Factors to Consider When Choosing A Major or Career Path
Personality refers to a combination of qualities that form an individual’s unique character, which influence how you see, experience, and interact with the world. Personality inventories can provide insight into how your personality compares to others and your work preferences. Our office offers Focus2 and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for BSU students and alumni to understand your personality and how it relates to career choices.
What are your key abilities, talents, and strengths? Common examples include interpersonal, communication, leadership, and organizational skills that you may have developed through employment, campus activities, or academic projects. Being able to identify and describe your skills allows you to answer key questions at job interviews such as What can you do for my organization? and What problems can you solve? Use Focus2 to help you articulate your skills.
Being able to identify and describe your interests allows you to answer key questions at job interviews such as What part of this job excites you the most? What attracted you to this position? What attracted you to our company? Use Focus2 or the Strong Interests Inventory (SII) to help you identify your career interests.
Values are your deeply held beliefs about what is important to you in life, essential guiding principles that influence your decisions and actions; they are your core priorities and what you consider morally right or desirable. Examples of values are honesty, integrity, sustainability, and equality. Use Focus2 to help you define your values.
What are your motivations? Discovering your motivations provide the language for you to describe your unique purpose, express your values, and identify a work environment that you can flourish in. Connect with a career advisor to examine your true motivations using MCode for Students.
Exploring Career Options
Choosing a major and making a career decision can feel overwhelming. But remember, it’s okay not to have all the answers right away. Focus on the journey rather than the destination. Enjoy discovering more about yourself, your values, likes, and dislikes. College is a time for exploration, so embrace it!
Ways to start exploring options:
- Join clubs and student organizations; they often reveal hidden interests. Learn about these organizations at EngageBSU.
- Volunteering is also another fantastic way to explore your passions and give back.
- Develop skills through short-term projects through the free virtual job simulations at Forage.
A Major Isn’t a Career
While some majors naturally align with specific career paths (like Accounting), others may not (such as Psychology, English, or Biology). Regardless, every major equips you with valuable knowledge and skills.
Ways to explore majors:
- Access a list of all the majors, concentrations and minors that are available to you as a BSU student at BSU Majors and Minors. The process of elimination can be helpful to know what you don’t want and focus on the areas that do interest you!
- While working with your academic advisor, test out some classes that catch your interest!
- Learn about typical career paths and types of employers that hire people with each major, as well as strategies to make you a more marketable candidate with What Can I Do With This Major.
Seek Guidance
Talk to academic advisors, professors, friends, family members, and career advisors to unpack your career interests. Research potential careers related to different majors. Understanding the correlation between majors and careers can be enlightening.
Connect with BSU alumni to learn about career paths of interest. Check out the LinkedIn & Informational Interviewing Guide for sample LinkedIn messages as well as sample questions that you may want to ask if you schedule an informational interview with a BSU alum at LinkedIn Alumni Tool.
Resources
O*Net Online – Select your skills and then find matching occupations.
Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) – Review information on what workers do in certain occupations along with the typical work environment, the required education, training, and other qualifications; the average pay; the job outlook; information on state and area data; and similar occupations.
CareerOne Stop Career and Career Cluster Videos – Browse CareerOneStop’s video collection to learn about careers, career clusters, skills and abilities, and more.
CareerSpring Resource – Launching your career is a whole new journey, and you don’t have to travel it alone. We provide a one-of-a-kind Career Platform to help unlock the future potential of first-generation and/or low-income (FGLI) students by providing career information and resources. You can explore careers, develop skills, network and get advice as well as launch your internship or job search. Visit the website to request access today!
