Explore Career Options Using LinkedIn’s New Field of Study Explorer, Especially Liberal Arts Majors

The new LinkedIn Field of Study Explorer is most valuable to students and parents as a tool for exploring possible career options for a particular college major.

It is particularly helpful for students considering liberal arts majors and the humanities because it shows their expansive use in the work world. It’s some form of proof (for skeptics) that jobs do exist for these majors, some with well-known, respected, and well-paying employers.

The Field of Study Explorer has some limitations (see below) but as long as students stick with using it as a “what can I do with a degree in ___” resource, it’s useful.  Here is a short video about how to use it for that purpose.

The Explorer can also be useful for adults changing careers. What else can you do with law degree? Or a massage therapy degree? To what other career fields could you transition that you might not have considered? You may even find connections you could contact for an informational interview.

For more information, students looking at career options related to majors should look on their college’s career services website for a “what can I do with a major in ____” type of page. High school students can look at a nearby state university’s career services website.  The University of North Carolina at Wilmington has a great one as does Kansas State University.

LinkedIn Field of Study Explorer Limitations:

The “Explore More” button has a random selection of majors – they are not related to the one you list in your profile. For example, my major was Politics.  Yet “Explore More” recommended “Home Furnishings and Equipment Installation.” And no, I am not a furniture junkie. So you need to have a “short list” of majors that interest you, ideally ones that match your strongest Holland personality types.

I would not use the Field of Study Explorer to choose a college; in other words, ignore the “Where they went to school” as a limited data set. The more majors a school graduates is irrelevant to quality, even if LinkedIn’s data set were more representative of the U.S. as a whole.

Also see:

• For more analysis, I recommend “The New Rankings,” in Inside HigherEd by Charlie Tyson.
• LinkedIn Blog’s announcement for the Field of Study Explorer.
• Using LinkedIn Alumni to explore career and majors, video on TheCareerKey YouTube channel;
• Career Key's Learn More about College Majors

Choose a Career and College Major with Holland's Theory, New Career Key Video Series

Learn how to choose a career or college major with Holland's Theory of Career Choice in a new YouTube video series "How to Achieve Career and College Success" from Career Key.

These short videos cover Dr. John Holland's six main ideas, including the Holland personality types (also known as Holland codes), Holland's work and education environments, and how to use the Holland hexagon. It's based on the popular Career Key web article on Holland's Theory of Career Choice.

How to Achieve Career and College Success Video Series

• How to Achieve Career and College Success: Introduction
• The Six Holland Personality Types
• The Six Holland Environments
• Holland Environments: searching for and interacting with them
• The Holland Hexagon
• Congruence: Making a Good Match

The series is created and presented by Career Key author and nationally recognized counseling psychologist, Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, NCC. It is followed by a series on good career decision making.

All these videos will appear soon in a new section of the Career Key website.

Subscribe to The Career Key's YouTube channel to get notified of new videos as they appear.

New Career Key Career Test Launched

Career Key's updated career test is now live! This scientifically valid, career interest inventory has a new design, an updated list of career options and now includes college majors and training programs. The Career Key test now helps those wondering "What should I major in?" There are over 400 careers and 700 majors, easy to explore by Holland personality type and Career Key work group of traits, skills and abilities. Each major is described with a link to external sources to find more information and the colleges that offer the major (no promotions or marketing).

Here is a sample report page:

To learn more about group purchases and the new group administration features, see our Group Purchase Discount.

Holland’s Theory Promotes Innovation Skills

Taking advantage of Holland’s Theory of Career Choice in the form of a good person-work environment fit promotes skills needed for innovation.  These skills include collaboration and problem-solving, which top the list of 21^st Century “in-demand” job skills in employer surveys. When people work with people of similar interests, abilities and values, collaboration and problem-solving are natural outcomes. 

I made the Holland Theory/Innovation connection while listening to innovation evangelist Tony Wagner’s keynote at this summer’s National Career Development Association conference. Here are three other ways applying Holland’s Theory to career choices promotes innovation:

1. Person-environment fit encourages curiosity.  Wagner says that “curiosity, which is a habit of asking good questions and a desire to understand more deeply,” is an “innovation skill.” A good person-environment fit encourages immersing oneself in a career field, especially in a job market rewarding specialization. Colleagues interact with others of similar interests, learning from one another and feeding off mutual enthusiasm and curiosity in a career field.

2.  Knowing one’s strongest personality types leads to healthy risk-taking and confidence in career decision-making. Knowing more about themselves gives people a platform from which to take risks and create innovation within a job. It also enables necessary job and career changes required in the new economy. If you know your compatible environments within the world of work, you can see more options to make better, more informed choices.

3. Learning about the six different personalities and work environments teaches people about the value of “differing gifts.” Understanding Holland’s Theory highlights the need to collaborate and network with people blessed with “differing gifts.” Wagner says collaboration is an integral part of innovation – especially across disciplines. For example, an architect who wants to promote her innovative designs would likely be more successful integrating advice and ideas from Enterprising and Conventional types to promote and sell her work.

For more on innovation, see Tony Wagner’s book, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World.

New Career Key Career Test Booklet Available

Career Key's popular career test is now available in a printed booklet form, the Career Key Test and Activities Booklet! Sets of 35 cost $75 (about $2 per booklet) and are available for sale on Amazon.com and in the American School Counselors Association bookstore.

This 20 page booklet includes Career Key's scientifically valid career interest inventory as well as activities covering career development's most important concepts, such as how to make a good decision. At the Career Key website, there is also a free PDF guide to using the Career Key Test and Activities Booklet to meet ASCA's National Model Student Standards.

Released with a new design and content in September 2013, it is full color and environmentally friendly, made with 100% recycled bright white paper and soy inks.

Free shipping and more sample pages are available at the booklet's product page on Amazon.com.

Career Key's Career Test Gets New Design and Update

The paper-pencil version of Career Key's popular, valid career interest inventory and career test has a beautiful new design and update.  Available in Career key's eBookstore, the self-scoring, paper-pencil Career Key career test helps youth and adults assess their personality and identify matching careers for satisfaction and success.

In addition to a professional graphic redesign, the test now includes advice for exploring matching college majors and education programs.  Research shows that a close personality major match leads to higher grades, greater persistence in the major, and higher on-time graduation rates.

Career Key's QR Code

The new test also includes a QR code so that test takers can use their smart phone or tablet to quickly access Career Key's online resources.  For example, in Match Your Personality with Careers, test takers can access all the test's occupations and links to current career information about each one from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

The test takes about 15-20 minutes and is self-scoring.  Licenses to print individual and group copies can be purchased in the eBookstore for the same great price of $4.95 (individual) and $12.50 (group - 25 copies).

Occupational Health and Career Options: How to Learn More

Some occupational hazards may be less obvious, like stress.

In choosing a career and comparing career options, don’t forget to include occupational health in your research along with salary, education, and job outlook. Stress, longer work hours, less job security, and a trend toward smaller employers make workplace safety and health more important than ever. This post lists top career information resources related to occupational health.

While some careers have obvious hazards (law enforcement, construction), other careers may be more hazardous than you realize. For example, chemical exposure is widespread from fire fighting, to cosmetology, to working as a scientist. Learning about workplace safety and health helps you make a more informed career decision. All jobs have hazards - it's just a matter of knowing what they are, assessing the risks and being prepared.

Part 2 of this occupational health blog series focuses on how people can find information about the safety and risks of different work environments. Try starting your research online and then follow up with occupational health-related questions during informational interviews.

Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH)

When looking up a career in the OOH, make sure to click on the occupation's “Work Environment” tab.  Some occupations have a separate “injuries” description. Under “Contacts for More Information,” industry organizations are listed and may have occupational hazard information. If you are using the Career Key test to explore careers that match your interests and strongest Holland personality types, all its occupations link to and use the OOH for career information.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

NIOSH is one of the best, most current online resources for occupational health.  There is a convenient list of Industries and Occupations, including special sections on Women and Young Worker Safety. Their most popular document is the free “Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards”, which they hope to offer in a mobile form soon. It helps people recognize and control occupational chemical hazards.

NIOSH Science Blog

This blog is an excellent, up to date resource on a wide range of career fields like health care, nanotechnology, stress, green jobs, and sports and entertainment. The authors explain recent research in a layperson-friendly way.

U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration  (OSHA)

OSHA’s website has a helpful list of web-based e-tools and articles on common hazards, like bloodborne pathogens (for careers in dentistry, healthcare, emergency medicine, and adult care), green jobs, and computer workstations.

Also look at OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics.  You can do a keyword search or choose an industry or topic from a drop down menu (the easiest). For example, in 2010, nursing homes and residential care facilities had one of the highest rates of lost workdays due to injuries and illness of all major American industries. (Source: BLS).  OSHA’s nursing homes article has a list of Hazards and Solutions, with links to OHSA’s industry specific resources.

State OSHA Programs

For a more local approach to workplace safety, some states have an OSHA approved program. Here is an OSHA Program list by state. You can also do a online search for [your state] OSHA.  I’ve found that some of these state sites (I did not visit all of them) are more employer and/or enforcement focused instead of education for individuals. But your state may offer something helpful.

Other online resources:

Society for Human Resource Management: Safety and Security articles

YouTube, for specific government agencies, like the U.S. Department of Labor that has an OSHA playlist.

Informational Interview Questions

When you conduct information interviews as part of researching your career options, don’t forget to ask about their experience with occupational hazards.  Some people may not realize certain aspects of their work environment are “occupational hazards,” like stress or work schedules. So make sure to ask questions like, “What do you like least about your job?” or “How busy is your work schedule?”

Up next in this series final post:

Practical although imperfect answers to these career questions:

What should I do if I am working in an unsafe work environment or career?

How can I be proactive in protecting myself at work?

If you missed the first post: Career Choices and Occupational Health

A special thank you to Sheryl Eldridge, BBA, GCDF and others who recommended resources to me for this blog on the National Career Development Association LinkedIn Group.

Career Choices and Occupational Health: Let’s Honor Workers Memorial Day

In talking about career choices, we rarely mention occupational health hazards; but we should.  This weekend, April 28, is national Workers Memorial Day, honoring the lives of 13 Americans a day who are killed on the job.  All kinds of occupations involve fatalities: cashiers, farmers, workers in grain silos, a college football team student intern, healthcare workers infected by bloodborne pathogens.  And there are social justice impacts too: Hispanics suffer from a higher rate of work-related injuries than any other group. 

This blog starts a career planning series on workplace safety and health, and how to realistically assess our own risks in career decisions and the importance of staying mobile in the job market – a free agent – so you can leave an unsafe work environment.  This is true whether you have a stressful office job or work on an Alaskan crab boat.

Ultimately it is up to you to decide on your work environment and the occupational health hazards you can handle – with the option to leave an employer that is not taking your safety seriously.

I hope occupational health issues will become more visible in the career planning and counseling process. It is important that people have informed choices and develop job skills to gain as much job market mobility as possible.

At least two tragic reminders of workplace safety’s importance have occurred in the last week, the deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion and just today, the factory collapse killing over 87 garment workers in Bangladesh. You might say, well, we have better standards in the U.S.

But do we really? Especially considering all the economic resources at our disposal? Failure of government enforcement (assisted by poor funding and special interest lobbies) and an insecure job market make a risky work environment. To give one example of poor performance, the ratio of OSHA inspectors has fallen over the past 30 years, with 2,200 inspectors for 8 million workplaces and 130 million workers.

While overall on the job fatalities in the U.S. have fallen since they were tracked starting in the early 1970s, there are still 13 people per day too many being killed and many more injured.  

My next post will focus on what individuals can do to find more occupation health information about a career option they are considering. In a later post, putting my employment lawyer hat on, I'll recommend realistic ways to deal with an unsafe working environment.

For more information:

Texas Explosion Seen as Sign of Weak U.S. Oversight

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

Occupational Safety & Health Administration Common Statistics

It’s Official: Random Inspection Improve Workplace Safety, Science Magazine

National Action Summit on Health and Safety of Latino Workers, OSHA, 2010

Make Liberal Arts A Successful College Major Choice

Forget the war on liberal arts! Liberal arts majors can make successful college majors. Follow the basic rules of a good career decision and plan ahead with these 10 actions:

1.  Know what liberal arts majors are, their benefits and challenges;  
2. Learn how you can benefit from Holland’s Theory, Holland’s college major environments, and the value of a close personality-major match. [Research shows it leads to success in college and greater career satisfaction];
3. Get a better sense of yourself, your interests and goals by doing the activities we recommend in “How to choose a career”;
4. Be job skills smart by filling in any gaps in your Foundation Skills during college;
5. Crossover to lesser known fields to develop skills and knowledge from business, finance, computer proficiency, and statistics.  You can do that through volunteer work, coursework, and internships.  No excuses anymore – MOOCs make it possible to take free classes on your own time without the penalty of poor grades on your transcript;
6. Combine an arts and humanities major with another more technical, career-oriented major that interests you in a growth industry like healthcare or information technology;
7. Use LinkedIn Alumni to help broaden your knowledge about what graduates with liberal arts majors are doing with their degree. I guarantee you'll get some ideas;
8. Decide on whether to go to graduate school with particular career goals in mind, based on real research based on informational interviews with current grad students and grad school grads, not hearsay.
9. Begin networking as soon as possible. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to “be someone” to network. It is also not limited to job search – in fact, it’s better to network before you need a job. Bonus: you’ll simultaneously strengthen Foundation Skills.
10. Make sure you are taking advantage of all the career services and academic advising resources your college or university offers.  I see a few complaints about what schools don’t do to help graduates. But the reality is, many students don’t take advantage of available services, they let one dissatisfying experience stop their momentum, OR they don’t take the initiative. These things all happened to me at one time or another – but I didn’t let them stop me. Don’t let them stop you either.

You might also find helpful:

Download this PDF to see popular myths about liberal arts majors debunked, courtesy of Seattle Pacific University’s Career Center. It’s great advice.

30 Extremely Successful People with Liberal Arts Majors, from BusinessInsider.com

Why you should study art, or any soft major, from USAToday Education

Graduate School in the Humanities: Just don’t go, the Chronicle
"Not all College Degrees are Created Equal", PDF report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce
Top-Paying Liberal Arts Majors in 2012, National Association of Colleges and Employers

Using LinkedIn Alumni to Explore Careers and Majors

If you want to make a career change,  choose a career, or choose a major, LinkedIn Alumni is a helpful addition to other career information resources that opens your mind to career and education options.

Because LinkedIn Alumni is organized around schools and studies instead of occupations, it’s really best used as a turbo-charged “what can I do with a major in” career exploration tool. And despite the word “Alumni,” anyone can use it, college graduate or not.

Getting Started: First, click on LinkedIn Alumni and choose a college or university.  You don’t have to be a school’s graduate or current student to see information about its graduates. It could be a school you’re interested in attending, a big university near you, or a school you attended.

So although I didn’t graduate from North Carolina State University, I can still see what their graduates studied or majored in, their skills, the types of work they do, and where they work. I just uploaded a related video, "Explore Careers Using LinkedIn Alumni", on thecareerkey YouTube channel:

1. Look at the types of jobs listed for a field of study, exploring those that interest you.

After you’ve chosen a school, click on “what [graduates] studied” in the 4^th column over.  You’ll see the graph adjust and narrow to graduates of that field.  I chose “Social Sciences”.  Notice that the study choices can be broad (like social sciences, which includes economics and sociology) or specific, like chemical engineering.

You can also start by narrowing results based on the type of job first, called “What they do”, and then field of study. If you’re already focused on careers in education, then start there.

2. Notice the types of skills most listed by graduates in a field of study.

When you choose a field of study, notice the column next to it “What they’re skilled at.” Take a note of skills you have on that list and those you don’t; this will give you ideas for ones to focus on and strengthen. (Our “Identify Your Skills” articles will also help you in that process).

3. After choosing categories of “What they do” and “What they studied,” look at individual job titles and profiles by clicking “3^rd connections + Everyone Else” in the “How you are connected” column.

Scroll down to see the people listed. Are there any job titles that surprise you? Interest you? Consider these people as possible sources for information interviews.  Even if the person lives far away or there is no realistic way to make a connection to them, you might search locally for someone similar, working in a similar type of job.

To avoid getting overwhelmed by information, you’ll need to tailor your search to what interests you most. For example, you could get indicators of job outlook in certain geographic areas (where they live) and the most popular employers (where they work).  The best thing is to just dive in and look around.

Note: I found LinkedIn’s “Skills & Expertise” tool (under the “More” tab of the top navigation menu) to be less informative – the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET Code Connector has much more accurate, detailed information about skills careers require.  And LinkedIn takes its career descriptions from Wikipedia, not my first choice for career information.

For an overview of LinkedIn Alumni and the different ways it can be used, visit the excellent LinkedIn Blog post “Start Mapping Your Career with LinkedIn Alumni.”  I’m sure this is only the beginning of uses for this tool. Do you have other suggestions for using LinkedIn Alumni for researching careers? Please leave a comment.

Give Thanks for Careers Helping People in a Disaster

To celebrate Thanksgiving,  Career Key has made a list below of careers and occupations that we rely on in a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy – obvious ones and those behind the scenes.  All this month, please give thanks for the people who help us when we need it most.

All of us live with disaster risk.  91% of Americans live in places at moderate to high risk of earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, high-wind damage or terrorism. (Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, at University of South Carolina.)  Chances are we or someone we know will be impacted by a natural disaster.

We need many different kinds of people and jobs to help us, in large and small ways – to prepare, plan and recover from a disaster. When you need help, comfort, and information, more than just fire and police departments become involved.

If you’re wondering how to choose a career or volunteer job that gives to your community, consider all the ways these careers help.  Feel free to suggest more careers in the comments - I know this is not an exhaustive list.

We organized these careers by the six Holland personality types and Career Key Work Group (not all groups are shown below).  To learn more about personality-career match and to see a longer list of career options with links to career information (salary, job outlook, training and education), visit Career Key’s “Match Your Personality with Careers.”  The Occupational Outlook Handbook is the best resource for information about these careers.

For more lists of careers, college majors, green jobs, career clusters and career pathways organized by Holland personality type and Career Key Work Group, visit the Career Key website, www.careerkey.org.

Careers That Help People in a Natural Disaster

Realistic

Agriculture & Natural Resources

Forester

Forest or Conservation Worker

Safety and Law Enforcement

Emergency Medical Technician

Fire Fighter

Fire Inspector

Police Officer

Engineering

Construction and Building Inspector

Cartographer or Photogrammetrist

Crafts – Electrical-Electronic

Electrical Power-Line Installer & Repairer

Telecommunication Equipment Installer or Repairer

Transportation and Distribution

Aircraft Pilots (Coast Guard and other government personnel taking measurements by air)

Ambulance Drivers, except EMTs

Construction Crafts & Support

Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

The Construction Trades: Carpenters, Plumbers, and Roofers

Systems Operation

Power Plant Operator

Water Treatment Plant Operator

Investigative

Physical Sciences

Atmospheric Scientist

Environmental Scientist

Geophysicist

Geoscientist

Soil Conservationist

Life Sciences

Conservation Scientist

Natural Sciences Manager

Computer Science & Technology

Computer Programmer

Computer Software Engineer

Network and Computer System Administrator

Mathematics and Data Analysis

Operations Research Analyst

Statistician

Social Sciences

Economist

Geographer

Psychologist

Urban or Regional Planner

Engineering

Civil Engineer

Environmental Engineer

Health and Safety Engineer

Nuclear Engineer

Artistic

Visual Arts

Architect

Graphic Designer 

Communications

Broadcast News Analyst

Editor

Reporter or Correspondent

Technical or Scientific Editor or Writer

Social

Social Services

Clergy

Clinical Psychologist

Counselor

Eligibility Interviewer

Medical and Public Health Social Worker

Nursing, Therapy & Health Promotion

Registered Nurse

Child & Adult Care

Home Health Aide

Licensed Practical or Vocational Nurse

Social & Human Service Assistant

Educational Services

School Teachers (all grades)

Enterprising

Business Administration

Administrative Services Manager

Chief Executive Officer

Computer and Information System Manager

Construction Manager

Engineering Manager

Lodging Manager (e.g. Hotel, Motel, Resort)

Medical and Health Services Manager

Natural Science Manager

Transportation, Storage, or Distribution Manager

Government and Public Administration

Education Administrator

Government Service Executive

Emergency Management Director

Regulations Enforcement

Occupational Safety and Health Inspector

Conventional

Mathematical Detail

Claim Adjuster, Examiner, or Investigator

Cost Estimator

Insurance Underwriter

Oral Communications

Air Traffic Controller

Customer Service Representative

Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher

Materials & Records Processing

Production, Planning, or Expediting Clerk

Administrative Detail

Budget Analyst

Occupational Health and Safety Technician

New Promising Self-Employment Careers List by Holland Personality Type

Our new promising self-employment careers list on the Self-Employment Key website helps people match their Holland personality types to self-employed careers the U.S. Department of Labor forecasts to have a bright job outlook. If you're trying to decide whether self-employment is right for you, try our article, "Getting Started with Self-Employment Careers."

We also uploaded to thecareerkeyYouTube channel a short video overview about the list and the Self-Employment Key:

What made compiling this list a little more challenging is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks "unincorporated" and "incorporated" self-employed people differently.  So BLS counts an incorporated, self-employed lawyer as a wage employee, treating him or her like other lawyers working for an employer. I addressed this issue by looking at the new 2012 Employment Projections, industry trends and Mr. Hipple's excellent Monthly Labor Review article cited below.

With the new 2012-13 BLS data, we also updated the matching occupations shown during the Career Key Self-Employment Test.  These occupations contain significant numbers of self-employed people.

The Career Key Self-Employment test, developed by Career Key author Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, NCC,  is unique in that it measures Holland's personality types, shows users occupations with a significant number of self-employed people in them, and measures two "Big 5" personality dimensions research shows are related to success as an entrepreneur. Click on "Research" to learn more about it.

Another great thing about the Self-Employment Key is that at no extra charge, test takers can use their RIASEC scores to explore more matching careers, green careers, college majors, and career clusters and career pathways at the Career Key website.

Sources: O*NET's My Next Move, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, and Steven F. Hipple's article, "Self-employment in the United States," Monthly Labor Review, September 2010.

Will You Be Shut Out of Popular Education and Career Choices? 3 Tips for Career Planning Success

When changing careers or choosing a career, you may be considering a career option in which many people are interested. What if a required education program has too many applicants, a lot of prerequisites, or is just very selective?

Competition to get into some education programs required for in-demand careers can be stiff.  Funding is being cut for community colleges and public universities, making the situation worse. Take, for example, these statistics for a top career options like nursing:

American Association of Colleges of Nursing says 75,000 qualified nursing school applicants turned away in 2011. 

Dig deep into choosing a career, college major and training program – as early as possible. And once you know what’s involved and the better prepared you are, the better your chances of getting into the program you want.

3 Tips for Career Planning Success:

1.  Fully research your career options, including related occupations. Reading these Career Key articles will help:

• Getting Started (3 Steps to Choosing a Career) 
• Learn about Occupations 
•  Learn More About the Jobs that Interest Me 

How can you find similar occupations?

• Explore careers in the same Holland personality type and Career Key work group in Career Key’s “Match Your Personality with Careers” article. You can also do that during the Career Key's valid career test. If you are short on time or money, there may be similar occupations requiring fewer years of education. Maybe that career can be a stepping stone on the way to a final career goal.
• Click the “similar occupations” tab at the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) entry for a career. Try it with pharmacist.

Example:

On Career Key’s career lists, Pharmacist is found in the “Health Sciences” group under the Investigative personality type.  See all the related careers and groups.

OOH Entry for Pharmacist

2.  Fully research your education options, including different types of degrees/programs and the schools that offer them. The OOH will be a big help, especially the tabs “How to Become One” and “Contacts for More Info.” Make sure the program environment, what we call “college major environment” fits your personality. We recommend many ways to learn more about these environments.

How do you find good quality information about education programs?

Usually under the OOH's tab “Contacts for More Info,” it will link to a national association of the colleges or program providers for the required education and training programs. Rely on that organization website first before consulting commercial sites you find via Internet searches for “_____ degrees”

For example, the OOH's “Contacts for More Information” for Pharmacist links to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.  Under Resources and Student Center “Is Pharmacy for You?” I found a huge “Admissions” section with lots of informative FAQs and a whole free PDF book “Pharmacy School Admission Requirements” you can download.

 CareerOneStop’s “Education and Training Finder” can help you find information about education programs required for specific occupations located in your state, region or zip code too. 

3.  Have a back up plan if your first choices do not work out.

If you make a high-quality career decision (follow the link for 4 steps to follow and a free Decision Balance Sheet download), you’ll know what your backup choices are, information about them, and their pros and cons.

Even though it may cost more money to apply to more, less attractive schools, it's worthwhile insurance against rejection and disappointment.

And if you are unable to get into any school you are considering, working in the same industry that interests you (say Healthcare) but in a different occupation than you originally envisioned may open your eyes to new careers and opportunities you hadn’t known about.

It’s a challenge to stay positive and confident when career planning in a difficult economy. Adopting the Free Agent Outlook on Work may help – particularly principles 5 and 6:

5.  Be Loyal to Yourself and Your Family, and

6. Think “Right Thoughts.”