education an career

Education and Career Exploration

Education and Career Exploration

You Have Made a Smart Choice!

By enrolling in a degree program with Excelsior College you have taken an important step in reaching your career goals.

Obtaining a college degree will provide you with a competitive edge in the job market.

Take a look at the chart on the next slide which clearly depicts the positive correlation between higher education, employment rates and increased earnings.

Education and Career Exploration

:

http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm

Education and Career Exploration

More benefits of higher education include:

Better social and economic opportunities

Increased self-confidence

Greater benefits, such as health insurance

More self-management tools; such as time management, goal setting, embracing challenges.

Education and Career Exploration

Be sure to maximize your education and career potential :

Seek out the information you need Engage in you education Explore you career options – where will your education lead you?

Education and Career Exploration

Seek Out the Information You Need

Need more time to discern what academic plan to follow? Maintain your momentum while you research possibilities:

Consider taking a few required introductory general education courses such as composition, math, or information literacy. Enroll in survey courses in subject areas that sound interesting to you, or in disciplines that you may not have had much exposure to previously. Talk with your academic advisor, career counselor, and professors in targeted disciplines to glean more about your field of interest. Learn more about career fields through career exploration.

Education and Career Exploration

Engage in Your Education

If you already have a clear direction for your education and career path, become an active participant in directing your degree plan. Work with your academic advisor to stay on track.

Whether you are pursuing a degree in business, engineering technology, nursing, or liberal studies; expand upon your educational experiences.

Choose coursework that will round out your skill sets and increase your marketability. For example, completing coursework in the liberal arts is a great way to hone the transferable skills that employers seek.

Education and Career Exploration

Explore Your Career Options Where will your education lead you?

Once you have narrowed your choice of degree/major, and understand how it will prepare you for your desired career path, you are ready to explore the occupations that align with your personal and academic aspirations. You will want to learn as much as possible about your field of interest and the occupations associated with it before you dedicate yourself to a future career. With the amount of time you will spend working in your lifetime, wouldn’t you like to be sure you choose a career path that you will enjoy and be successful at?

Career Exploration

Research Your Options!

Two primary areas to research & explore:

Occupations & careers fields Employment trends

Career Exploration

Research Your Options Why is it so important to investigate occupations and career fields?

Consider this similar scenario: If you were thinking about purchasing a new car, what would you do? More than likely you would think hard about the type of car you want, and then research it to make sure it is a wise purchase. Perhaps you will want to talk to others who drive that same car to obtain first hand information. Maybe you will also want to test drive the car. In short, you would want to be sure you were making a smart investment.

Career Exploration

What does buying a car have to do with your career? The same principles apply to choosing a career!

In fact, a career is an even bigger investment in your future than purchasing a car.

Bottom line? Good decisions require good information.

Steer your career in the right direction — get the facts first!

Career Exploration

Explore Employment Trends

Job outlook trends are another useful facet of career selection.

In addition to researching your career of interest, you should also look at the big picture.

Economic conditions, technological advances, and the labor supply can significantly affect employment opportunities.

Career Exploration

Explore Employment Trends

Viewing future trends can help assess if your career field of interest is showing an incline or decline in growth.

If it is declining, you may want research a related career that utilizes similar skills and knowledge, but has more promise for future growth.

However, you should not choose your profession solely upon jobs that are currently “hot”. The job market is constantly fluctuating. A “hot” job today may not be in demand tomorrow.

Education and Career Exploration

Why not begin some education and career exploration now?

Return to activity 1 and start investigating!