This blog post has been updated by Megan Elrath, Career Consultant on March 6, 2024 for relevancy, inclusivity, and formatting.
One of the many perks of being a UGA student is the variety and scope of the resources UGA’s campus provides- many of which are FREE! This post will focus on the resources UGA has to offer to assist you in your career exploration! From career assessments to individualized career exploration guidance to thoughtful small-group workshops, there are many ways that you can take steps toward identifying your best major and career fit at no additional cost to you.
What is career exploration?
Career exploration is many things. First, it is important to know that exploration is a normal and necessary part of career development that helps you move toward satisfying major and career choices. Exploration relies on the assumption that you will not be content within your current major if another major is on you mind. Therefore, exploring your options is what helps you to choose a major or career with confidence. With this in mind, exploration is:
- Knowing yourself - your interests, skills, values, and personality
- Identifying your options through researching various majors and careers
- Testing assumptions others have told you about majors and careers
- Investigating major and career pathways that are on your mind
What FREE resources does UGA have to offer?
Career Assessments: Career Assessments can help you learn more about your interests, personality, skills, and values - information that is useful for clarifying your thinking and identifying major and career options. Students who self-assess often report more satisfaction with their major and career choice. UGA Career Center offers the following free career assessments:
TypeFocus: This resource can be used to learn more about you interests, personality and values. Password: uga4400
O*Net Interest Profiler: This resource can be used to learn more about your interest and how they connect to the world of work.
Hour-Long Career Center Appointments: Did you know that the UGA Career Center has two career consultants who specialize in helping students explore major and career options? Our exploring team is skilled in interpreting career assessments and can help you take what you know about yourself to create an effective action plan to move you forward in your exploration process. Exploring majors is an important part of your career development and this is not something that you need to do alone. It is okay if you are unsure where to begin, our consultants can help you no matter where you are in your exploration process. To make an appointment to discuss your path, call the Career Center at (706) 542-3375 or schedule on Handshake.
Career Exploration Workshops: The UGA Career Center offers an Explore Lab workshop to help you determine what major or career will be your best fit. This interactive workshop will help you choose a major! This workshop is open to first- and second-year students at UGA, and will help you learn more about: online resources that help you navigate the exploration process, your areas of interest and how they connect to majors, common major and career myths, and how to create an action plan to move forward. Register to attend on Handshake.
Career Center Online Resources: Use your student ID number to access a range of additional online resources that the UGA Career Center provides for UGA student at no additional cost to you.
Candid Career: Have you ever wished you could hear directly from professionals about their career paths, the challenges of their work, what they love about their job, or how they entered their profession? With Candid Career, you can! Use the search function to explore professions with your major and/or occupations of interest. Watching these videos can add to your knowledge of occupations and help you assess your interest or fit within these pathways.
Vault: Knowing what an industry looks like or what it takes to be successful in a profession is important to explore. When you have identified careers and/or industries that interest you, use Vault to learn a range of information including tips for entry, detailed descriptions of the jobs within the field, employment outlook and updated salary information. This resource is thorough and for those who are ready to take a deep dive into career research!
Steppingblocks: Research your future career with real-world stats about your major, your interests, and your dream job title with career and education searches designed to find your best path based on millions of others. It’s data-powered career exploration to help you find your path.
Exploratory Advising: Did you know that there is a team of academic advisors housed in UGA’s Exploratory Center that can help you strategically plan your academic classes as you explore? The Exploratory Advising team is trained to know about the variety of majors and programs UGA has to offer and can help you invest your time wisely in classes that will help you determine what major is best for you.
So, as you can see, there is a myriad of free resources designed specifically to help you explore majors and careers. Now is the time to use them to help you choose a major you love and to cultivate a career path you find fulfilling. Print this post and check-off the resources you plan to use to help you explore!