Exploring Careers
The first thing that college students should know is that it is normal and perfectly ok to not know exactly what career you want when you enter college. It is normal to take some time in college to explore potential careers and even take some time to learn what you DON'T want to do. There are many possibilities, yet it is important to start from knowledge about your skills, values, and interests when exploring career options.
The Career Engagement Center is here to help you with this process. To get started you can set up an individual appointment or you can take an interest inventory to help give you some direction in your search.
Here are some additional resources to help you explore career interests.
What Can I do with this Major?- Whether you are exploring multiple majors or searching for information about your chosen field, this site will help you connect majors to careers.
Jobs By Academic Major
Although set up as a job search tool, this page from our web site can also help you explore careers in a variety of disciplines.
O*NET Online
A resource for exploring occupations. Includes a skills search to match a
skill set with occupations, and different occupations broken down and
explained. This site can also be helpful when working on your resume
because it can help you in thinking about how to describe the
responsibilities and skills you built in previous jobs.
This site is made up of comprehensive career-related articles, as well as millions of salary data, thousands of company reviews, and over 3 million job openings.
Career Profiles
This site offers career information and job seeking assistance for students. It also provides resume tips and salary information.
Job Web
This site offers career and job search advice for new college graduates
from the National Association of College and Employers (NACE). Provides
information on all aspects of your career exploration.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (by occupation)
The OOH, a publication by the Dept. of Labor, outlines thousands of occupations, giving you information on the nature of the work, working conditions, employment opportunities, training required, job outlook, earnings, and related occupations. This site can help you learn about what workers do on the job and what training and education is needed for particular jobs.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (by industry)
The industry version of the OOH.
Career Info Net
Find wages and employment trends, occupational requirements, state by state labor market conditions, millions of employer contacts nationwide, and the most extensive career resource library online. This site can be helpful if you are job searching in only a particular location.
Mapping Your Future
Help with planning a career, including developing a career plan, assessing skills and interests, researching occupations, comparing skills and interests with occupations, and choosing career goals.