NSCC Library: Career & Employment Resources: Exploring Careers

Selected Web Sites

What do you want to do when you finish school? Some students will have a specific goal in mind, while others might not know. Either way you'll want to research different careers and learn a little about yourself to find the best fit. The links below offer a variety of tools to help you explore careers and help you figure out how your interests fit in a particular career.

Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Occupational Outlook Handbook provides you with the training and education needed, expected earnings and job prospects, as well as what workers do on the job and working conditions for all careers. Job search tips and links to information about the job market in each state are also offered.
O'NET The Occupational Information Network
Identifies and describes important information about occupations, worker skills, and training requirements. Includes skills assessment tests that link your skills to occupations that may be a successful match. Replaces the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
The Holland Code and How to Use It
Find out more about personality types and your personal interests, and how this information can guide you when choosing a career.
My Next Move
What do you want to do for a living? An interactive website where you can explore careers from the U.S. Department of labor.
Student Resources : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
This website allows students to explore careers based on interested. Even though it is designed for K-12 students, it is very useful for beginning undergraduates as well.
America's Career Infonet
This site contains national, state, and local labor market data, as well as extensive wages & trend information by occupation or industry.
CollegeBoard College Search
Once you have found out the required program of study needed to excel in your job field, use CollegeBoard's College MatchMaker to find out what U.S. higher education institutions offer that major matched to other desired college criteria.
University HQ - Learn How to Become...
One of the hardest parts of your career is choosing a profession and then figuring out how to get where you want to be. There are many things to factor in when deciding on a career that would best fit the kind of lifestyle you desire.

Exploring Careers

Career Exploration
Covering 16 broad occupational categories, the Career Clusters system videos offers information on practically every job there is!

Roadtrip Nation Community College Edition “Roadtrip Nation, the pioneering nonprofit best known for its iconic green RVs and popular career exploration resources, today announced a new education resource to help community college students connect their passions with in-demand career pathways. Now available nationwide, the Roadtrip Nation Experience: Community College Edition brings project-based learning through storytelling to students and educators in the community college system. It is available at no cost through generous support from ECMC Foundation.”

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Information that is important to know when you are thinking about a particular career includes:

the training and education needed.
earnings.
expected job prospects.
what workers do on the job.
working conditions.

A great source, one that is always up-to-date and reliable, is the Occupational Outlook Handbook, created by the U.S. Department of Labor. It is available for free on the Internet and also in book form in the library. This source gives you information about all the above topics and more

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Using the Occupational Outlook Handbook

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Many tests and quizes exist that help you to determine in which careers you could be successful. Many of these are free on the Internet, and many are available via the Career Placement center. By using some of these assessment tools you can get a head start on deciding what careers you might like to try.

There exist many websites dedicated to assessing your individual strengths and weakness in relation to particular careers. These range from well-known, extensive evaluations, such as the Myers-Briggs, to informal sets of questions aimed at steering you into a compatible career.

A good place to start is at ask.com's career page. Here you'll find a variety of ways to evaluate your possible success at different careers.

Aptitude testing

Aptitude or personality tests measure your areas of strengths and weakness in relation to particular careers. The Riley Guide and the Myers-Briggs are two of the more well known tests. Read about these on the web, and check with NSCC Career Services to learn more. Also, check careerpath.com for simple tests that relate to various professions. Taking these can help you narrow your choices to those in which you will be most comfortable and happy.