Career exploration is a dynamic process of self-discovery. Before looking outward, you must look inward. Career exploration tools use decades of psychological research to match your interests, skills and personality with a career path. Interest Inventories, through a series of questions, help group the things you like to do and are good at into a score or a rating. Based on the score or rating received, careers that align with your highest interests and skills are shown. The career lists generated can then be explored further, finding out information about educational requirements, salary information, etc…
Some of the websites used when working with students on career development and exploration are the College Foundation of North Carolina, NCcareers.org, Educationplanner.org, the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
The College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) is a website that can used, starting in middle school, to begin career exploration. To fully utilize the resources available on the site, an account needs to be created. The College Foundation of North Carolina and NCcareers.org have partnered together to offer several ways to explore career interests through inventories (you can use your CFNC log in with the NCcareers.org site).
Once a CFNC account has been created, click on the Plan Your Future tab at the top of the page. Once on the page, click on Learn About Yourself to complete an inventory. The NCcareers.org website can also be utilized to complete the skills matcher inventory, which helps identify careers that match your skills. The work values sorter can help you see and understand your work values and what is most important to you in a career.
Educationplanner.org is a website that offers information and resources for career planning. Self-assessments, an interest inventory, and assessments about learning style, study habits, and character traits are also available. The website also provides information to parents about preparing for their child’s future.
Careeronestop.org is a website sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor that has tools for career exploration, training, and jobs. This site can be useful for students and adults in their career exploration.
To use the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) for career exploration, start by browsing through the 25 major occupation groups on the homepage to find fields that align with your interests. You can also use the Occupation Finder to filter jobs by specific criteria such as median pay, required entry-level education, and projected growth rate. Once you select a career, review the Summary tab for a high-level overview, then dive into detailed sections like “What They Do” for daily tasks, “How to Become One” for necessary training or licenses, and “Job Outlook” to see the projected demand for that profession over the next decade. For a broader perspective, use the “Similar Occupations” tab to discover related career paths that share similar skill sets.
Leave a comment and let me know if you discovered anything new about yourself after completing one of the interest inventories.