Career Tools and Resources

• What Can I Do With A Major In....?
• CliftonStrengths at WTAMU. Access to Gallup's StrengthsQuest web site
• MyNextMove
• MyNextMove for Veterans
• Career Zone: Career based on the Holland Code
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington's information
• Salisbury University's listing of what you can do with a graduate degree major
• Federal Job Titles by College Major
• O*Net
• Informational Interviewing

Career coaching is your opportunity to sit down with a career coach to discuss your questions about choosing a major or planning the career of your dreams.

It's all about YOU! What are your unique gifts and talents? What are you passionate about? What type of contribution were you put on this earth to make? And it’s about the world! Where do your strengths, gifts, and talents match with a need in the world? Your responses to these and other questions contain important clues.

In career coaching, you will gather information about your personality, interests, preferred skills, top values, and how they can suggest career options for you. If negative thinking about your career is keeping you stuck or unsure, we will help put those thoughts through a reality-check and look for other perspectives.

The next step is to learn the facts about the occupations you are considering. What do these folks really do? What is the educational path? How much do they earn? What does the future look like for these fields? Who are the employers? Who can you talk to or "job shadow" for additional guidance?

Now it is time to generate a short list of options and evaluate those options based on what is best for you, your loved ones, and society. This will lead you to a choice point where you can choose a direction and hopefully a back-up plan as well.

When you've done the ground-work and have chosen a direction that you genuinely want to follow, actively pursue your chosen direction. You will be surprised at the opportunities and helpful people that seem to arise in your path.

In the inspiring words of Henry David Thoreau:
"If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

Does career coaching help me plan my schedule--which classes to take for next semester?

No. Career coaching helps you explore majors and occupational possibilities. We leave the academic advising to Advising Services or to individual academic departments.

Is it as simple as taking an assessment to know exactly what I should do with my life?

No. But assessments are a great place to start. Your results may give you some good options to consider, but effective career decision-making requires more than taking assessments.

Choosing an occupational path is a proactive process!

A good decision requires research, reflection, and careful analysis of options. Adding an internship can give you valuable experience to factor into your decision-making. A career coach can provide guidance on how, when, and where to do these steps.

I need to make a decision on my major quickly because I register for classes tomorrow. Can I take an assessment and choose my major all in one day?

Waiting until the day before registration does not give you time to make a well-informed choice.

However, if you are reading this the day before registration, taking an assessment and reviewing your results can assist you to some degree. Then later, if you are not confident about your direction, you can make an appointment for individual career coaching for further exploration of possibilities for your future.

Will the career coach tell me what I should major in or which occupational path would be best for me?

No, the bottom line is up to you. Only you know what is best for you and your life. Hopefully though, by going through the steps of effective career decision-making you will have a strong foundation for making a good decision.

How long does it take to do career coaching?

This depends on the individual. Some people already have a lot of information gathered and others are starting with very little. Most people come between 3-8 times.

How long does each session last?

Roughly 30 minutes.