Career Services - Western Illinois University

Career Decision Making

There are many students that know exactly what it is they want to do in their professional lives. However, there are just as many students that are not as certain about what they want to do in their professional lives. While it is important to be able to choose a career (and major), it is not necessary to chisel your life in stone. The job market is an ever-changing territory, so you may have to change with it. Start your career exploration by looking at all of the different possibilities that you are interested in and ask yourself the following questions:

What do I enjoy doing now? - Start to look at all of the things that give you pleasure (in school and at work) and see if they can be turned into a career path.
What would I enjoy doing in the future?
What are my present strengths, talents, and accomplishments?
What areas do I need to develop?
Why would I hire me?
What careers am I interested in?
What are the necessary qualifications for those careers?
What sort of additional training or education will I need for those careers?
What are the supply and demand ratios for those careers?
What are the potential or alternate career paths?
Will there be a market for my chosen career in the future?

On the WIU Career Services Office website there are some websites that will provide you with information so you can make better informed choices.

The College Grad Job Hunter - On this site you will be able to look at a list of Job/Career titles. By clicking on the selected job title, you will be able to learn more about that occupation. This is one of the best places to start because it is geared to students.
What Can I Do With This Major? - On this site you will be able to look at the various majors, what career areas those majors are best suited for, the potential employers, and what you will need to get into those career areas. (An excellent user friendly site)
The Vault
This is an excellent online career library of occupational/career information, specific company information (including contact info), job, and internship resources. This site is open to all current WIU students and a valid WIU ecom is necessary to access the information. This site is directly linked to our office page, just click on the icon, enter your ecom information and you will be in The Vault.
The System of Interactive Guidance and Information (SIGI)
This software is directly linked to our homepage. You will see this link once the main office page comes up. NOTE: You will need you WIU ecom account to access this program. A good place to start with SIGI is the INFORMATION section where you will be able to find accurate information about various careers/occupations.
O*Net - The Occupational Information Network - This software is similar to the SIGI program and will provide additional career resource information.

The next sites have career definitions, job market outlooks, and what you can do with specific majors.

If you feel that you need further assistance, The WIU Counseling Center can help you by providing some standardized inventories that may help you with career decision-making.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - This is a Personality Inventory
The Strong Vocational Inventory - This is a Career Exploration Inventory