Step Three: Academic and Career Options

This exercise will help put a name to your career. Take time to explore the following links to find a career title. Be creative with your words you use in your search.

Familiarizing yourself with various career fields and what jobs actually entail is critical to developing career goals. As you read and research about careers, speak with professionals in the field, and gain work experience, several options which are most consistent with your interests, values, and skills will emerge and become the focus of your career search.

1) You will be provided with a wealth of information to base your decision on which career, or careers, will be most suited for you. Information provided will include: income, working conditions, locations, education required, and what the future holds for a particular occupation.

• The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) (http://stats.bls.gov/ocohome.htm)

2) You can search a world-wide database of résumé’s for people working in thousands of occupations. Using a key-word search engine you can find even the most elusive careers and contact them for informational interviews via email.

• Search Online Résumé’s (www.careermosiac.com/cm/cm41.html)

3) Informational interviews are an excellent method of gathering information about work that interests you with people who are working in the field. To gain actual work experience in a particular job or career, consider volunteering, CIP, involvement with campus activities, applying for Internships, or summer employment in the field of your choice.

• Informational Interview

4) Since income is an important consideration for many people, here is a great link to a site where you can compare salaries of many occupations.

• Income By Occupation