This blog post has been updated by Kristina Rust, Career Consultant on March 1, 2024 for relevancy, inclusivity, and formatting.
When helping students and alumni find their ideal careers and majors, career consultants focus on 4 main areas, and we ask questions about these areas in an attempt to get to know you better and assess what kind of work and work environment might be best for you. These are 4 areas that you can reflect upon at home, too. In fact, the UGA Career Center offers a guide called Finding Your Career Fit, which you can print and complete at any time—a great tool to bring with you to your first Career Center appointment. So, what are the 4 areas of focus?
Interests are one of the main components of finding a strong career/major fit. Your career choice is positively impacted if you follow your natural interests, become part of environments that you enjoy, and focus on subjects for which you have a strong connection.
Personality can have a lot to do with how satisfied you are in your work environment, and your personality also demonstrates areas of strength and weakness that can affect the job search process.
Skills are by far more important to reflect upon than most people believe. Your skills, as well as the skills you would like to develop, are fundamental to selecting a career or major with which you will be happy.
Values such as independence, work-life balance, salary, and opportunities for advancement can greatly impact decisions about work. Also, because they change over time, values also impact long-term career goals.
Of course, no mathematical equation will lead you to a “perfect” career or major, and after reviewing these 4 areas, completing career assessments, and taking time for self-reflection, the results will still typically be broad—there can still be many options on the table. Think of these 4 areas as pieces of a puzzle. Once you put all 4 together, they paint a fuller picture of who you are and what you want to do with your time and energy.
The Finding Your Career Fit guide is an enjoyable, easy way to start the search for your major or career. In this guide, you will find 2 pages of introductory questions aimed at helping you reflect upon what you enjoy and what work environment you imagine for yourself. Next, you will find short assessments on each of the following 4 areas: interests, personality, skills, and values. So, what are you waiting for?