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Career Basics: How to Choose a Career / Occupation

Assessment Tools | Job Shadowing | Online Career Profiles | Career Profiles in BOOKS


There are A LOT of different careers out there, but the question that you may have is "Which one is right for YOU?" If you are going to spend a lot of money, time and effort, it would be nice if at the end of your education that you were satisfied with your career. There are tests that you can take that can be EXTREMELY HELPFUL in helping you find the right career/job. Many of the following methods to find information about careers can be found in College Career Centers.

The following tests are very popular and very good. Usually, they are fee-based and are BEST interpreted by a professional career counselor. We will not go into much explanation but we will say that the tests measure your personality and then match your personality characteristics to occupations. If you answer the questions truthfully, these tests can be EXCELLENT tools to match you up with the right career. We must emphasize that if you have any questions about a career, any doubt at all, please see a school career center and a professional career counselor. There are a few very good tests, but the following are two of the best:


Job Shadowing

There are various ways to find information about careers. One excellent way to find out if you want to pursue a specific career is to "job shadow." You need to follow someone around on the job who is in the occupation that interests you. Do NOT be afraid to ask questions, after all, you are investigating a career where you might be spending most of your life working, not to mention the money, time, and energy spent trying to achieve success in that career. For example, if you want to be a nurse, go to a hospital and talk to someone in charge to see if they will allow you to follow a nurse around for a few days. We use nursing as an example because, like many careers, nursing offers a variety of choices when becoming a nurse. There are nurses who work on the wards (floors), in operating rooms, OB/GYN, nursing homes, and other specialties. Each specialty has different aspects that you have to consider.


Following are some sources that will give information about careers. These sources provide information about the nature of the work, training/education, employment and job outlook, earnings, and much more.

Online Resources: Career Profiles

America's Career Infonet provides wage and employment trends, occupational requirements, state-by-state labor market condition, millions of employer contacts nationwide, and an extensive career resource library. Please take your time to explore this EXCELLENT source for career information. This site is located at: http://www.acinet.org.

CityTownInfo.org is another EXCELLENT site to spend some time exploring the links. This site features information about career profiles, colleges, featured articles, career stories as employees share their views on their profession, and a variety of much more information. The main menu is located at http://www.citytowninfo.com. Make sure that you visit the Career Descriptions at http://www.citytowninfo.com/employment. Another great page is http://www.citytowninfo.com/studies/best-careers-degree-not-required.html where you can find a list of "Best Careers NOT Requiring a Degree."

CareerOverview.com provides information about occupations as well as allowing you to search jobs by industry and location. This site can be found at http://www.careeroverview.com/.

ExploreHealthCareers.org is a very good health career site maintained by the American Dental Education Association. Profiles of all kinds of health careers and schools that offer educational programs for those careers are listed on this site at http://www.explorehealthcareers.org/en/index.aspx.


Career Profiles in BOOKS

Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance is a four-volume set of books that will give valuable career profile type of information such as the nature of the work, education / training, salary, and job outlook. Many libraries have this resource in their Reference or career section of the library.

Ferguson Publishing publishes a series of books titled Careers in Focus. The books are 200 pages in length, approximately. They cover just about everything that you want to know about the occupation such as the history, requirements, employers, starting out, advancement, earnings, work environment, job outlook, and much, MUCH more. Scroll down this page in order to see the list of Careers in Focus books.

Rosen Publishing publishes a series of books titled Cool Careers without College. College is not for everyone, but there are occupations out there that do not require a college degree. These books give information about jobs where a college degree is not necessary. Scroll down this page in order to see the list of Cool Careers without College books.

Infobase Publishing publishes a series of books titled Great Careers with a High School Diploma. This series of books profiles jobs that require no more than a high school diploma or a GED. Scroll down this page in order to see a list of books from the series Great Careers with a High School Diploma.

Ferguson Publishing publishes a series of books titled Top Careers in Two Years. These books provide detailed information for students seeking a rewarding career without committing to four, or more, years of college in order to obtain a bachelor's degree, master's degree, or Ph.D. There are many job opportunities for students with an associate degree, comparable certification, and work or life experience. This series of books covers many of these type of careers. Please scroll down this page in order to view the list of books that give you information about Top Careers in Two Years of schooling.

McGraw-Hill is another very respected publisher that publishes many career books. Scroll down this page in order to see a list of career books that is offered by McGraw-Hill.

It is possible that many of the following books are located in a local library. If they do not have the books, please ask them if they can interlibrary loan the books from another library, for free. IF this does not work, you can use the following Amazon.com search boxes and purchase the books. You can type the titles into the search box or cut and paste the titles. If you cannot locate these books, or the information that you need, please feel free to email us at collegecareers72@gmail.com

Careers in Focus | Top Careers in Two Years | Great Careers with High School Diploma | Cool Careers Without College

McGraw-Hill's list of books about Careers, Occupations, and Majors

Careers in Focus Books:

Careers in Focus: Advertising & Marketing

Careers in Focus: Agriculture

Careers in Focus: Animal Care

Careers in Focus: Architecture and Building

Careers in Focus: Armed Forces

Careers in Focus: Art

Careers in Focus: Automotives

Careers in Focus: Broadcasting

Careers in Focus: Business Managers

Careers in Focus: Chemistry

Careers in Focus: Child Care

Careers in Focus: Coaches Fitness Professionals

Careers in Focus: Complementary and Alternative Health Care

Careers in Focus: Computer & Video Game Design

Careers in Focus: Computers

Careers in Focus: Cosmetology

Careers in Focus: Earth Sciences

Careers in Focus: Education

Careers in Focus: Electronics

Careers in Focus: Engineering

Careers in Focus: Entrepreneurs

Careers in Focus: Fashion

Careers in Focus: Film

Careers in Focus: Financial Services

Careers in Focus: Food

Careers in Focus: Geriatric Care

Careers in Focus: Government

Careers in Focus: Internet

Careers in Focus: Landscaping & Horticulture

Careers in Focus: Law

Careers in Focus: Library & Information Science

Careers in Focus: Manufacturing

Careers in Focus: Mathematics and Physics

Careers in Focus: Mechanics

Careers in Focus: Medical Technicians and Technologies

Careers in Focus: Music

Careers in Focus: Newspapers

Careers in Focus: Public Safety

Careers in Focus: Nonprofit Organizations

Careers in Focus: Nursing

Careers in Focus: Performing Arts

Careers in Focus: Personal Arts

Careers in Focus: Photography

Careers in Focus: Personal Services

Careers in Focus: Photography

Careers in Focus: Politics

Careers in Focus: Public Relations

Careers in Focus: Publishing

Careers in Focus: Real Estate

Careers in Focus: Retail

Careers in Focus: Sales

Careers in Focus: Space Exploration

Careers in Focus: Sports

Careers in Focus: Telecommunications

Careers in Focus: Therapists

Careers in Focus: Transportation

Careers in Focus: Travel & Hospitality

Careers in Focus: Writing


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Top Careers in Two Years

Two Careers in Two Years: Business, Finance, and Government Administration

Two Careers in Two Years: Communication and the Arts

Two Careers in Two Years: Computers and Information Technology

Two Careers in Two Years: Construction and Trades

Two Careers in Two Years: Education and Social Sciences

Two Careers in Two Years: Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources

Two Careers in Two Years: Health Care, Medicine, and Science

Two Careers in Two Years: Hospitality, Human Services, and Tourism

Two Careers in Two Years: Manufacturing and Transportation

Two Careers in Two Years: Public Safety, Law, and Security

Two Careers in Two Years: Retail, Marketing, and Sales


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Great Careers with a High School Diploma

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Armed Forces

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Communications, the Arts, and Computers

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Construction and Trades

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Health Care, Medicine, and Science

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Hospitality, Human Services, and Tourism

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Manufacturing and Transportation

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Personal Care Services, Fitness, and Education

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Public Safety, Law, and Security

Great Careers with High School Diploma: Sales, Marketing, Business, and Finance


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Cool Careers WITHOUT College

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Build Things

Cool Careers Without College for Math and Science Wizards

Cool Careers Without College for Animal Lovers

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Movement

Cool Careers Without College for Film and TV Buffs

Cool Careers Without College for Nature Lovers

Cool Careers Without College for Music Lovers

Cool Careers Without College for Web Surfers

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Crafts

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Drive

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Make Things

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Sell Things

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Travel

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Food

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Manga, Comics, and Animation

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Houses

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Organize, Manage, and Plan

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Buy Things

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love to Write

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Sports

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Everything Digital

Cool Careers Without College for People Who Love Video Games


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McGraw-Hill's list of books about Careers, Occupations, and Majors.

Careers in Architecture

Careers for Geniuses & Other Gifted Types

Careers for Foreign Language Aficionados & Other Multilingual Types

Careers in Engineering

Careers for Hard Hats and Other Construction Types

Careers for History Buffs and Others Who Learn from the Past

Careers in Marketing

Careers for Scholars & Other Deep Thinkers

Careers in Social and Rehabilitation Services

Careers in Writing

Great Jobs for Business Majors

Great Jobs for Environmental Studies Majors

Great Jobs for History Majors

Great Jobs for Liberal Arts Majors

Great Jobs for Sociology Majors

Opportunities in Adult Education

Opportunities in Animal and Pet Centers

Opportunities in Building Construction Careers

Opportunities in Design and Decorating Careers

Opportunities in Direct Marketing

Opportunities in Forensic Science

Opportunities in Insurance Careers

Opportunities in Laser Technology

Opportunities in Metalworking

Opportunities in Petroleum

Opportunities in Property Management Centers

Opportunities in Psychology Careers

Opportunities in Technical Writing

Opportunities in Visual Arts Careers


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