Career Resources - Explore

Choosing a Major & Career

Your Major, Your Career, Your Choice!

major signpost

Are you an undecided student?
Not sure of which major to choose?
Schedule a visit with our Transfer/Career Center!
Workshops, Drop in Hours, Appointments available!

 

Approximately 80% of all college students change their major at least once.

Making a decision about your major and career can be difficult.  The Transfer/Career center can help you research major and career options to find one that interests you.

Rather than choosing a major by flipping a coin or random guessing, approach the process in a wise and thoughtful way. The Transfer/Career Center offers a variety of tools and assessments for pointing you to a fulfilling career path.

various trades

Exploring and Deciding

Explore, discover and gain exposure to the world of work.  Choose your path...think about internships, work experiences that are relevant to your major.  Consider previewing each area and experience career paths that can help you learn more about the world of work, and how you fit into the opportunity land of employment and careers.  

For students exploring a variety of career paths and interests, the Transfer/Career Center offers: 
■  Individual Career Counseling
■  Career Assessments
■  Career Exploration Programming/Cooperative Work Experience & Education 
■  “What Can I Do With This Major" Programming & Information 

 What is Career Development?

Career Development is a lifelong process that includes gaining experiences, learning from these experiences, and learning about yourself and the work world. This is a cycle that continues throughout life because you will continue to learn, grow, and make decisions.

Career Decisions:

You make career decisions based on information.  To make the best decisions, you'll need two kinds of information:

Information about You:  (Learning about yourself)

  • Interests
  • Personality
  • Values
  • Strengths
  • Skills you enjoy using
    Schedule an appointment with a Career Counselor and learn about our career assessments.  

 Information about Careers (Learning about your options)
Useful information to gather about things you like about a potential career:

Duties

Typical characteristics of people in this career

Preparation

Salary & Outlook

Working Conditions

Similar Occupations

 Attend a career workshop this semester and learn more about choosing a major!

Career Assessments

Learn about our career assessments and how you can discover characteristics about yourself as you embark onto your career journey!

  • Career Coach This site provides LOCALIZED information and the most current data on wages, employment, job postings, and educational opportunities and training in the Contra Costa and San Francisco Bay Area.

Major Exploration

If you are feeling stuck, please visit the Transfer/Career Center to speak with a career professional today!

Developing Skills & Gaining Experience

Consider Developing skills through a number of ways by participating in:

College Courses, Group projects, Student government, Leadership roles, Job Training Programs, Volunteer Positions, Student ambassador positions, Internships, Entry level positions.  

You can always gain valuable experience through:

Volunteering

Internships

Entry level positions

By participating in our workshops and or meeting with a career professional, we can help you organize  your information, learn decision making skills, cope with feeling anxious or overwhelmed, and support students with developing an action plan.  

Industry Information

  • Vault Vault provides in-depth intelligence on what it’s really like to work within an industry, company, or profession—and how to position yourself to launch and build the career you want. Vault is best known for its influential rankings, ratings, and reviews on thousands of top employers and hundreds of internship programs.
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook Created by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), this is the nation′s premier source for career information! The profiles featured here cover hundreds of occupations and describe What They Do, Work Environment, How to Become One, Pay, and more. Each profile also includes BLS employment projections for the 2010–20 decade.
  • O*NET: Occupational Information Network The O*NET system serves as the nation's primary source of occupational information, providing comprehensive information on key attributes and characteristics of workers and occupations. The O*NET database houses this data and provides easy access to that information.
  • Holland Interest Code Job Titles: Already know your Holland Code? This site will list jobs that involve your top interests. Not sure what your Holland Code is? Start here.
  • California Career Zone Explore your interests, skills and workplace values. Research "job families" and occupations. Find colleges based on majors and discover how much your education will cost. If you create a free account, you can save your results and also create resumes and more.
  • Career Test Jobtest.org was created to empower people and to help them make informed career decisions. It is never too late to find fulfillment in your work.

Salary Information

  • Salaryexpert Find out what kind of salary you can expect in your area for specific jobs.
  • California Career Resource Network - Don't know how much money you will need to earn in the future? Don't know which occupation to choose? Wondering if your chosen occupation will pay you enough to live on in California? Check out this site.
  • Glassdoor.com - Provides an inside look at salaries, reviews and interview questions posted by employees at more than 300,000 organizations. Content includes actual interview questions and reviews for specific employers from previous interview candidates; specific salary, bonus, and commission details; and reviews of the company culture and working conditions.

 Information on Specific Careers Fields

    • Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)An authoritative resource on how to prepare for and pursue a career in medicine. This site also features a unique online community where students can have their questions answered by medical school experts on a range of topics from the MCAT, to financial aid, to preparing for medical school interviews.
    • Explorehealthcareers.org   Learn about the variety of healthcare careers, details of educational requirements and more!
    • Healthcare Pathways  Understand how to become.....pathways identified for a variety of healthcare careers
    • Allnurses.com  Chat with nurses and learn about the diversity of nursing professions along with their requirements.
    • The Art Career Project Think there are no "real" jobs for artistic types? Think again. This website provides information on career options for artists.
    • Ed.gov An official U.S. government web site designed for college students and their families. Their mission is to provide you with easy access to information and resources from the U.S. government – all the info you need, in one place, from all parts of the government.
    • Teaching Certification www.teaching-certification.com - Find information on becoming a teacher and the different certifications required and available by state. Also provides a list of schools that offer teaching credentials.
    • Careersinpsychology.org A resource for students that are interested in pursuing a career in the field of psychology. The site has career and licensure info, jobs, experts (some of the top psychologists in the world), and internships.
    • Public Service Careers Interested in public safety, healthcare, education, emergency management, or law? This website provides a great overview of these fields and more!

 Career Resource Links for Diverse Populations

Learn about your major and career choices!

 LGBT Populations and Job Search

The combined vision and mission of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals is to achieve higher education environments in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni have equity in every respect.

 Latino Employment Resources

Learning about employment and culture of companies

Veteran Resources for Employment

Employment for Individuals with Disabilities

 Non Profit Employment

Federal Pathway Program

African American Employment

Volunteering for Experience

Latinos and STEMS

DACA Resources

Diversity and Employment

Internship Resources

Career Changers

International Student Resources

Networking for students

Native American Students

 Salary Negotiations

International Work Abroad

Employment for Asian Populations

Environmental Positions

Career Meet Ups

Interviewing Preparation

 Women and Employment

Asian women and business

Professional Sports Internships

 

 

 

8/2018