Greater Philadelphia Teacher Job Fair 2012

Job Fair History and Details

                For those of you who may have missed the Greater Philadelphia Teacher Job Fair, here is some important information on what happened the day of the event and how you still have a chance to get involved! Beginning approximately twenty years ago, institutions of higher education in the Philadelphia area decided to gather their career service departments together in order to exchange information and ideas. Fourteen years ago the twenty-seven institutions formed what is now known as the Delaware Valley Career Planners, this Consortium’s sole purpose today is to sponsor the annual teacher job fair.

This year the job fair was held on March 15, 2012, from 9:00am-3:30pm at West Chester University. Students at Chestnut Hill were preparing before this day; however, with forty-seven pre-registering for the event and thirteen additional students who registered the day of the event. As a tip for future candidates, pre-registering for the event is always a great idea.  There are two advantages: first, the price of admission is just five dollars instead of the fifteen at the door; second, you are able to enter the fair an entire hour earlier before other candidates. All together the event drew an estimated 2,000 job candidates, final numbers have not been posted yet.  Around 200 employees present from various school districts around the area such as: Philadelphia, Cheltenham, and Upper Darby just to name a few.

 

Scholarship Information

Whether you attended the Job Fair or not, there is still another opportunity available from the Delaware Valley Career Planners. As a student in one of the DVEC Schools, you are also eligible to apply for one of the Hannah Amgott Memorial scholarships! If you will be completing your degree or completing coursework for certification in May, August, or December of 2013 you are able to apply. Created to reward students exhibiting excellence in the pursuit of education, up to five awards of $1000 each will be offered, based on merit. Details and applications are available in the Career Development Office on the 3^rd Floor of Saint Joseph’s Hall, come in as soon as possible; the deadline for applications is April 6, 2012!

B2B Overview

Highlights of Last Month’s Backpack to Briefcase Programs

• February 1 – Dress for Success and Professional Image Event

This event was very helpful in giving students an idea of what is appropriate to wear in the work environment in the business world. Ashley Reichenbach and Nancy Dachille who both work in the Career Development Office,  presented an informative presentation about what exactly to wear and also what not to wear. Some things they said to wear were: for men – a suit with a tie and dress shoes and business socks and to be clean shaven; for women they said to wear a pant suit, or a long skirt with an appropriate blouse, and appropriate high heels, and pantyhose. Also during this event CHC students modeled clothes from Banana Republic that helped give students a good visual of what to wear and what is fashionable business attire. In addition to talking about work attire they also talked about keeping a “Professional Image” which for example could have to relate to how you represent yourself on the internet (i.e. Facebook, Twitter)

• February 8 – How to Create Great Job Search Materials

At this event Ashley Reichenbach gave really helpful information and guidelines on how to create great job materials and also explained why we need them. She gave great tips on how to make your job search materials shine and stand out! Job search materials include: a resume, cover letter, and references. Some tips she gave that are really important to college students are 1.) Start Early! – Start your resume early and keep it up to date. 2.) Make your resume a “Snapshot” of yourself. Use detail to explain who you are and were involved in and highlight your achievements. 3.) Structure your materials properly (you can find information on how to properly outline your materials on Bb under Career Development) 4.) DO NOT USE TEMPLETS (this was a good tip given by Nancy Dachille) – Create your own formatted resume.

• February 15 – Tips for Effective Interviewing  

During this event Ashley Reichenbach talked about what to do and what not to do in an interview. She gave tips about what to wear and how to interview. She mentioned things like not wearing perfume/cologne, dressing appropriately, arriving on time and prepared, not asking about salary, and to not be nervous. She also explained ways to sufficiently respond to an interviewer’s questions. Also during this event was a mock interview with Career Development Staff. There was an interviewer and two interviewees, one interviewee displayed what not to do in an interview and the other displayed the best way to act and dress in an interview situation.

• February 22 – CHC Alumni Networking Night  

During this event Ashley Reichenbach explained what Networking is and who should be in your network: i.e. professors, family friends, people in community, etc. Also she mentioned places on the Web that you can use for networking like Linkin.com. During this event students had the chance to sit down and talk to Alumni from our very own school and network with them and talk to them about where they are now and how they got there. This helped give a little preview to what students can expect after they graduate and each student was able to talk to an alumnus who graduated in their same major.

• February 29 – Etiquette Dinner

The Etiquette dinner was a very fun event that was intended to show the proper etiquette to use when in a Restaurant on an interview or out with a boss. A full course meal was provided and members of the Career Development Office and the manager of Chartwells at CHC explained how to properly act in a restaurant setting. Tips from which fork or spoon to use were given, as well as what to talk about with your interviewer. Dressing appropriate was talked about and also there were tips about interviewing. One tip that was important was if there is any small talk, to keep it light (sports, weather, etc.; not anything about politics or religion) They gave tips on what to order to eat and drink and basically explained that you should follow your interviewers lead. (If they do not order an alcoholic beverage then it would be inappropriate for you to do so).

All the B2B events and programs were very helpful and resourceful and had powerful tips that will help you as you migrate into the business world. I highly recommend attending these events and any other events given by the Career Development Office in the future. If you were unable to attend any of these events and have questions about any of these topics you can set up an appointment with anyone in the Career Development Office and they will be happy to give you all the information you need!

Interested in Psychology, Human Services, or Sociology?

Are You a Psychology, Human Services, or Sociology Major?

 

If you are, you may, like many other students, be wondering what you want to do after you receive your degree. There are a boundless amount of opportunities out there that are related to your major. You may have to do some research to figure out exactly what field will be just right for you, but it is out there!

We have many tools on our blackboard site that can help steer you in the right direction. If you go onto blackboard, you should have Career Development listed under “My Courses”, and in there you will find a tab that is labeled “What Career Is for Me?” Here you will find the Focus Career Assessment, a link to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Website called: O*Net. This website is based on helping you find jobs and careers that interest you and that pertain to your major. I think that the most important link on this page is “What Can I Do with My Major?” Under this section is a link to a site that was developed by the University of Tennessee and it is geared to give you information about that you can do with your major or even other majors you are interested in. It provides careers that are related to your major, along with other important information about the types of employers that hire people with each major and strategies to make you a more marketable candidate.

Here are some examples of links on this website that you may be interested in learning more about: child and family studies, counseling, criminal justice, human services, psychology, social work, sociology, women’s studies, and urban studies.

So for example, I am interested in counseling, so I click on the link about counseling, and it tells me all the different areas I could work in: mental health, marriage and family therapy, school counseling, school education, career counseling, rehabilitation, substance abuse, and social services. And under all of these categories were specific job titles. For example under mental health was listed:

• Individual and Group Counseling
• Case Management
• Medication Monitoring
• Crisis Intervention
• Program Planning
• Administration

There is also a list of places where I can be employed in these areas. So if we keep exploring the mental health field there are job opportunities at:  Residential treatment facilities, In/Outpatient psychiatric care units, Mobile crisis units, Hospitals, Behavioral health programs, Social service agencies, Non-profit organizations, Religious and pastoral organizations, Hospices, Child guidance clinics, Family planning centers, Adult service programs, Group homes, Public and private schools, Local, state, and federal government agencies including, Private or group practices, and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

This website is very useful because it is helpful and for me it gave me more ideas about my future and helped me realize that there is so much out there for me to do, and that my opportunities after graduation are not limited! For instance, I didn’t ever really think about how many places a person with a psychology degree could work in, and I honestly didn’t think that there was much one could do, but this website provides a lot of information that proves that isn’t true. So explore this website and look more into what you want to do after graduation! You can look mostly at what is pertained to your major, but if you are not sure that you will stick with that major, you can venture and look at the other majors and opportunities. The possibilities for your future career are endless!

North East Treatment Centers

TO ALL THE PSYCH, SOCIOLOGY AND HUMAN SERVICES MAJORS

 

A spokesman came to our school for an information session, named Christopher Kampel, to talk about the different job opportunities that are available from a nonprofit organization that he works for called North East Treatment Centers (NET).  This organization that is based out of Philadelphia and provides behavioral and social services to children and families, adolescents, and adults.  He gave very detailed and helpful information and tips about the job application process, which would have been helpful to any student here, even outside of the human services field, who are preparing themselves for the job world.

First he talked a lot about the job opportunities at NET. I was actually amazed at how many job openings he said they currently have, which he said there is about 15-20 of them.  He talked about a lot of different jobs that were in a lot of different areas.  He also mentioned that they have jobs at the bachelor’s degree level where you do not need much and sometimes any prior experience, which is always good.  The other jobs they have are for people with a master’s degree and with those jobs you generally need prior experience.  But I am confident that after you attain your degree here at CHC, that you will come out with a lot of experience from internship jobs and other educational opportunities that we are given, as a result of the help and knowledge that our school provides.  It also has to do with what you put into your time here. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE!

He gave very good advice about things like resumes, cover letters, interviews, and tips about readying yourself for the job world:

• It is very important to make your resume and cover letter stand out from the other hundreds that are being viewed. Put something in it that would put you ahead of someone else.
• When being interviewed, don’t worry about being nervous and more importantly relate all your answers to the job you are interviewing for and the company.  Don’t talk about anything personal and be very enthusiastic.
• Networking is very important and can put you ahead of other people.  Put yourself in situations where you can meet people that can become contacts for you down the road. And also register to websites like LinkedIn.
• In your cover letter you should sound genuinely interested in the job and explain why you would be a good fit for the job. Also don’t forget to mention the position and the company.
• He suggested to not follow up and call the person that your resume was sent to because for one they are a lot of the times very busy people and he said it may annoy them and potentially lower your chances of getting the job.
• It is very important to obtain clearances that are required to be submitted when you receive a job.  You should work on this while you are in the job application process and not wait until you actually get a job offer because sometimes it takes awhile to receive this paperwork.
• Also if you are applying for formal jobs, make sure that you do not have anything suggestive on your Facebook profiles, or other social networking websites, because some companies actually look at these and it could affect your chances of getting a job that you would otherwise be perfect for.
• Have professional voicemail recordings for whatever number you give out.
• Have professional email addresses.
• If you are given an interview over the phone sound very enthusiastic and interested.
• Be adaptable and flexible.  If you really want to work for a specific company doing a specific job, you better be ready for curveballs like work hours and the possibility of having to work in different locations.

I think that these were very helpful tips.  If you are interested in NET, you can go to their website, (www.net-centers.org) and look at all the services they offer and it can help give you an idea about what you want to get ready for after you graduate.

A former student, who graduated last spring, also gave some insight.  Her name is Ashley Berger and she graduated with a BS in Human Services.  She applied for a job at NET after receiving her degree and was almost immediately offered the job. Very enthusiastically, Ashley explain, “I applied for this position, which was actually the only job I ever applied for since graduating.  I was in constant communication with Chris Kampel, and eventually I had an interview set up for the position.  It was my first real interview since graduation, and I was pretty nervous, but I put together an impressive resume and I went in there remembering everything I had learned in my Human Services classes.  Not even a week later, I was offered the job, and I started on June 2, 2011 – not even a month after graduation”.   She started out as a Therapist Assistant and about five months later she was promoted to a Recovery Planning Specialist.  I think that his is a comforting success story and is a very likely opportunity for anyone graduating from CHC.  Put all the work in to what you want for your future and you can achieve anything you want have great success like Ashley!

Meet our Staff!

Are you familiar with the Career Development Staff? Now’s your chance to know a little bit about them.

(L to R) Shane, Ashley, Mackenzie, Nancy, Ryan

Nancy Dachille

I’ve been in the Career Development office at Chestnut Hill College since 1996, starting as Assistant Director.  In 2002, I was promoted to Director.  My previous experience has been in human resources and marketing, which provided a natural progression to Career Development.  My Bachelor’s degree is in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and I have a Master’s in Education from Chestnut Hill College.  I love my job and working with everyone connected to CHC—students, alums, faculty, employers, staff and other career professionals.  I have been very active in various initiatives with our Consortium–SEPCHE (the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education) including working with faculty and staff on teaching methods utilizing metacognition strategies as well as a shared teaching initiative with ARAMARK.   This field has dramatically changed in the past 15 years, mostly due to technology.    This is a very dynamic field and requires constant education on my part which I find very stimulating.  I recently achieved certification as a Global Career Development Facilitator.     I love being a life-long learner and sharing my expertise with all of our constituents.  The Career Development office provides career counseling, workshops, job fairs and many other opportunities for professional and personal growth and helping everyone to be successful in bridging the world of learning with the world of work.

Ashley Reichenbach

Ashley Reichenbach, Assistant Director of Career Development, joined the Office of Career Development in August 2010 after graduating with her Masters of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of Connecticut.  She spent her graduate assistantship in Career Services learning how to critique résumés and cover letters while helping students with job and internship searches.  At CHC, Ashley continues to do those cornerstone activities with students from all three schools and alums.  Every February, she helps organize and plan the month-long program series, Backpack-to-Briefcase, in addition to the College’s annual job fair in March.  Ashley teaches the five-week Career Success course twice a semester with colleagues in the Office.  Besides this course, she has co-taught First-Year Initiative and presented in classrooms about the career development process. She also helps with the Office’s assessment through the Undergraduate Follow-up Report (surveying recent alums) and creating the Annual Report.  A big part of Ashley’s work is providing training to the Office’s paraprofessional staff, the Career Development Assistant and Social New Media Assistants.  She manages the student workers’ schedules and helps them understand career exploration.  One day is never like the next in the dynamic field of Higher Education!

Mackenzie Lovell

MacKenzie Lovell, the Student Life Assistant, came to Chestnut Hill College in August 2009. She spent her first year working as an Americorps*VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America), working with the Service-Learning department. In her second year, she continued to work with service-learning, but split her time between that office, and Student Activities. Now, in her third year, she works part-time in Service-Learning as she completes her Master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania. In May, MacKenzie will receive her Master’s of Science in Education degree in Education, Culture, and Society with a concentration in Higher Education. MacKenzie works with many students participating in community service projects. She is a liaison between the Office and Service-Learning faculty. She also works closely with the Scholars in Service to Pennsylvania, and Americorps Education Award program where students pledge to complete 300 or 450 hours of community service in one calendar year. These students participate in leadership, professional, and personal development initiatives with MacKenzie. These students also act as liaisons between service-learning students and the office. Besides this course, she has co-taught First-Year Initiative (with the Assistant Director Ashley) and presented in classrooms about the career development process and the service-learning program. MacKenzie works with office assessment and retention initiatives, and hopes to get new programs for students started in the coming months. MacKenzie is excited to be a part of the Chestnut Hill College Student Life team, and considers herself lucky for having been able to get involved in the field of Higher Education so early.

Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy has worked at Chestnut Hill College since October 2005.  After eight months serving in a dual role in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Campus Ministry, Ryan joined the Career Development Office in July 2006 as the Manager of Experiential Education, coordinating the internship and service-learning programs.  Ryan has held his current role of Director of Service-Learning in the Career Development Office since February 2010, following four years of increasing levels of responsibility and program growth in the areas of community engagement, reflective practice and service-learning.  In addition to his role in Career Development, Ryan also teaches a Global Awareness Seminar course about poverty to undergraduate students at Chestnut Hill College.

Prior to working at Chestnut Hill College, Ryan served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in Philadelphia immediately after graduating college.  Following that volunteer experience, he began working at Saint Joseph’s University in Residence Life as an Area Coordinator supervising three high-rise apartment buildings housing more than 550 undergraduate students.

Ryan holds a Bachelor’s degree (2002) in Food Marketing and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice (2007), both from Saint Joseph’s University.  Ryan is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology from Temple University, where he hopes to conduct research into urban poverty issues, especially those surrounding food insecurity.

Shane McCarthy

Feel free to stop in the Career Development Office on the 3rd Floor of St. Joseph’s Hall at Chestnut Hill College! You’ll get to meet some really great people.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Career Assessment & Exploration with Ryan Murphy

Two weeks ago, Ryan Murphy (Career Development Staff Member) hosted 2 Passport Events.  The events were called Career Assessment and Exploration.  They were focused on which career path is right for you and how you can research them.

“Career exploration and planning involves thinking about which educational and occupational paths will provide you with self-fulfillment in all aspects of your life, not only in the present, but also in the future.”

 

Ryan first started out by presenting the Career Development resources and tools that are available to all students and alums of Chestnut Hill College.  They were the Career Development’s Blackboard site, O*Net, FOCUS, and the Occupational Outlook Handbook and Career Guide to Industries.

 

He then went on to explain how to find these resources.  First, we took a look at FOCUS.  FOCUS provides several career assessment tools, designed to help students who may meet the any of the following criteria:

 

• Undecided about my major
• Unsure what I can do with my major
• Unsure about my interests, values and skills
• Interested in exploring jobs/internships that relate to my talents
• Wanting to compare facts about different occupations

FOCUS enables you to take several different assessment tests:

These assessments allow you to:

1.Analyze your current career planning status

2.Assess your work interests and values

3.Examine your educational preferences

4.Assess your personality and life values

5.Examine your leisure time preferences 

6.Assess your skills

7.Create a personal development needs checklist 

  

After introducing FOCUS, Ryan went on to introduce a resource that is relat ively new to the Office of Career Development: O*Net.  “The O*NET program is the nation’s primary source of occupational information. Central to the project is the O*NETdatabase, containing information on hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors. The database, which is available to the public at no cost, is continually updated by surveying a broad range of workers from each occupation.”  It allows you to rate your interests and skills to see which career paths are right for you and which are not. 

 

Then, Ryan told us about the Occupational Handbooks. The Handbook can be found at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ and can be downloaded in PDF form to any computer.  The Guide can also be found at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/ and can be downloaded.

 

Ryan finished his presentation with these words of advice:

• Self-Assessment is a terrific way to learn about yourself, learn about possible major/career paths and investigate occupations in your chosen major
• These tools are FREE!  
• All students should utilize these assessment tools, even if you “know what you want to be when you grow up.”
• Results can be overwhelming- don’t worry!
• Career Development Office can help you to interpret the results and sift through the information
• May also assist in choosing future classes, especially electives
• Can help you to identify skill areas that you are lacking and should develop more fully

Overall, Ryan Murphy’s presentation on Career Assessment and Exploration was very well presented.  He introduced great resources to the students.  I’d highly recommend sitting down with Ryan and having him tell you first hand how to find out which career is right for you!

                                                                                                                                                  

Have any questions? Feel free to contact Ryan Murphy in the Office of Career Development on the 3rd Floor of St. Joseph’s Hall OR e-mail him at MurphyR@chc.edu

Steps to Finding the Perfect Internship

Looking for an internship and have no idea where to start? Fear not, the office of Career Development is here to help! Many undergraduate students are searching for internships not only as a way to gain experience, but also to open the door of opportunity as well as a way to add something special on their resume.  Internships also can be counted towards Career Connections, so you can receive academic credit and fulfill a graduation requirement simultaneously!

The first step on the internship course is to talk with your advisor. It is important to do this so that you can make sure you are on schedule with completing the rest of your courses. Advisors may also have an expanded social network that may include someone in need of an intern! After speaking with your advisor, stop in the Career Development office on the third floor of St. Joe’s and have a chat with Ryan Murphy, Director of Internships. Ryan will be able to go over the requirements and explain how you can have your internship count towards six academic credits. He will also explain the necessary forms that will need to be filled out (you can find them on Blackboard under Career Development in the Internship tab).

Now that you have sought advice from the experts, it is time to do some searching of your own! If your advisor or Ryan did not suggest any specific opportunities to you or you just want to do some exploration of your own, now is the chance! Internships are constantly posted on the Career Development site on Blackboard. In addition to that you can find even more postings on the web, especially sites like Campus Philly (www.campusphilly.com).  Remember to find multiple listings in case one does not work out with your schedule, you will still be able to keep your options open!

Before you make the next step and contact the employer, make sure that you have an up to date and polished resume. Employers will not only look at your GPA, but will also want to see the skills that you can offer them. If your resume could use some revising and sprucing up, stop by Career Development and someone in the office would be happy to help. The staff can also help you with the interview process such as what questions an employer may ask and give you some helpful tips on what is appropriate to wear for the interview.

Remember that Career Development is always there to help along the way. Finding and securing an internship may seem like a tedious task, but it will be completely worth it for your future career!

 

*This blog post was submitted by Jillian Turnbach ’14 – CDA*

Kaplan Grad School Personal Statement Workshop

 William Rieth came in to explain the importance and how to write the personal statement. The personal statement is one of the most important qualitative factors of the grad school application. Many application deadlines for grad schools are around December and January but some have early deadlines for some programs. You should take your applications and tests LSAT, GRE, etc. in the summer between your junior and senior year of college.

Tip #1- Plan ahead! Start working on your applications during the summer.

William then goes into the Admissions factors, he says the first thing they see is your test scores for the GRE, LSAT, etc. and your undergraduate GPA. The next piece of the Admissions factors is the personal statement, application addendum (not a must but it might help if they offer), letters of recommendations, work and extracurricular, and the interviews if offered. The index formula is your application strength and whether they presumably admit, presumably deny, or absolutely deny.

Tip #2- Focus on the things you can control.

He goes on to say that in a survey of admissions persons that the personal statement is extremely important for it shows what the person applying is really like. Moreover, he then goes on to talk about what grad schools are looking for. Three most important things schools are looking for is your passion, a well-rounded student body filled with diversity, and how well you are going to succeed at their school. Some important questions to answer within grad school applications are: Why did you take this path? What is your reason for picking this school? And What is your ultimate goal?

 Tip#3 Develop your theme: what’s your story?

He then goes into detail about what to do and what not to do when writing the personal statement. When writing the personal statement you should not: speak negatively of anyone or anything, recycle your resume (do not just write everything in your resume in paragraph form that’s not what a personal statement is), simply list personal traits, plea for help, pontificate, use cliché, wallow in emotion, or get needlessly fancy. When writing the personal statement you should: tell one or more stories that illustrate you, find a theme that works well (read basic fables, it will help), allow schools to infer your traits and virtues, follow directions, and make it a sales pitch (sell yourself to the school, make them want you to go there).

Tip #4- Being unique means showing your passion.

The most common mistakes made by an applicant are: spelling, grammatical, and other “clerical” errors, being “too cute”, focusing on your weaknesses in the personal statement rather than in a separate addendum, impersonality and lack of self-revelation, and exclusively writing the “why I want to go to this school” essay.

Tip #5- Know your audience (make them remember you).

There are 4 steps to putting your personal statement together. The first step is to brainstorm: reflect on yourself, go back through highlights and lowlights of the past 5 years, look at your academic career, extracurricular activities, paid employment, volunteer work, achieved goals and accomplishments, significant life experiences or moments that signal change or growth, only 10% of your verbs in your personal statement should be future tense, and failure or setbacks that you learned from or overcame.

 Tip #6- Choose your stories carefully. You should choose a story that shows you’re theme, growth and personality.

The second step is to plan: tell stories interestingly, yet professionally, use humor sparingly, try not to, trying audio recording and transcripting, utilizing basic storytelling principles, cherish the reveal, and most importantly- don’t blame, don’t brag, don’t beg, and do not be boring for a single second.

Tip #7- Build your theme. Theme is extremely important when writing your personal statement.

The third step is to actually write: do not “tone up” the prose artificially, start the essay strong, the first word(s) matter, test every sentence, be a little self-deprecating, but be careful with humor, do not stop when you hit the length limit.

Tip #8- Show don’t tell. Do not just state the facts use vivid writing to let them imagine themselves in the story you are telling.

Lastly the fourth step to writing your personal statement is to edit: ask yourself, “How will this sound to schools?” and get qualified feedback-someone who knows how schools think, someone who knows grammar and style better than yourself, and your best friend or someone who knows you really well. Your personal statement is about you so having someone who knows you well read it will be able to tell what you are portraying.

We thank Kaplan so much for all their help. If you have any further questions or concerns please contact William Rieth at William.Reith@kaplan.com or (215)292-1408

 

*This Blog was written by Sara Russell ’13

Check out O*Net

Today I checked out a website that I’d highly recommend to College Freshmen or High School Juniors/Seniors.  The website is called: O*Net. 

Being a College Junior, I am already well into my major classes and looking forward to life after college.  However, I decided to take a look at their Interest Profiler for a little bit of fun. 

The Interest Profiler is a tool to use when you want a little bit of help deciding what kind of career is right for you.  It asks you 60 questions.  The questions asked are from different categories.  The categories are: Realistic, Artistic, Conventional, Investigative, Social, and Enterprising.  Once you have answered the questions, you’ll be asked to decided what kind of experience and learning you’ll need before applying for a job.  After that, you’ll get your results! 

As for me, I got a zero for Realistic (this would entail working outdoors with animals, plants, wood, tools, etc.).  My score for Investigative (solving problems, finding facts) was also a zero.  I received a 33 for Artistic (art, dance, music, design); I only reassured my career decision.  For Social (teaching, giving advice, helping), I received a 15.  As for Enterprising (projects, profits, decision-making), I received an 8.  And once again I received a zero for Conventional (following the rules/leader, routines, procedure).

After seeing my score, I received results such as a Choreographer, Music Director, Designer, and Teacher.  Basically, my decision to be a Music Education Major was confirmed. 

Overall, I thought this test was pretty interesting.  Obviously, it doesn’t prove that I HAVE to find a job in those fields, but it is just a suggestion after it analyzes my answers.

So, if you’re still questioning your career path or you have NO idea where you want to go or who you want to be, check out O*Net!  There’s PLENTY of information on their website!