Career Planning--Decision Making

So you just graduated and now what? The big question you need to ask yourself is “what do I want to do with my life”? Career planning can be a frustrating and confusing process. Some students may go through an entire undergraduate degree without any clue of what career they are interested in.  Luckily, Career Services has a variety of valuable resources to help you with your decision making process.

To start off, try some self-assessments. Type Focus and Career Cruising are great online tools located on Career Zone which can help you identify your interests and skills. Career Cruising will also link you with jobs related to your interests and results of your assessment. Check out our blog post from May 7^th for more information on these great self-assessments.

Once you have decided on the career that best fits with your skills and interests, check out our Degree Exploration Guides (DEGs) on Career Services' website or in the Career Resource Centre. Career Services has a DEG for every program currently offered at Brock University. DEGs encompass great information such as career options, degree specific skills, internship and volunteering information, career and job search resources and much more! Each DEG is specific for each program and is a great way to further explore your career(s) of interest.

Once you have narrowed your search down to one career…or a few, you can further explore the career outlook, wage expectancies, the skills and knowledge required for a position and more on a website like Working in Canada.

All in all, the career decision making process can be long, tiring and difficult. However, a career is going to make up a major part in your life, so make sure you enjoy what you are doing! Try not to be too narrow with your career choices, and be open to variation…you never know what may catch your interest.

                                             

Nella Paris, Senior Career Assistant
4th Year Psychology Major (Honours)