Explore Your Interests / Self Assessment

• Help you figure out who you are and what you want out of your education, your career, and your life.
• Be someone for you to talk to about your thoughts, ideas, feelings, and concerns about your career and educational choices, who will help you sort out, organize, and make sense of your thoughts and feelings.
• Help you identify the factors influencing your career development, and help you assess your interests, abilities, and values.
• Help you locate resources and sources of career information.
• Help you to determine next steps and develop a plan to achieve your goals.

• Tell you what to do, or tell you what you should major in, or what career you should pursue.

Since career development is a lifelong process, career counseling can be appropriate for anyone, including freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and even alumni. The earlier you get started making intentional decisions about your future, however, the better prepared you will be! If you are stuck with trying to decide a major, or what kind of career path you want to take, you should plan to meet with a career counselor.

• “I have no idea what I want to do with my life.”
• “I don’t know what to major in.”
• “I’ve narrowed it down to a couple career options, but I’m having a hard time choosing between them.”
• “I know what I want to major in, but I have no idea what I want to do once I graduate.”
• “I know what I want to do, but I’m not sure what the best major would be.”
• “I want to know what kinds of jobs I can get with my major.”
• “I don’t feel like I know enough about all the different careers out there to know what I want to do.”
• “I like a lot of different subjects, and I keep changing my major because I’m not sure which one is the best for me!”

• “I don’t like any of my classes and none of the majors seem really appealing to me.”
• “I have a lot of work experience and I want to find a new career path that will build on the skills I already have.”
• “I was planning on going into the _______ program, but I applied and didn’t get in. What do I do now?”
• “I always thought I wanted to be a _______, but I got into my major and I really don’t like it!”
• “I really like my major, but it’s not what I want to do for my career.”
• “I know what type of work I’d like to do, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to make enough money doing it.”
• “My family really wants me to be a _______, but I’m not sure if that’s really what I want.”
• “I’ve always planned on being a _______, but I’m wondering if it’s only because that’s all I know.”
• “I want to find a field to go into where there will always be plenty of jobs.”
• “I want to find a career that will allow me to provide significant financial support for my family.”
• “I’m working towards my career, but I think I might just really want to be a stay-at-home parent.”
• “I’ve always planned to stay in Boise, but to do what I’d like to do I’d have to move.”
• “I can’t find a job, so I’m thinking about going to grad school.”