Student Perspective: FOCUS

We college students like the idea of “weighing our options,” evaluating the pros and cons, and making decisions from information that we gather ourselves. Career Development Services offers FOCUS (a free resource!), a career planning tool, that allows us to do just that concerning choosing a major/career. FOCUS allows you to explore the following through five separate assessments:

• Work interests
• Personality
• Skills
• Values
• Leisure Interests

FOCUS helped me establish what career path is appropriate to my major interest through the “What can I do with a major in..?” tab. This link displayed careers available within my chosen field of study. Then, I narrowed my options to two careers and compared their profiles side by side. (I also used the Occupational Outlook Handbook to find information that FOCUS left out such as duties, employment outlook, and contacts.)

Check this resource out to better educate yourself on your career options. Being able to compare and contrast occupations side-by-side was a helpful tool. So far, I'm comfortable with the career direction I've identified. How are you doing?

Jump-Start James '13