Exploring Majors and Careers Its totally okay if

Exploring Majors and Careers (It’s totally okay if you don’t know what you want to do for the rest of your life!) Taylor Krueger Colorado Admissions Representative Kansas State University Hannah Haage Regional Admissions Counselor Wartburg College Laura Vallen Senior Admissions Officer Northern Arizona University

THOSE NEVER ENDING QUESTIONS… WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THERE? WHAT IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?

YOU MAY NOT KNOW THE ANSWERS According to the NY Times… Anywhere from 60 to 80% of college students either enter college “undecided, ” are not confident that they have chosen the right major, or change their major in their first year of college. Did you know the average college student officially changes their major 3 different times while enrolled as a student?

It’s okay to explore. The Education Advisory Board (EAB) found that a final declaration of major in a later term did not affect graduation time. Students were still able to finish their degree in 4 years.

BE OPEN TO EXPLORING OPTIONS. KNOW YOURSELF. KNOW THE RESOURCES THAT ARE THERE TO HELP YOU FIND THE ANSWERS… LET’S GET STARTED…

Careers to Consider According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics… The following industries are expected to grow the most before 2018: - Management, Business and Financial - Computer and STEM - Healthcare, Education and Technology - Life, Physical and Social Sciences - Agriculture “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. ” - Steve Jobs

GENERAL PERSONALITY “TEST” • The True Colors Personality Test for Students • 11 multiple choice questions with 4 different personality types • Takes approximately 10 minutes • You can find this online at: http: //www. smokyhill. org/vimages/shared/vn ews/stories/56 a 24 cfa 318 ec/True%20 Colors% 20 Test%20 High%20 School%20 Visits. pdf • What will the results lead to?

GENERAL PERSONALITY “TEST” Do What You Are! (Paul Tieger and Barbara Baron-Tieger) The Book The free version Personalitytype. com - Where is your energy naturally directed? What kind of information do you naturally notice and remember? How do you decide or come to conclusions? What kind of environment makes you the most comfortable? What do you find out? - Myers-Briggs classifications; 16 personality traits - A way to look at your strengths and what type of setting/work environment will be most successful for you. - Doesn’t define you… just provides insight!

RESOURCES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Career Interest Profiler

SAT: MORE THAN JUST A TEST Big Future (The College Board) - Students can explore career fields and majors and find colleges offering those fields of study. - Create a profile to save and compare colleges, and manage score sending (SAT/AP) and application reminders

BIG FUTURE: MAJORS AND CAREERS

ACT: MORE THAN JUST A TEST The World-of-Work Map - Students receive a personalized report when they receive scores from ACT. - Report suggests map regions and career areas on the Worldof-Work Map for students to explore. - Map shows how occupations relate to each other based on work tasks.

WORLD OF WORK - Outer ring emphasizes the Map’s four compass points: working with data, ideas, people, and things. - Location of career area on the Map is based on the primary work tasks of the occupations in that career area. - All US occupations are covered by the 26 career areas. - Map is divided into 12 regions. Student Interest Inventory results are reported as a set of regions, encouraging focused career exploration. - It IS based in research! - Every two years, ACT will refresh career descriptions and data from individuals in occupations

DRILLING DOWN Narrowing in on your region, then exploring careers might help you think about majors you might want to study.

RESEARCHING ON YOUR OWN - Assessments - Do them! - Naviance or ACT results - Review the results and look into careers listed for your personality traits - Researching careers online and in person - Informational interviews - Internships and shadowing - This might help on your college application - Meet with college counselor - Summer jobs and volunteering - This might also help on your college application! The informational interview Typical day? Training and education required? What personal qualities/abilities lead to success? Most satisfying and most challenging parts of the job? How did you get your job? How will job change in the future? Advice would you give a person entering this field? If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? Why? What would you change?

STILL UNDECIDED? THAT’S OKAY. - Talk to colleges about academic advising and career services - What path do “undecided” students follow? Do they offer assessments and programs for students? - Understand how intended major/career could affect admissions decision. - Choose a college with lots of options! - Talk to your friends and family in college - TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS and follow your passions!

QUESTIONS?