new types of employment and how it will meet my personal needs?
- Have I talked with professionals currently working in my intended career area to get answers to some of these questions?
- Have I discussed my plans with advisors, professors, and/or counselors?
- What are the entrance requirements for admission to the program of my choice?
Decision Making and Goal Setting
Once you've explored career and educational options, you are ready to identify your career objectives. Some of the questions you may want to answer include:- What kind of work do I want to perform?
- What kind of work environment would I like?
- What type of industry do I prefer?
- What, if any, are my geographic limitations?
- What kind of people do I want to work with?
- What salary compensation do I consider appropriate?
- Do I have special needs to consider?
- How realistic are my expectations considering my own skills and abilities and the realities of the job market?