Choosing a Major/Career

The Career Center offers three self-assessments to help students identify their values, interests, abilities, and personality preferences.  Career assessments can help you determine occupations that may be potential “fits”; ideas you can use when trying to decide career options or choosing a college major.  These assessments should be used as guides to help understand who you are and what type of majors and careers might be right for you.

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)*
  The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is an assessment based on your personality.  It measures your preferences about how you perceive the world and make decisions.  Based on the results of the assessment, you will be given a type, which is a combination of four traits that describe your personality.

• Strong Interest Inventory (SII)*
  The Strong Interest Inventory is an assessment based on your interests.  This assessment will show you how interested you may be in six broad categories of careers.  Based on the results, you will be shown areas in which you may excel as well as a list of ten careers that you indicated a strong interest.

• CliftonStrengths for Students (formerly StrengthsQuest)*
  The CliftonStreghts assessment helps students grow confident in who they are and how they can contribute to the world. It’s an educational program that uses Gallup’s world-renowned CliftonStrengths assessment to measure 34 research-validated talent themes. It then guides the development of those talents into strengths with resources tailored for students.

  *There is a $25 fee per assessment. Please schedule an intake appointment at #HireTruman with one of our Career Coaches to determine if you need to take the assessments.  Following the assessments, you will schedule an interpretation session to get your results.

  • Free Assessments
    There are many free assessments online and in the Career Center.  To explore these options, stop in the Career Center.

Once you have a clear idea of your interests, values, abilities, and personality preferences, you can start exploring options.  Informational interviewing provides an opportunity to learn about career options by obtaining information about occupations and industries.  Informational interviews also allow you to meet with employers in a low-stress situation and build your professional network.

You can gather information about careers by utilizing the Occupational Outlook Handbook or using O*Net.  Additionally, the Career Center has a library of career, graduate school and professional development resources that can assist you with your exploration.  If you are unsure of what you can do with your major, be sure to check out What Can I Do With This Major?, a valuable resource providing career opportunities for various degree programs.  If you would like a quick overview of Truman’s academic programs, review the Quick Facts by Major brochures or explore our majors and academic programs.

After you have explored your options, the next step is narrowing down the work, education, and training required of the field in which you would like to focus. Evaluate the options you have explored and make decisions about what path you wish to pursue.

After identifying a career path, identify the steps you need to take to move toward your goal. Prepare an action plan complete with measurable, attainable goals.

Set your plan into action. And remember that changes may need to occur to keep you on your set path or to accommodate unexpected opportunities.