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Career development in the Advising resource Center/EOP Many students who enter the University are not yet able (or ready, or willing) to identify an academic major. Some students are simply not sure what direction best suits them. Others may have difficulty selecting one from among several areas of interest. These students receive a variety of assistance from the Advising Resource Center/EOP through this period of exploration and adjustment. ARC/EOP DISCOVERY! program is for you if you are undeclared, undecided, or uncertain about a major field of study. DISCOVERY! tells you where to go and what to do to uncover learning styles, personality types, strengths, and interests; then aligns who you are with an appropriate academic major and career. DISCOVERY! focuses on developing decision-making skills. The traditional college student transitions from a stage in which the majority of life's decisions have been made by others to one in which you become the primary, or even sole decision-maker. This fundamental behavior shift occurs over a relatively short period of time - a matter of months for some! Once mastered, your decision-making skills will be applied for a lifetime, in both simple and complex situations. STEP 1: DISCOVERY! SELFAn honest exploration of yourself and your experiences, what's important to you, and what your abilities are. This will help you to narrow your lengthy list of major and career choices, or expand your limited one, depending on where you are in your journey. STEP 2: DISCOVERY! ACADEMICSDebunking the myth that a college degree leads straight to a specific job, this leg of the journey helps you gather information needed to decide on a major, and prepare you for continual learning in areas of interest related to possible vocations. Our name says it all ... Advising Resource Center/EOP. ARC/EOP is a centralized advising office serving prospective and enrolled students that are undecided, uncertain, and undeclared. Academic advisors in a caring and positive atmosphere provide academic advising through a variety of college transitions. Email us at arceop@csun.edu if you have any questions about advising. STEP 3: DISCOVERY! CAREER This final leg leads you to technological aids and career experts to find and filter information on innumerable occupations, general vocational areas, or specific professions. Apply what you've learned in an internship or part time job. Types of Undecided/Undeclared Students What is Career Development? Career development encompasses or interfaces with all aspects of people's lives. For ARC/EOP Undecided students, career development involves more than the completion of specified degree requirements leading to a particular academic degree. Career planning must incorporate students' values, goals, interests, skills, and other individual variables. ARC/EOP Undecided students also need strong interpersonal communication skills to be professionally successful in the constantly changing world of work. Comprehensive career development services are available at ARC/EOP to prepare students for the work environment of the future, but more immediately to aid them in choosing a major. All components of the campus must work together to help students achieve their professional goals. Career services are available through several areas at CSUN including the Career Center, University Counseling Services, and NCOD (National Center on Deafness) as well as ARC/EOP. Each site provides specific services which may be directed toward certain populations of students or those with specific needs. Academic advisors who have regular contact with students can serve as their mentors and professional role models. In some cases, the academic advisors are the primary career planning resource, and in other cases, their role is to identify student needs and refer them to the appropriate resources. Student career development encompasses three broad areas: self-awareness, world of work knowledge, and educational awareness. The major components of these areas are outlined on the following pages. Advisors need to be familiar with all these components even though students may be referred to other offices for specific information or assistance. ARC/EOP career counselor and career interns provide many services in the self-awareness component. Advisors, however, still need to be prepared to discuss these issues with students, understand the importance of self-awareness in career planning, and identify students who could benefit from further assistance. While advisors need to be knowledgeable about general world of work issues, and the ARC/EOP career staff exists to provide guidance, and students themselves will need to assume primary responsibility for their career planning. The term “career development” refers to a comprehensive process of career/ life planning which involves personal, academic, and work issues. For most college students, choosing a major is a significant step in the identification of future work roles. Choosing work roles involves the evaluation of several aspects of a person: interests, skills, values, and personality characteristics. Decision-making usually includes analysis of the suitability of an individual to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a specific type of work. Appropriate types of work are identified in three basic ways: by the individual in a somewhat unconscious process; by the individual in a conscious, deliberate evaluation; and by the individual working in a more formalized structure and interactive process with a career staff . The formalized process usually includes completion of inventories or activities (Commonly known as “tests” although this term is rejected by career counselors due to the implication of right or wrong answers). The inventories and activities are designed to elicit and organize information about the client or student to assist in decision-making and in addressing work satisfaction issues. For example, if a person enjoys writing (a skill), loves sports (an interest), wants to make a high salary and be known as an expert in their field (two values), and works best alone (a personality characteristic), the assessment process would seek to incorporate all four career elements (an example might be a nationally-respected sports writer who usually writes alone than with a co-author). Lack of work satisfaction usually signals that one or more of the career elements is not being addressed; in the same example, if the writer was working for a science magazine instead of a sports publication, that person’s interests would be the problematic area, with a change in topics probably resulting in greater satisfaction. Self-knowledge, identity development, and readiness are key concerns in career decision-making. Theories of career development see the evolution of a certain level of “sense of self” as being an essential prerequisite for effective evaluation of suitable and potentially satisfying work roles. Academic advisors can be useful in helping to identify students who are developmentally ready for in-depth career assessments once immediate college adjustment issues have been addressed. Once possible work roles have been identified, further information concerning all aspects of the occupations is required. Potential workers need to know more about the work itself, including the specific daily tasks of the work; the preparation required, including specific courses, degrees, certification and licensing; the salary range; settings in which the work takes place; likely career paths; and the outlook for the number of opportunities projected to be available. This information is quite readily available in both hardcopy and on-line printed formats, and students can also conduct research in person through professional contacts and “informational interviews.” #1: Review the catalog (which lists required courses, gives course descriptions, and a brief overview of careers) using the ARC/EOP list of majors & minors. Your goal: to identify majors that might be of interest to you #2: Get more information on majors that you might want to consider: A. Read the Career Monograph information sheet (available in the ARC/EOP lobby rack). B. Look at textbooks in the campus bookstore (& also by subject in regular bookstores) to see if your interest is strong enough to want to take the 14+ classes that a major in that subject would require. C. Research majors & careers using websites & databases. Start with the campus web pages for the departments you're considering at www.csun.edu/academic/index.html and, for more general information by career title, the Occupational Outlook Handbook at www.bls.gov/oco. D. Attend information sessions presented by the departments, ARC/EOP, and The Career Center and/or the annual Majors Fair. E. Take the first class (it's often GE applicable) or two in any major you might want to consider. F. Get some in-person experience in the areas you're considering by talking to students in campus clubs & organizations. Almost every department has a related organization - find them in announcements around campus, in the Sundial newspaper; through the Matador Involvement Center (MIC) at the USU, 677-5111; or through the club websites at www.csun.edu/getinvolved . G. Talk to people doing the kind of work you are considering (an informational interview) and observe workers in the setting and positions you are considering (job shadowing). Campus clubs & organizations, The Career Center, ARC/EOP, faculty, professional organizations, conferences, and your own personal network of family and friends can provide opportunities. H. Experience work - either a paid or volunteer part-time job - in the field you are considering. Get into the environment & see if you can imagine yourself working as a full-time professional in the field. #3: Considering many possibilities or need more help? Schedule an individual session to meet with one of the ARC/EOP career staff. You may benefit from a complete career assessment process which includes several sessions to explore your INTERESTS, your PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS, the SKILLS you would most enjoy using, and the VALUES that are most important to you. This assessment process is available in different formats and sites on campus; learn more in your ARC/EOP career appointment. This information suggests steps to help students with the process of choosing a major. The handout also includes a description of different assessment strategies.
Career Assessment Process Formats Individual Format ARC/EOP 677-2108 -Requires 6-9 hours in sessions plus homework assignments -Schedule at your convenience when counselors available -No fee Group Format University Counseling Services 677-2366 -“Choice or Chance” workshop requires full commitment to several sessions (Call for specific schedule) -Advanced reservation required; computer-scored interest & personality inventories must be completed prior to first group meeting -Work in group of 10-12 students maximum -Individual follow-up sessions available by request -$10 fee Computer Format ARC/EOP Computer Programs or The Career Center 677-2878 -Interests and skills assessment + occupational suggestions and occupational databases for research -Time commitment: allow 2-3 hours; follow-up sessions with a counselor are suggested -Personality and values assessment is available separately through ARC/EOP to complete process (2 additional sessions + homework) -No fee Strategies for exploring majors These strategies can be found in the ARC/EOP Career Development Services flyer.
Discovery WorkshopsFirst Session (DISCOVERY! Workshop A): The Career Counselor or Intern determines the reasons why the student scheduled the one-hour career appointment and explains the major selection process using several handouts. The first session materials include review and discussion of the PIE chart to demonstrate how general education requirements impact majors; a list of all the majors and minors offered at CSUN, provided both in an alphabetical format and by CSUN College; a handout which outlines the suggested steps on choosing a major including the different formats of a complete career assessment process to explore interests, skills, values, and personality characteristics; a chart which shows how interest areas related to possible majors, GE courses, part-time jobs to explore and test interests, and the major-related campus clubs and organizations; a complete list of campus clubs and organizations presented by academic College; information on the campus Career Center; a list of websites for further research; and the ARC/EOP Career Services Flyer which includes the career staff names, hours of availability, the dates of the Majors Fair and any upcoming workshops, an article describing career development, and strategies for exploring majors. If the student has already identified majors or proposed occupations for exploration, specific materials may be distributed at this time (the Career Monograph information sheets) or on-line research may be conducted as time permits. Most students will require only this introductory session to begin their career/major exploration process. If further assistance is required in terms of additional guided research or the pursuit of the individual format career assessment process, a second one-hour session is scheduled. Second Session (DISCOVERY! Workshop B): The second session is determined by the student's needs, and may include either guided occupational or major research or the beginning of the complete individual format career assessment process. For the assessments, the Career Counselor or Intern will complete the student Intake Form including information on academic and extra-curricular activities and a full work history. A Model of Career/Life Planning is presented and the student is introduced to the Holland theory of personality and work environments through the Party Exercise. Holland theory states that people tend to gravitate toward work environments where they can express who they really are, and that all the different work environments and people in them can be organized into a system of six different types. Next, the Self-Directed Search (SDS) interest inventory is administered and completed by the student as homework in preparation for the following session. Also based upon Holland theory, the SDS provides the structure for an extensive discussion of the student's interests and skills with the goal of identifying possible majors and careers. Third Session: This 1-2 hour session focuses on the interpretation of the SDS. Each of the six Holland theme areas is discussed in detail, resulting in a list of majors and careers for further exploration. Research on areas identified may begin at this point or may be delayed until other components of the assessment process are completed. Following the SDS, a personality inventory, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), is administered to the student and completed as homework in preparation for the next session. Fourth Session: The MBTI, based upon the theories of Carl Jung, provides information concerning four aspects of personality. The personality concepts are related to issues of work and specific jobs and occupations with the goal of providing students with additional information to assist with major and career decision-making. Through an inventory and discussion, students identify a four-letter type with the MBTI; additional materials relate personality type to commonly-chosen careers, classroom behavior, and learning styles. Following the personality discussion, the student receives the Skills and Values Card Sorts which are completed as homework in preparation for the final assessment sessions. Fifth Session: The Skills Card Sort provides information on the skills that the student most enjoys using with the interpretation discussion centered on the types of work that are based upon the use and development of those skills. The Values Card Sort helps the student to identify the work-related value characteristics (creativity, independence, high earnings, etc.) which are most important to address to achieve personal work satisfaction. Both Card Sorts can be usually be interpreted in a single one-hour session including the Holland skills and values materials. The Card Sorts comprise the last step in the four-part career assessment process. Sixth Session: A final summary session may be useful for the student to see an overview of the various assessments and the information they provide. The goal of the assessment process is to identify areas of work and majors for further consideration and exploration. Each aspect of the assessment process yields information about the student and their preferences, and the final session aims to help the student with the suggestion of specific strategies to facilitate decision-making. These strategies may include further research with on-line resources, hard-copy materials, in-person informational interviews, and exposure to campus and professional organizations, as well as more direct experiential opportunities such as job-shadowing, part-time and volunteer work, and internships. Follow-up sessions to monitor progress can be scheduled as necessary or desired. The Invisible Curriculum: Things A Student Should Consider
Students can gain this experience by getting involved in school clubs and volunteering for charitable organizations. Summer jobs and internships are also great opportunities to gain these and other important skills. Students need to develop job-seeking skills and build resumes. Juniors and seniors can contact the Career Center for help in writing resumes and effective cover letters. In addition, the Career Center can help students develop good interviewing skills and locate job opportunities, as well as help students apply for them. Occupational databases for research CHOICES- ARC/EOP & Career Center EUREKA (California information)- Career Center OOH Occupational Outlook Handbook- hardcopy or online at www.bls.gov/oco ( US Department of Labor information) Other Resources College Majors Handbook-Fogg, N., Harrington, P., Harrington, T./JIST Works, Inc./1999 Dictionary of Occupational Titles-Jones, R., Martin, L./JIST Works, Inc./1991 ARC/EOP Career ServicesBayramian Hall (BH), 210 Tuesday 10-7 Wednesday 10-7 Thursday 9-5 Friday 9-4 Career CenterUniversity Hall Suite (UN), 105 Monday-Thursday 8-5 a Friday 8-4 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Self-Directed Search Strong Interest Inventory (SII) ADVISING RESOURCE CENTER/EOP INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS BY APPOINTMENT + WORKSHOPS COMPLETE CAREER ASSESSMENT PROCESS Heléne Berg-Kolin, Academic/Career Advisor ADVISING RESOURCE CENTER/EOP *ASK ABOUT SPECIAL SERVICES FOR EOP STUDENTS
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