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Career Assessments

Before choosing a major/career, take time to figure out who you are, what you are good at and what you want and value in life. Making an informed decision about your major is more than what you are interested in. Consider interests, skills, values and personality when choosing your major and career. We offer a variety of assessments to look at each of these areas. Take time to meet with your academic advisor, professors and upper level students in the departments you are interested in. Look at course requirements, related career titles, and relevant employers and ask yourself if you are skilled in these areas.

The primary career theory that we use is Holland’s Theory of Career Choice. Holland proposed that each person has some combination of 6 different work interest areas. Usually, 2-3 of those areas will be prominent for each individual. People work best in environments that will let them exercise their skills and abilities, express their attitudes and values, and take on agreeable problems and roles. The themes are:

  • Realistic (Doers)
    People who have athletic ability, prefer to work with objects, machines, tools, plants or animals, or to be outdoors. May be described as practical, athletic, adventurous and self-reliant.
  • Investigative (Thinkers)
    People who like to observe, learn, investigate, analyze, evaluate, or solve problems. May be described as curious, rational, critical, intellectual, insightful, and persistent.
  • Artistic (Creators)
    People who have artistic, innovating, or intuitional abilities and like to work in unstructured situations using their imagination and creativity. May be described as impulsive, non-conforming, sensitive, emotional, visionary, introspective, and imaginative.
  • Social (Helpers)
    People who like to work with others to enlighten, inform, help, or train them and are skilled with words. May be described as humanistic, cooperative, supportive, tactful, and friendly.
  • Enterprising (Persuaders)
    People who like to work with others, influencing, persuading, leading, or managing for organizational goals or economic gain. May be described as self-confident, assertive, sociable, ambitious, energetic, verbal, optimistic, assertive, and competitive.
  • Conventional (Organizers)
    People who like to work with data, have clerical or numerical ability, carry out tasks in detail, or follow through on others’ instruction. May be described as practical, organized, systematic, accurate, dependable, conscientious, and quiet.

The assessments below can help you start to decide what major is right for you. Check them out and then make an appointment with a career coach to access them and talk about your results.

Major & Career Exploration Profile

Brainstorm who you are to discover and map out interests, skills, values and personality. This activity is typically complete before completing our self-assessment inventories. Schedule a major/career appointment or stop by our Career Studio to complete the Major & Career Exploration Profile.

Focus 2 Career

Focus 2 Career guides you through a reliable, intuitive career and education decision making model to help you choose majors offered at App State, explore occupations and make informed career decisions. This tool will engage you in the career planning process and help you plan for and achieve career success throughout your lifetime. Schedule a major/career appointment to gain access to Focus 2 Career.

Instructions:

  • You will receive a list of careers after each assessment. Once you have completed all five assessments, you will be able to combine all of your results and review careers that match all areas.
  • Start with Work Interest Assessment. Complete the work interest assessment and write down your top 3 areas (social, investigative, artistic, realistic, enterprising, conventional) Select return to main menu at top right to complete the remaining assessments
  • Complete the next 4 sections (personality, skills, values, leisure)
  • Select Combine Assessments. This section allows you to combine all 5 assessments to see if there are careers that match all five areas.
  • If there are no matches for all 5 areas, look at 4, 3 and 2 area combinations.
  • Utilize the FOCUS 2 worksheet to identify majors and careers that appear consistently and sound interesting.
Strong Interest Inventory

The Strong Interest Inventory® instrument is a tool that can help college students make satisfying decisions about their career and education. Understanding their strong profiles can help them identify a career focus and begin their career planning and exploration process. The Strong Interest Inventory measures interests, not skills or abilities. The results can help guide students toward careers, work activities, education programs, and leisure activities—all based on their interests. To access the Strong Interest Inventory, schedule a major/career appointment.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Career Report

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)® Career Report shows students how their personality type affects their career exploration, preferred work tasks and work environments—as well as most popular and least popular occupations—for any type, and offers strategies for improving job satisfaction. To access this resource, schedule a major/career appointment.

Values Card Sort

Career values are the characteristics of a work/life environment that an individual deems important. Values cover a broad range of topics from geographic location to aesthetics. Values can be a determining factor in career choice. Values that are compromised can lead to stress in the work environment and sometimes lead to a complete job or career change. The Values Card Sort is used with the Major & Career Exploration Profile to identify students’ top 10 values. Schedule a major/career appointment to utilize this resource.

Mountaineer Career Passport

In your Mountaineer Career Passport, you will find advice and guidance from the professionals at the Career Development Center to help you with your identity development and ultimately, your path to finding fulfilling work. Make the most out of your passport by following these three simple steps:

  • Whether you are a new student or have been on campus for a while, make an appointment with your career coach or stop by our Career Studio to meet with a career guide.
  • Attend events and engage in activities that support your career readiness each time you complete an activity in the passport.
  • Take a few moments to complete the self-reflection and assessment portions of the passport to guide you on your professional development and opportunities.

Learn the importance of articulating your passions, taking time for reflection, translating the skills you are obtaining in your experiences to your career readiness, creating your career profile, and so much more. Not only are these elements the key to maximizing your time on campus from the very first day, but they will also help you develop lifetime employability for any career upon which you choose to embark. Download the Mountaineer Career Passport.

Career Readiness Handbook

By utilizing our The Guide to Your Career: A Career Readiness Handbook for Students, students can identify specific skills to develop a career path towards experiential opportunities. This career readiness handbook provides students various key tips and tricks to promote career readiness as a student and beyond. The guide shares authentic and relevant examples of student success, such as a proper social media presence, interview practice, and skill building, for current undergraduate and graduate students as well as alumni. Download the Career Readiness Handbook.

Picking a major

Chances are, there are several majors that fit with your interests. Often, you can satisfy your interests in other aspects of your life, such as volunteering, hobbies, recreation, etc.

Explore receiving a double major and/or minor in different subjects. Ask your advisor about the differences between a BA and BS offered in some majors. Check department requirements before deciding to double major and minor. Most majors lead to a variety of careers which may also help you to meet all of the different interests that you have.

Changing majors

If you are in the beginning of your major and still completing your general education requirements, changing your major may be the best option for you if you realize your major is not the best fit and/or you are not performing above average in your coursework.

If you are well into your major (late sophomore/early junior year), changing your major could lead to loss of credit hours that can be applied towards your major. Before changing majors, meet with your advisor to find out if classes you have taken will apply towards other majors or if you will lose a significant number of credit hours. If receiving financial aid, consult with your financial aid counselor to determine the effects of changing majors on your financial aid loans.