Career Exploration

Deciding on a major/career path involves understanding your interests, skills, and values, and what motivates you.  Please complete the assessment below.

Step 1:  COMPLETE THE INDIANA CAREER EXPLORER ASSESSMENT

Instructions:

  • Visit the Indiana Career Explorer home page at http://www.indianacareerexplorer.com — click on “new users register here” under the login information.
  • New User Screen — click on the student button and select “college freshman,” then click continue.
  • Register Screen — complete the information required on this screen.   You must use the calendar to select your date of birth, so use the arrows to scroll to the right birth date.  Create a user name and password, keeping this information in a safe place for later use.  Under school, select the Ivy Tech Community College campus where you attend.  At the bottom of the page, you must read through the terms and conditions of use, then click that you agree to them.   When finished, click on the “register” button.
  • You should now be in an Indiana Career Explorer screen which will direct you to many different options for use.
  • In the middle of this screen are three different assessments.  Follow the directions and complete all three.  Save your findings.  You can also go into “My Portfolio” at the top of the screen to check your results later.
  • Kuder Career Interest Assessment takes about 9 minutes to complete.
  • Kuder Skills Confidence Assessment takes about 7 minutes to complete.
  • Kuder Work Values Assessment takes about 4 minutes to complete.
  • Each of these assessments will guide you towards a career using different types of information.
  • At the bottom of the page, explore the Hoosier Hot 50 Jobs.  Is your career choice one of these needed positions?

Print out your results, or Save the file on your Computer where you can access it again easily.  This information will assist you with completing the career exploration worksheet.

Step 2:  Complete the Occupational Exploration Worksheet below

Use this information to complete your entry for the Discussion Board.

(This can be downloaded as a Word doc by clicking here.)

OCCUPATIONAL EXPLORATION WORKSHEET

  1. View your assessment results.  Look under the Career Interest Assessment and identify your career interests.  What are your top three occupational groups?  Does this surprise you?

What is your  first area of interest? _______________________

What is your second area interest? _____________________

What is your third area interest? _______________________

2.  Review the career information for your career choice of interest. Please use the following resources for your occupational research:

  1. After reviewing at least one website’s information, answer the following questions about the career. PLEASE CITE YOUR SOURCE(S): What Education, Training, and/or Certifications are needed to enter this occupation? (Associate Degree? Bachelor’s degree? Master’s Degree? Licensure?) What is the Salary Range (lowest to highest)? What is the Median or Average Salary?What is the Employment Outlook? (Average growth? Faster than Average? etc..)What is the Nature of Work?  Describe Specific Tasks Involved in this Occupation. (Is it people, data, things, or ideas related?)Describe the Working Conditions (e.g., responsibilities, sitting at desk/office, outdoors, public contact, etc…)What do you find appealing about this occupation? Any drawbacks? How does it relate to your key work values and skills?
  2. What college major or program will you need to pursue this occupation/career? What steps will you need to take in order to achieve your career goal(s)?
  3. After researching this occupation, do you think this career path is still an option as a long-term career goal? Why or why not?
  4. Please list a potential transfer institution, and a link to the requirements for your chosen degree at your transfer institution.