Missouri State University offers numerous services to students – for both on campus students and those taking classes virtually. The Career Center is one area providing students with support. The Career Center can help you gain vital information about yourself, explore career options, and connect you with employers. With spring commencement just around the corner, it’s a great time for our senior Bears to take a leap in preparing for the next step in the academic or professional journey. For our other undergraduate Bears, is it ever too early to begin planning for your future?
Career Development Process
Whether you’re new to the workforce or trying to determine how a college education can help you get ahead, it’s important to understand the steps of the career development process. This ongoing process includes self-knowledge, exploration, decision-making, and action.
Self-Knowledge
Self-knowledge standardly refers to knowledge of your own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires. It also includes knowing your values and skills. Being able to identify these things is the first step in connecting them to a meaningful career.
The Career Center offers one-on-one meetings with career resource specialists to help you gain self-knowledge and identify career assessments and inventories that will benefit you. You may also opt to enroll in IDS 120: Exploring Careers and Majors. This two-credit hour class is 16-weeks (full semester), is available either online or seated, and covers all the stages of the career development process.
Exploration
The second step is exploration. The U.S. Department of Labor has categorized 840 classifications of occupations. While it’s not feasible to take a look at every single occupation, there are ways to test the waters and learn more about career fields.
The self-knowledge gained from step one can help to identify potential career fields that would be a good fit based on your personality, interests, skills, etc. Another great tool offered through the Career Center is What Can I Do with This Major? This site offers helpful information for nearly every major: career areas, types of employers, strategies to become a more marketable candidate, and more.
When possible, you should talk to professionals working in areas that interest you. This can look like informal interviews and open discussions, or even job shadowing. Job shadowing is a method for observing or “shadowing” professionals at work. Sometimes a job shadow experience lasts only an hour or two; sometimes you are able to shadow a professional for an entire day or longer.
Consider joining a campus organization based on your desired profession. Check out student organizations through BearLink.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of research. Research occupations, industries, and employers. If you’re committed to living in a particular geographic region, you may begin your search by looking for growing or stable industries in the region. Check out these helpful career research tools.
The Career Center can help you navigate these tools. If you have decided on a major, you may want to meet with the career resources specialist linked to your major.
Meet the Career Center staff to find your liaison
Decision-Making
Step three (decision-making) can feel overwhelming. Remember to move through the Decision-Making Process logically and deliberately.
- Identify the decision
- Gather information
- Identify alternatives
- Determine pros and cons
- Consider (and choose) among alternatives
- Take action
- Review and evaluate decision
The Career Center’s resource specialists can share more on the Decision-Making Process and provide additional resources as you move through this process.
Take Action
You’ve done all the research, you’ve made your career decision, and now? You’re ready to act.
Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
- Specific – What is your specific goal? Be as precise as possible. Answer who, what, when, where, and why.
- Measurable – How do you measure success? How will you know when you have reached your goal? Your measurement needs to be precise and answer the question of “how many” or “how often.”
- Attainable – Make sure your goal is attainable and realistic. If it isn’t, it will always remain a dream. While setting high standards is important, if the standards are unrealistic, then they probably will not be achieved.
- Realistic – Does your goal align with your other goals and your values? If it conflicts with your vision of yourself or your short- or long-term plans, then you should reassess the goal.
- Time-based – Set a deadline for achieving your goal. If your goal includes steps or milestones, make a timeframe for them as well. Again, be precise. If your deadline is a vague “sometime in the future,” then your goal may always remain a dream.
Additional Services
Career Counseling and Academic Major Exploration
- Major selection, goal-setting, and decision-making assistance as outlined above
- Career Assessments and Inventories
- Individual appointments with career resources specialists
- Drop-in Hours during the fall and spring terms for resume and cover letter reviews (no appointment necessary!)
- Occupational information and trends
Internships and Relevant Experience
- Handshake (free to students and alumni) to find full-time jobs and internships
- Mock interviews
- Big Interview, which is an online resource allowing students to practice interview skills and receive instant performance feedback using their webcam
- Portfolio development
- Employer and industry research
- Networking
Job Search, Graduate School, and the World of Work
- Assistance with the job-search process
- Review of application materials
- Access to free Professional Headshot Booth
- Interview assistance
- Assistance with applying for graduate work or professional schools
- Information on the world of work
- Career Fairs
Connect with the Career Center.
The world is yours, Bears!