Major & Career Exploration

Are you unclear about what you want to major in? Not sure what career path you’ll take to graduate? The first step to managing a career related decision is to identify WHERE you are in the process. Check out the five-step process below and choose the appropriate step(s) for you.

Step One: Self Exploration
Can you clearly articulate your interests, skills, strengths, values and personality?

Step Two: Gather Information and Explore Options
Have you identified potential majors and/or careers and know what it will take to accomplish your goals?

Step Three: Set Goals and Priorities
What is your next step? How will you get there?

Step Four: Take Action
Evaluate and take your career to the next level. Now that you have declared, are you making the most of your experience?

In addition to this process, consider meeting with a Career Development Counselor to further explore your areas of interest and career possibilities. If you are looking for basic information regarding majors and classes required, visit with your advisor.

The Career Development & Student Success Center offers current students and alumni access to FOCUS 2, a self-paced, online career guidance program used to assist you in career exploration. Through using FOCUS 2 you’re able to research careers, understand your values, interests, skills and potential career matches with greater clarity.

The Career Development & Student Success Center offers current students and alumni access to FOCUS 2, a self-paced, online career guidance program used to assist you in career exploration. Through using FOCUS 2 you’re able to research careers, understand your values, interests, skills and potential career matches with greater clarity.

	Main Menu Features	Functions
	Career Readiness Career and Educational Goals Academic Strengths Your Accomplishments Your Career Planning Status Your Personal Development Needs	A Great Starting Point Assess your involvement in activities that support career & educational decission-making Identify your academic strengths and personal development needs
	Self Assessment Work Interest Assessment Personality Assessment Skills Assessment Values Assessment Leisure Interest Assessment	Five Valid and reliable Self Assessments Identify and explore occupations & majors matching your assessment results Save your preferred occupations & majors along with your comments & rankings Narrow down your results by combining multiple assessment results
	Explore the Possibilities Search by Name Search by Industry What can I do with this major in...? Compare Two Occupations Side-By-Side	Explore Any Occupation Explore occupations by name or industry Use What can I do with this major in...? to identify majors at your college that match your interests and learn about associated occupations
	Create a Plan to Achieve Your Objectives Your Action Plan Review and print your Action Plan	Your Action Plan Map out education plans and steps you will take to achieve your career goals Plan your internships, volunteer work, study abroad Build a network of contacts
	Your Career Portfolio Review and update saved occupations Review and update your saved majors Review and print your portfolio	Your Career Portfolio A summary of your assessment results with your preferred occupations & majors Advice: Save 10 occupations & 2-3 majors
	Recommended Tools and Websites (Upcoming Events) Job Board & Internship Opportunities Website Links	Links to Important Websites Search for Jobs: national, state, or local levels and by specialty Connect to websitesrecommended by your career counselors and advisors

Freshmen & Sophomores:

FOCUS 2 can help you select majors and consolidate career goals. Work on as many sections as you can in both the Career Readiness and Self Assessment categories. If you are trying to select your major, we highly recommend the 'Academic Strengths' section, as well as the five sections in the Self Assessment category.

Junior, Seniors & Alumni:

• FOCUS 2 can help you plan your job and/or graduate school search.
  Start with the 'Your Career Planning Status' in the Career Readiness category. If your scores are in the medium or low range, we highly recommend you complete the five sections in the Self Assessment category.
• Click on the 'Combine the Results of Multiple Assessments' to see how all of your results work together. This will generate a list of occupations related to your assessment results.
• Once you have an understanding of your interests, personality, skills, values & leisure interests, use the 'Explore the Possibilities' section to research potential careers. This section provides information about each career, including educational background and salary information. You can also complete a side-by-side comparison of careers.
• If you would like, you can consolidate all of your reports into a portfolio in the 'Personal Portfolio' section. We recommend you do this step if you have completed most or all of the assessment sections. If you have only taken one or two sections, it may not be necessary.

For more information on what the FOCUS 2 assessment can do for you, see presentation.

FOCUS 2 will impact your career decision-making in positive ways!