Information to help you make a career choice and what to do if you have difficulty with a career choice.

Choosing a career doesn't have to occur by chance. If you approach career choice in a systematic fashion you will find that you can learn about yourself and careers while enhancing your career decision-making.

STEP 1: Self Assessment: Identify your values, interests, personality traits, and skill. Here are some ways.

Michigan Occupational Information System Self-Assessment Career Survey

What Do You Want Your Life to Look Like?

What Are Your Values?

A Comprehensive Self-Assessment Framework from Ohio University.

STEP 2: Career Exploration: Find out about different majors and career options, work settings, and employment outlook.

Find Different Jobs by Career Type Cluster

Look at Average Salaries for Different Occupations

Look at Everything You Need to Know About Different Occupations in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Includes training required, job duties, occupational outlook, and salary.

Here's an Analysis Form to Use to Organize Information about an Occupation/Career.

STEP 3: Make a Career Choice: Review information about yourself, your personal circumstances, and careers and decide on a career to pursue. Look at the fit between your personal characteristics, abilities and interests and the occupations that you have researched. Consider how much time you want to spend in school or other training. As no single occupation is likely to be a "perfect" fit, consider a variety of options. Identify the pros and cons of each option, how well each satisfies your needs and interests, and what steps are needed to get the career that you decide on.

Look at a Detailed Decision-Making Process.

STEP 4: Develop a Plan of Action: What schooling do you need? What should your major be?

Visit Dr. Brown's Choosing a Major Page for Help in Choosing an appropriate major.

Visit Dr. Brown's Careers in Psychology Page if You Have Chosen a Psychology Career.

Here's How to Develop a Learning Plan for A Four-Year University Degree.

STEP 5: Develop your employability skills.

Prepare yourself for an effective job search.

Click here for an overview of the job search process.

Understand and develop your transferrable skills. Transferrable skills are skills related to many jobs and careers, and include such skills as effective communication, working well with others, and research skills.

Click here to learn more about transferrable skills.

Click here to take an on-line survey o your trasferrable skills.

Prepare your resume, develop your interview skills, and learn how to undertake an effective job search.

Click here to go to ECU Career Services for more information on these employability skills.

1. Sometimes myths or misunderstandings about career choice get in the way. See if these resouces help:

Career Exploration Myths That Can Increase Career Indecision

Common Mistakes People Make in Career Exploration

2. If you can't think of any careers that sound interesting it often that means you don't have enough experience with different careers and need more experience with different people and jobs.

Click here to learn about internships, shadowing, volunteering and other ways to explore careers.

Click here to go to the ECU Student Volunteer Center to learn about the volunteer opportunities for ECU students.

Click here to go to the ECU Office of Cooperative Education (for Cooperative Education positions or internship positions).

Talk about careers with your academic advisor.

Try talking to people who have different jobs about what their job is like and how they got there.

Try taking some elective courses in areas that you haven't already taken a course.

3. You have too many career choices and can't narrow down the choice to one.

Maybe you are being too perfectionistic and expecting the one "right" choice. Read the career
myths link above.

Maybe decision making has always been a problem for you, or you lack confidence in your own decision-making. Talk to a counselor at the Center for Counseling and Student Development.

4. Maybe other personal issues get in the way--such as depression, family or relationship issues, or anxiety.

Talking with a counselor at the ECU Center for Counseling and Student Development may help.

5. You feel you are losing your perspective on the whole process.

Click here to go to Dilbert's Career Zone--Helping to keep it all in perspective.

Back to Dr. Brown's Home Page