Students and Alumni

Career Exploration Tips

Now hear this, most decisions in life are not irrevocable; you can change your mind!

You have numerous options to select from in choosing a major and/or career. The problem is that many students become overwhelmed with so many possibilities.

Consequently, some students become indecisive and often select a major or career field by default, based on what others suggest. Pacing the floor can help you think; collecting appropriate information can help you decide.

We want to help you DECIDE. The Career Center Web site features a great resource for searching information for your decision making. Of course, we would love to help you individually. Make an appointment with a counselor in our Center.

On this page you will find information about:

• Career Interest Inventories
• Assessment and Exploration Checklist
• Informational Interview
• Occupational Guides
• Career Center Handouts
• Career Preparation Checklist
• Ingredients for Success
• Transferable Skills

Career Interest Inventories

The Career Center offers access to these terrific online resources for your use to assist you in narrowing your career interests.

MyPlan

MyPlan helps students and professionals plan more fulfilling lives by making well-informed decisions about their education and careers. Whether you’re deciding on a major, planning ahead for your first career, or thinking about making a career change, MyPlan can help you explore options and bring clarity and insight into figuring out what’s right for you.

MyPlan includes a personality test, interest inventory, skill profiler, and values assessment, as well as a career database, video library, and salary calculator.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Complete a questionnaire of about 70 questions which is automatically scored on the Web. Your results will be in the form of Myers-Briggs Types, and suggestions of appropriate careers are made.

Jung - Myers-Briggs Typology

HumanMetrics specializes in online testing in the field of human typology and relationships. This site provides a type formula, preference, and type description using the Jung - Myers-Briggs typology for free, plus several other tests for a fee.

Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (RHETI) Sample

The Enneagram is a personality test that contains nine personality types. This site offers both the RHETI Test and a new shorter version of the Enneagram test.

Psychometrics Online Testing

Psychometrics, a publisher of assessment test and services, has an online testing page with questionnaires. This site will allow you to further your knowledge about the occupations listed on the strong profile report. The Workstyles Inventory helps determine workplace personality. The Trima Career Competency Questionnaire helps users familiarize themselves with their career competencies.

Princeton Review Career Quiz

This assessment quiz is based on the Birkman questionnaire and may help guide users to careers that would be of the most interest. Suggested careers are provided with finished questionnaire results. You have to register to use this site.

Assessment and Exploration Checklist

Regarding interests

• What gives you energy?
• What do you avoid?
• What reading or activities are you attracted to when there are no requirements?
• What books cause you to fall asleep?

Regarding abilities

• What comes naturally to you?
• What talents have you not had enough opportunity to test or develop?
• What are your strengths?

Regarding values and environment

• What is most important to you in an academic environment: support, competitive challenges, reputation, flexibility?
• What is most important to you in a work environment: creativity, security, independence, helping others, job outlook?
• What role do you want work to play in your life?

Regarding personality

• What characteristics make you unique?
• What majors, careers, or work environments would support your characteristics?
• In what situations have you felt a good "fit"?
• What were the times in which you felt like you thought much differently than others around you, or you felt like a "fish out of water?"

Regarding academic information

• Do you know the complete range of majors, minors and concentrations available to you, even relevant ones in other academic colleges?
• Are there particular courses or experiences that would be most useful in testing your skills and interests?
• Have you discussed your interests and options with an academic advisor?
• Have you sought information from a variety of upper-class students?
• What are the ranges of career options that are open to a particular academic path?

Regarding career information

• Have you explored a wide range of career options that match your interests, abilities and values?
• Have you investigated different academic paths to meet a particular career goal?
• Do you know the actual day-to-day activities of an occupation that you are considering?
• Have you spoken with anyone actually working in that role?

Informational Interview

One of the best sources for gathering information about what's happening in an occupation or an industry is to talk to people working in the field. This process is called informational or research interviewing. An informational interview is an interview that you initiate. You ask the questions.

The purpose is to research and obtain information, not to get a job.

Reasons to Conduct a Research Interview

• To explore careers and clarify your career goal
• To discover employment opportunities that are not advertised
• To expand your professional network
• To build confidence for your job interviews
• To access the most up-to-date career information
• To identify your professional strengths and weaknesses

Steps for Conducting a Research Interview

• Identify the occupation or industry you wish to learn about. Assess your own interests, abilities, values, and skills, and evaluate labor conditions and trends to identify the best fields to research.
• Prepare for the interview. Read all you can about the field prior to the interview. Decide what information you would like to obtain about the occupation/industry. Prepare a list of questions that you would like to have answered.
• Identify people to interview. Start with lists of people you already know, like friends, relatives, fellow students, present or former co-workers, supervisors, neighbors, etc.
• Consult professional organizations, the yellow pages, organizational directories, and public speakers.  You may also call an organization and ask for the name of the person by job title.
• Arrange the interview. Contact the person to set up an interview by telephone, by a letter followed by a telephone call, or by having someone who knows the person make the appointment for you.
• Conduct the interview. Dress appropriately, arrive on time, be polite and professional. Refer to your list of prepared questions; stay on track, but allow for spontaneous discussion. Before leaving, ask your contact to suggest names of others who might be helpful to you and ask permission to use your contact's name when meeting these new individuals.
• Follow Up. Immediately following the interview, record the information gathered. Be sure to send a thank-you note to your contact within one week of the interview.

Twenty Questions

Prepare a list of your own questions for your informational interview. Following are some sample questions:

1. What training or education is required for this type of work?
2. On a typical day in this position, what do you do?
3. What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful in this job?
4. What part of this job do you find most satisfying? most challenging?
5. How did you get your job?
6. What opportunities for advancement are there in this field?
7. What entry-level jobs are best for learning as much as possible?
8. What are the salary ranges for various levels in this field?
9. How do you see jobs in this field changing in the future?
10. Is there a demand for people in this occupation?
11. What special advice would you give a person entering this field?
12. What types of training do companies offer persons entering this field?
13. What are the basic prerequisites for jobs in this field?
14. Which professional journals and organizations would help me learn more about this field?
15. What do you think of the experience I've had so far in terms of entering this field?
16. From your perspective, what are the problems you see working in this field?
17. If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? Why? What would you change?
18. With the information you have about my education, skills, and experience, what other fields or jobs would you suggest I research further before I make a final decision?
19. What do you think of my resume? Do you see any problem areas? How would you suggest I change it?
20. Who do you know that I should talk to next?  May I use your name when I contact them?

Finding Someone for a Research Interview

The first thing you must do before conducting an interview is identify an occupation you are interested in learning about.

Secondly, make a list of friends, family, and important area businesses that can help you.

Here are some tips for locating people for an informational interview:

• Ask fellow students about information.
• Check the yellow pages for leads.
• Search the Internet for the occupation in which you are interested. Locate businesses or people.
• Professional organizations, as most majors have organizations that allow students to meet professionals or other students.
• Talk with the department of the major that typically leads a person to this career. Ask them to identify anyone working in this occupation or business.
• Professors can help because they have many business or organizational contacts.
• Alumni who are working in your field of interest are generally willing to help current students.
• Previous employers
• Clergy
• Neighbors
• Area Chambers of Commerce
• Newspapers
• Books/periodicals
• Local businesses
• Career Counselors

Guides for Approaching the Employer

By Telephone/In Person:
Hello, my name is _______. I am conducting a career research in your field. I would like to meet and talk with you for about 30 minutes so that I can find out more about your field of expertise.

By Email:
My name is ______and I am a student at Indiana State University. I am working on a class project that has to do with talking to someone who is in the ______occupation. I would like to conduct an informational interview to find out what you do in your occupation, your like/dislikes, how you ended up in your position, etc. This interview can be conducted via e-mail and will only take a short time for you to complete. If this can be arranged, please e-mail me and I will send you the questions I would like answered. My deadline for this assignment is ______.

Occupational Guides

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Describes about 250 occupations or 85 percent of all jobs in the U.S. Descriptions include DOT code; nature of work; working conditions; employment; training, qualifications, and advancement; and job outlook. Offers keyword search of handbook.

Career Videos

America's Career Infonet Career Exploration Links: This site developed by the University of California, Berkeley provides information on general career industries by giving a multitude of links to industry profiles, articles, and graduate programs.

Guides for Specific Careers

This site has a large listing of industries that connects to various Web sites with occupational information (information varies at each site; can include salary information, sample job titles, career profiles, etc.)

California Occupational Guides

Princeton Review Careers

Scholarly Society Project

This site sponsored by the University of Waterloo provides a database with search engine to find domestic and international scholarly societies in a wide variety of industries and career fields. Each society site has a URL stability rating. Many scholarly sites offer information about the industry, news, upcoming events, and additional Web links.

Career Center Handouts

The following resources are related to academic majors and/or career fields. Try them!  These materials are in (.pdf) format - you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.

• Aviation
• Art
• Business
• Chemistry and Physics
• Communications
• Public Health
• Criminology
• Education
• English
• Family and Consumer Sciences
• Geography, Geology, and Anthropology
• Government Jobs
• Graduate School Information
• History and Political Science
• Indiana Job Hunt
• International Job Search
• Life Sciences
• Mathematics, Computer Science, and Information Technology
• Music
• Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work
• Recreation and Sport Management
• Safety Management and Environmental Health
• Sports Studies, Fitness and Exercise Science
• Technology
• Theater

Career Preparation Checklist

Choose a career/major

During your freshman year…

• complete MyPlan assessment.
• speak with a career counselor at the Career Center.
• research career options by looking at the Occupational Outlook Handbook, handouts from the Career Center, and speaking with an academic advisor.
• conduct an informational interview with a professional in your career(s) of interest.
• job shadow a professional in your career(s) of interest (apply for the job shadowing scholarship at the Career Center).

Prepare your documents

During your freshman year…

• develop a résumé and have it critiqued by someone at the Career Center.
• develop a cover letter and have it critiqued by someone at the Career Center.
• ask professionals to be willing to provide you a reference and develop a list of references with at least three individuals.

During your sophomore, junior, and senior years…

• update your résumé and have it critiqued by someone at the Career Center.
• update your cover letter and have it critiqued by someone at the Career Center.
• continue asking professionals to be willing to provide you a reference and update your list of references with at least three individuals.

Gain experience

During your freshman year…

• work a part-time job, preferably one related to your major, but not necessarily.
• join activities and organizations on campus.
• volunteer.

During your sophomore and junior years…

• obtain at least one internship, which you can find through career fairs and Sycamore CAREERlink (apply for internship scholarship at Career Center).
• study abroad.

Find a Job

During your freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years…

• attend the Career Opportunity Fair and job fair within your major.

During your sophomore, junior, and senior years…

• prepare for the interview by scheduling a practice interview at the Career Center.
• learn interviewing skills from employers by participating in the Speed Interview Review.
• participate in the Networking & Etiquette Workshop.

During your junior and senior years…

• sign up for campus interviews.

During your senior year…

• education majors should attend the Teacher Recruitment Fair.
• use Sycamore CAREERlink to search job openings.

Consider Graduate School

During your junior year…

• research schools and programs of interest.
• speak with someone at the Career Center about preparing for the application process.

During your junior and senior years…

• attend a graduate and professional school fair.

*This timeline is to be used as a guideline. If you find yourself off schedule, you can complete these steps at later times as well.

Ingredients for Success

Most ISU students seek employment upon graduation. Regardless of whether you seek employment or plan to enter graduate or professional school upon graduation, employers (and graduate/professional school admissions committees) look for similar traits and experiences from their candidates.

Knowing the criteria upon which you will be evaluated will increase your likelihood of attaining your post-ISU goals. The following information summarizes the "universal ingredients" sought by employers and admissions committees alike.

Education

Grades are important. Faculty will evaluate you based upon grades. Moreover, the cumulative GPA serves for most employers and admissions representatives as an indication of intellectual ability (or at least individual effort). Representatives tell us that trends in grades, breadth of course work, and reputation of a college play a major part in evaluating scholarship.

• GPA: Cumulative GPA, trends in grades, GPA within major
• Breadth of Coursework: Academic minor that complements major, use of electives and general studies that demonstrates well-rounded education
• Familiarity with computing: not necessarily expertise!

Career-Related Experience

Graduate and professional schools seek candidates who will successfully complete their program and who will contribute to it as well. Likewise, employers seek candidates who will contribute to their organization and who will be good "corporate citizens." Career-related work experience will bolster your profile for any post-ISU option that you pursue.

Show a demonstrated interest in a particular career field by undertaking one of the following:

• An internship or co-op
• A career-related summer job
• A volunteer experience
• Job Shadowing
• Class projects or assignments within a field of interest

Leadership

Leadership is also assessed. Since leadership is defined in many ways, Career Center staff can help you to identify your leadership skills by evaluating your past experiences. Equally important, staff can help you identify future opportunities for leadership involvement.

Define your leadership through:

• Volunteer/Philanthropic experiences (i.e., Habitat for Humanity, sorority/fraternity events, etc.)
• Involvement in campus or community organizations (roles you held within them, contributions made, etc.)
• Familial responsibilities assumed
• ...much more

Past behavior is the best single predictor of future behavior. You will be evaluated on your past behaviors and accomplishments. Use this guide to periodically assess areas in which you need experience. Then, stop by the ISU Career Center to make an appointment with a counselor.  Prepare for your future; don't let it just happen to you.

Transferable Skills

What are transferable skills? Simply put, transferable skills are the skills and abilities that you have acquired during the your past experience that are applicable to what you wish to do during your next job. These skills can be acquired from various activities such as jobs, classes, volunteer work, sports, or student organizations.

Use this approach when seeking a new job by thinking about how your past experiences and skills are transferable to the new position’s responsibilities. Portray how your experiences will support the new job position while creating your resume. If an experience does not support the new role you wish to take on, it might be best to leave it out of your resume.

Transferable skill areas could include: