Career Guidance
Guidance in choosing a major
The most important aspect of choosing a major is intellectual interest in the discipline. As you select your major, consult the college catalog closely to assess your interest in the courses required for the major.
To assist you in making this decision, the Career Center provides various resources such as:
- The Strong Interest Inventory (SII)
- The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS)
- "Choosing Your Major" worksheets
- Brochures describing Career Center services for each major
- Handouts listing typical jobs for nearly all majors
Guidance in choosing a career
The Career Center offers individual counseling and a variety of inventories to assist you in selecting a career. Those who would like to gain extensive insight into their vocational preferences may participate in a comprehensive evaluation program that covers:
- Work values
- Interests and skills
- Personality type
Exploring and confirming career choices
Having narrowed down your career choices, the next step is to learn more about them and test them to see which one(s) may be right for you. The Career Center can help you do this through the following:
- Career Resource Library
- Hanover Network -- a network of alumni who help provide information interviews, job shadowing, internships, and alumni mentoring opportunities.
- Internships
The Strong Interest Inventory (SII)
The SII measures your interests and helps you to identify career options that would match you well, providing you an 11 page report of your results. The free additional College report relates your interests to college majors, courses, and extracurricular activities, and provides ideas for ways to learn more about the fields it suggests, as well.
Time estimate: 30-45 minutes to take, 45 minutes to interpret.
The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS)
The CISS, while intended primarily to assist you in making career decisions, also suggests academic majors that relate to these career paths. This inventory assesses both your interests and your confidence in your skills in seven occupational scales and 29 subscales. You will receive a 10-page printout of results and a planner to assist you in taking advantage of the information.
Time estimate: 30-45 minutes to take, 45 minutes to interpret.
Interests and Skills
Both your interests and skills are measured using a single instrument, the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS). Divided into two parts, this inventory assesses both your interests and your confidence in your skills in 7 occupational scales and 29 sub-scales. You will be given a ten page printout of the way your responses relate to the world of work.
Time estimate: 30 - 45 minutes to take, one week to score, 30 minutes to interpret.
Personality type
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an inventory that identifies your preferences on four different scales including whether you like to focus your attention, the way you look at things and process information, the way you make decisions and the way in which you deal with the outer world. Your preferences will have an impact on the types of careers you would find most natural and energizing.
Time estimate: 30 minute to take, 1 hour to interpret.
Career Resource Library
When you have an idea of the type of career that is best for you, take advantage of the Career Resource Library (more than 950 current volumes) to learn more about the jobs and to focus your interests. Be sure also to use our job listings and employer files.
Hanover Network
Communicating with Hanover alumni is another way to learn more about careers you find interesting. The Career Center can give you a printout of alumni who you would like to talk with you about their career field and help you to plan job search strategies in the career or geographical region you specify. Through the Hanover Network, you may also find job shadowing, information interviewing and internship opportunities.
Internships
The best way to investigate careers is to sample them through summer or semester-long internships. You will have the chance to discover the day-to-day challenges of a career while gaining experience for your resume. The Career Center houses the Internship Office and offers internship files, books and a computer database of opportunities.
