Tips on exploring careers
Today's job market is volatile, and a career that's hot right now may not be by the time you graduate (for example, the dot-com boom and bust of recent years). Pay attention to data about job trends, but don't rely too heavily on them.
Pay attention to your values—what's most important to you? What truly gives you energy and enthusiasm? Try printing and filling out this values self-assessment [.pdf], as a way to start thinking through your personal priorities.
Learn as much as you can about careers that interest you. Try to use all the career resources available to you before making a final decision.
Think as carefully about your preferences in workplace environment as you do about the actual job itself. Do you want to work for a big organization or a small one? A secure, established employer or a riskier start-up? A noisy, bustling setting or a quiet one? A conservative atmosphere or a free-wheeling, unconventional one? Do you want to interact with a lot of people or work mostly on your own? Do something different every day or have some structure and predictability in your work tasks? All of these factors will have a big effect on your job satisfaction.
The same job can be very different when performed for different kinds of employers, or in different workplace settings. For example, someone interested in teaching could end up:
- teaching in the public school system
- training corporate employees in how to use new technology systems
- coaching patients in a public-health clinic about nutrition, exercise and wellness
- training laid-off workers in new job skills
Look for ways you can combine your various interests, skills, and strengths. Someone who enjoys writing and computers might want to look at technical communication (we have a major in that at the University!). If you like both business and sports, how about sports management? Talk to an Exploratory, Transition, and Career Services adviser about ways to combine the things that really interest you.
And remember—you are unlikely to be doing the same thing 15 to 20 years from now as you will be a year after graduation. In general, two-thirds of workers change careers at least once after they begin working; slightly more than half change at least three times. And many of today's occupations will change significantly in the course of your working life. So start thinking of career exploration as a lifelong process.
December 2006