Formulating, Finding and Following Your Career Pathway

• What are my interests, skills and values?
• What strengths and qualifications do I possess that would interest potential employers?

Counseling and Career Services can provide a variety of self-assessment tools like the CHOICES Planner and other inventories like the Strong Interest Inventory and the Meyers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, along with career techniques and information.

• Where are the career opportunities that fit my qualifications and goals?

Utilize the CHOICES Planner to develop research skills.  You may also want to utilize the links on our Career Services website like Simply Hired, City Town Info Career Directory, or Career.Org.

• How do my qualifications and interests relate to available employment opportunities?
• What is really important to me in my first job?

Give this a great deal of time, energy and thought.  Our office can assist you with this by utilizing the CHOICES Planer as well as looking at your personality type and/or your leadership style.

• Who do I know that can become part of my job search network?
• Am I consistently and aggressively using my job search network contacts and identifying new ones?

Counseling and Career Services will guide you through the process of establishing a job search file and how to record critical information that may be used at a later time.

• For which positions do I most qualify and possess a distinct advantage in acquiring?
• At which companies can I reach my goals?

Combine your career and employer research with your self-assessment results to help visualize a good “fit” for the positions in which you might be interested

• What have I learned in my job search so far that might change my goals or approach to potential employers?

Thorough, well-organized records in a career organizer will help you to continually evaluate options and opportunities.  You may also want to brainstorm with one of the counselors to assist you in clarifying your goals.

• How can I best present an accurate, appealing picture of myself in writing?

Rely on Counseling and Career Services to help you develop a professional presentation of yourself in all of your written materials!

• How should I prepare and practice to best convey my strengths and qualifications fro the position?

Come and take advantage of Counseling and Career Services interview preparation experience and our storehouse of information.  We’ll even conduct and videotape a practice interview with you!

• How should I present myself in each interview?
• How should I analyze each interview and identify areas for improvement?

Use your career organizer to record and organize important interview data.  Come and discuss your interview strengths and areas in need of improvement with a counselor for interview improvement strategies.

• Should I make any adjustments based on my initial interviews?
• How can I build upon the success of my initial interviews?

Refer to your notes and analyses from initial interviews.  Work with your counselor.

• How should I track and follow through on interview activity?

Your career organizer will help you to keep track of the key people with whom you need to follow-up and the important deadlines.

• How does each offer compare with and meet my goals?
• What “trade-offs” can I accept?

A counselor can provide assistance in evaluating job offers by instructing you to effectively evaluate and critically think about individual offers as well as comparison techniques for differing offers.