Career and Major Exploration
Deciding what major or career to pursue can be difficult, so we encourage you to take a moment or two, think about these questions, and focus on what will ultimately make you happy.
Important Questions to Ask Yourself
| What courses and topics spark your interest? | What social causes and activities are you passionate about? |
| What talents and skills come naturally to you? | What three adjectives would your friends use to describe your personality? |
| What can you see yourself doing in five or ten years? |
The process of self-assessment can help you to identify majors or careers that suit your interests, skills, personality traits, and work values. You may do this informally by talking with academic and career advisers, professors, family members, and friends. You may also wish to complete an interest inventory that will help you assess your interests and find out which professionals in various career fields you seem to be similar to.
We strongly encourage you to utilize the following resources that include occupational databases, career paths for different majors, and helpful worksheets.
Major Exploration Worksheets
| Researching a Major | to help explore a major of your interest |
| Informational Interview Questions | use to explore a career through interviewing a professional from a field of your interest |
| 5 Questions When Choosing a Major | important questions to think about and consider when choosing a major |
College Foundation of West Virginia Resources
| College Foundation of West Virginia | Explore programs and majors in West Virginia |
| College Planning | Explore college options, different programs and majors, and start planning to meet college requirements |
| Career Planning | online assessments to determine your interests, skills, and work values to assist in career exploration, search career options, or learn more about specific careers |
Additional Career and Major Exploration Resources
| O*NET OnLine | Occupational database containing information on hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors |
| Occupational Outlook Handbook | Occupational database that can help you find career information on duties, education and training, pay, and outlook for hundreds of occupations |
| Jung Typology Test | A free Meyers-Briggs style personality test |
| Princeton Review Find a Major | A great tool to explore jobs that could arise from different majors. Learn outcomes regarding understanding of how the courses in the major relate and interact to prepare the student for their chosen career |
| The Student’s Guide to Choosing a College Major | this guide contains a few good resources highlighting important factors to consider when choosing a major |
