By Briana Russell/reporter
Attending college prepares students for the career world, but after someone receives his or her degree, it is up to that individual to find a career that will lead to success.
Though college prepares students with the knowledge and skills they need for their future careers, how exactly do students choose those particular career paths? How are students supposed to know which careers are in high demand or which are overpopulated and competitive?
Many different Web sites and organizations have dedicated their purpose to informing the public about career opportunities. Researching the Internet can be a helpful source for finding out which careers are constantly looking for new people.
Careeronestop.org is one Web site that can provide all the information needed to choose a suitable career path. It not only provides a process to analyze skills, but indicates what careers are the fastest-growing, largest employed, highest paying, etc. For example, this site currently reports the occupation that will grow the fastest from 2006 to 2016 is network systems and data communications analysts. It also includes this occupation’s percent change, range of earnings and the training needed to pursue it.
When choosing a career path, students should look into these things so that they know what they are getting themselves into. For example, looking at a career’s turnover rate can help prepare someone for what might happen in the future. For instance, does the chosen career path have a reputation for letting employees go after 10 or 20 years in order to hire people fresh out of college?
Lilian Mabry of the NE Campus counseling center said, “We also see many students that are forced to transition from one career to the next due to the economy’s shifts and enterprise’s changes in this fast-paced world.”
This might be something students want to keep in mind when settling on a particular occupation to pursue.
A more local service that assists in exploring careers is the TCC counseling centers. Here students can meet with a career counselor to help choose a career path or assist with one that a student may have already chosen to pursue.
Curtis Hill, director of counseling on the SE Campus said, “Most students seek out counseling to assist in developing an educational plan because they are undecided about a specific major. When we see freshman students, they are new to college and need help navigating through college.”
Former students who are interested in returning to college and reevaluating their career options are also among those who take advantage of these services.
In a Today Show report, Meredith Vieira said people between the age 40-60 like to “reinvent” themselves by choosing a second career path because they are not ready to retire.
TCC’s testing centers offer tests like the Myers-Briggs, the Strong Vocational Inventory and the Career Assessment Inventory to help students pick the best career options. Students then have the opportunity of having their test results analyzed by a career counselor.
Once students choose a particular career path, they have access to books and Web sites to further research their decisions. Mabry recommends the U.S. Labor and Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook for information on many fields and occupations, including average salary.
“They update this site periodically and will provide prospects for the future as well as educational needs for various areas and industries,” she said.
The counseling center is located on the second floor of the NE Student Center and is open Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-7 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
“We have a wide variety of students with a healthy appetite for learning and deciding on careers for their future,” Mabry said. “We are happy to assist them any way we can.”
Students not seeking career counseling but looking for employment in the community or on campus should visit the career and employment center.
Services offered by career and employment center
– A 24/7 Web-based job board with full-time and part-time job listings
– Student worker positions on campus for qualified, currently enrolled TCC students
– A job resource lab for job searches and career-related materials
– Employer on-campus recruitment, interviews and job fairs
– Job search information sessions including resume writing, online job search, interview techniques, salary negotiation and networking skills
– One-on-one coaching, scheduled by appointment, for resume development, resume critique and mock interviews
Career and employment services (NSTU 1625A) is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. To receive job services, students and alumni must present a TCC ID or proof of current enrollment or prior enrollment.
