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Helpful hints for discovering a career you'll love

Choosing a major and planning for your career is a very individual process. To help you in this process, here is a checklist of activities to consider and participate in. Some may be more applicable than others, but all can help you clarify your options and make the right choice.

Learn about yourself, your interests and abilities. Set up an appointment with the Director of Career Services (ext. 6695) to complete and discuss at least one of the following self-assessment inventories: Self Directed Search or Kiersey Temperament Sorter.

Go through the 9 phases of the on-line FOCUS Career & Educational Planning System. It provides you with a complete picture of your interests, values, personality, skills, and leisure activities using self-assessment questionnaires, interest inventories and personality testing. After you have assessed your personal attributes, the system searches its career and occupational information database to help you identify and analyze occupations and career paths that match your personal characteristics. You will find FOCUS under "Exploring Careers" in this page's left-hand navigation. Your username is the same as your webmail username and your password is “saintmary". All students should be registered, but if you cannot get into the system, contact Career Services.

Review Saint Mary’s course catalog. The catalog shows what majors are offered at SMU, and what the requirements are (if any) for acceptance into the majors. Visit with faculty in various departments. Find out where graduates with certain majors went to work or to school after graduation from the “Annual Placement Report” Career Services conducts every year.

Register for the one-credit course Career Exploration (PD101) offered the second eight weeks of each semester.

Research occupations that interest you and learn of new occupations to consider. Use the resource library in Career Services and/or the school library. The Career Services web site links to other sites with career information.

Interview and/or job shadow professionals working in the occupation(s) you are considering. Learn what the professionals majored in, if they went to college, and what advice they could offer you in terms of courses to take and skills to develop, as well as observe what a “typical” day is like. Career Services can connect you with SMU alumni that can help in this area.

Participate in a field exploration experience. This is a planned work experience, open to qualified sophomores, for academic credit that involves mainly “observation” and limited “hands-on experience. For more information, visit with the Director of Internships, also located in Saint Mary’s Hall, Room 136.