Career Exploration
Identify the careers that align with your values, interests, and skills.
Identifying your work values, interests, and skills is the first step in exploring the diverse opportunities within the field of psychology. Understanding your values ensures that your future career will be fulfilling and in harmony with your core beliefs. Recognizing your interests helps you focus on areas that genuinely captivate you, fostering a sense of enthusiasm and dedication in your chosen path. Moreover, acknowledging your skills enables you to leverage your strengths, increasing the likelihood of excelling in your chosen career. Understanding your values, interests, and skills will better equip you to pursue a successful and rewarding psychology career path.
CareerOneStop Interest Assessment
An interest assessment can help you identify careers that meet your interests. Interest assessments usually ask you a series of questions about what you like and don't like to do. Then they match your likes and dislikes to careers. When you choose a career that matches your overall interests, you're more likely to enjoy your job. You're also more likely to be successful. Get started with CareerOneStop's Interest Assessment. You'll answer 30 quick questions online. Then you'll get a list of careers that might be a good fit for your interests.
CareerOneStop Work Values Matcher
The best career choices are ones that match your values. Values are your beliefs about what is important or desirable. When your values line up with how you live and work, you tend to feel more satisfied and confident. Living or working in ways that contradict your values can lead to dissatisfaction, confusion, and discouragement. So there is good reason to clarify your values, and seek to match your work to them. Ready to learn more about your own work values? Get started with the Work Values Matcher.
The Skills Matcher is a great assessment to bookmark and come back to as you gain more skills!
CareerOneStop Skills Matcher
Your skills describe what you are good at, whether due to formal training, previous work experience, or other activities. Work-related skills include categories such as sales, data analysis, teaching, operating equipment, caring for patients, writing code, management, speaking a foreign language, and many more. Knowing, and being able to describe your skills allows you to write a clearer, more persuasive resume, and answer important questions at job interviews such as What can you do for my organization? The Skills Matcher will help you: (1) rate your current skill level in 40 areas, (2) create a list of your strongest skills, with skill definitions, and (3) learn which careers match your skills.
O*NET Tools
O*NET Interest Profiler: The O*NET Interest Profiler can help you find out what your interests are and how they relate to the world of work. You can find out what you like to do. The O*NET Interest Profiler helps you decide what kinds of careers you might want to explore.
O*NET Work Importance Locator: The O*NET Work Importance Locator (WIL) is a self-assessment career exploration tool that allows clients to pinpoint what is important to them in a job. It helps people identify occupations that they may find satisfying based on the similarity between their work values (such as achievement, independence, and conditions of work) and the characteristics of the occupations.
California CareerZone
The California CareerZone website offers an innovative and comprehensive end-to-end career discovery journey. Utilizing cutting-edge technology, users can engage in a thorough exploration process that includes self-assessment modules covering interests, work importance, and skills profiles. The platform also incorporates financial literacy tools such as the widely used "Budget your Life" assessment. With information on over 900 occupations, details about U.S. colleges and certifications, and personalized pathway recommendations based on individual exploration, the website equips users with valuable insights to make informed decisions about their future careers.
Conduct an informational interview
An informational interview involves having an informal conversation, typically lasting 20-30 minutes, with someone working in a career field that intrigues you. Unlike a job interview, its main purpose is not to find job openings but to explore the field and gain insights into potential future workplaces.
While reaching out to unfamiliar individuals may feel awkward, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that most people genuinely enjoy sharing their professional experiences and offering advice to those interested in their field. It's an opportunity for them to reflect on their journey and provide valuable guidance to aspiring professionals like you.
Let's get ready to rock your informational interviews! Here are six steps to make them a breeze:
- Do your research
Explore different career fields, industries, and organizations online. Google, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, and LinkedIn are your new best friends!
2. Hunt down your interviewees
Tap into your connections - friends, family, GSIs, professors, even that former employer from your summer job. They might lead you to the right people. And guess what? Alumni are often eager to help students attending their alma mater! Look up your university on LinkedIn and click on "Alumni" to locate current professionals you can reach out to for some serious networking.
3. Gear up for the chat
Craft a cool intro about yourself and why you're eager to meet. Prepare some intriguing open-ended questions. Here are five engaging questions to ask during an informational interview:
"What inspired you to pursue a career in [their field] and what do you find most fulfilling about your work?"
"Can you share any valuable insights or advice that you wish you knew when starting your career in [their industry]?"
"How has your professional journey evolved over time, and what steps did you take to reach your current position?"
"What are the key skills or experiences that you believe are essential for success in this industry?"
"Could you tell me about any current trends or challenges in [their field], and how do you think they might impact future opportunities?"
Remember, these questions are meant to spark meaningful conversations and gain valuable insights from the interviewee's experiences and expertise. Be attentive and open-minded to their responses, and feel free to ask follow-up questions based on their answers. See this list of potential informational interview questions created by UC Berkeley's Career Engagement for more options. Happy informational interviewing!
4. Make a move
Reach out to your potential interviewee via email or LinkedIn. Mention how you found them and make it clear that you're looking for information, not a job.
5. Rock the interview
Dress the part, be punctual, and bring your list of questions - it's showtime! Emphasize that you're here to gather knowledge and advice, not looking for a job. Give them a brief elevator talk about your educational and work background. You will be directing the interview by asking questions; however, you want to let the conversation flow naturally. Remember, the person you are interviewing is the star and should be doing the majority of the talking. Finally, respect their time - no marathon interviews! You want to stick to an interview time of around 20 minutes or less. Also, take notes and write down what you want to remember after the interview. Things such as, what you learned, what questions you still have, and how this information will factor into your future career plans.
6. Keep the vibe alive
Follow up like a pro! Send a thank-you note within 1-2 days - you can choose email, a handwritten note, or a fancy business letter, depending on how formal you want to be. See this sample email thank you note created by UC Berkely. Keep the conversation going if you had a fantastic interaction - who knows, this person might become an important part of your network!
Take advantage of FREE Psychology Career Exploration Resources
An Online Career-Exploration Resource for Psychology Majors
Created by Dr. Drew Appleby, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Take advantage of Dr. Appleby's Online Career-Exploration Resource for Psychology Majors! This resource is a work of love, more than 30 years in the making, and provides undergraduate students in psychology with a guide to exploring careers in psychology. Below is also a link to his, "What Can I do with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology?" Poster!
Your Skillabus
Check out another of Dr. Appleby's resources - Your Skillabus. A skillabus is a combination of the words skill and syllabus. This resource will acquaint you with this new type of career-planning strategy and explain how it can help you utilize both the curricular and extracurricular components of your undergraduate education to develop and market the skills you will need to prepare for and successfully begin your career.
Understanding the Transferable Career Skills from Your Psychology Curriculum
Identifying and Utilizing Campus Career Resources
Using Your Undergraduate Education to Develop Your Career Skills
Searching for Jobs and Marketing Your Skills
Transitioning Successfully from College to the Workplace
***If you open Your Skillabus in Google Docs, the formatting gets a little wonky. Open in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat Reader for clean formatting.***
Psychology Student Employability Guide
This guide provides a psychology specific overview covering such topics as where psychology graduates work within and outside psychology emerging areas of work the job market and includes activities to help you explore interests skills preferences and values.
APA Careers in Psychology
This guide developed by the American Psychological Association (2011) introduces students to psychology, the subfields of psychology, job outlook by level of education, discusses where people are working within the field of psychology, and gives an overview of how to prepare for working in the field of psychology.
The Canadian Handbook for Careers in Psychological Science
Despite psychology being one of the most popular undergraduate programs, students often report not knowing how training in psychology relates to careers. With chapters written by experts across Canada, this book explores just some of the many ways that students can apply their training in psychological science across a variety of careers and sectors.
The Australian Handbook for Careers in Psychological Science
Despite psychology being one of the most popular undergraduate programs, students often report not knowing how training in psychology relates to careers. With chapters written by experts across Australia, this book explores just some of the many ways that students can apply their training in psychological science across a variety of careers and sectors.
Utilize these tools to look at potential career options.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) provides information on what workers do on the job, working conditions, the training and education needed, wages, and expected job prospects for more than 300 occupational profiles covering roughly 4 out of 5 jobs in the economy.
What can I do with this major?
What Can I Do With This Major? features 100 major profiles with information on common career paths, types of employers that hire in the field, and strategies to maximize opportunities.
My Next Move
My Next Move is an interactive tool for job seekers and students to learn more about their career options. The site has tasks, skills, salary information, and more for over 900 different careers.