Start with Self-Discovery

Understanding yourself is the first step in finding a career that’s right for you. We recommend starting with one or more of these career assessments—each designed to give you insight into your personality, interests, and potential career fits.

We encourage you to consult with a career coach to explore assessments such as:

• Focus 2 (access code: cowboys) – This comprehensive, seven-part career assessment is free for all HSU students. Focus 2 evaluates your values, interests, skills, and personality to suggest compatible majors and career paths.
• Career Explorer by Sokanu – Built by experts in industrial-organizational psychology, this assessment pulls from trusted sources like the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.K. government, and proprietary data to offer deep career insights tailored to you.
• Solace Spectrum – Created by a former HSU psychology professor, this assessment explores the key drivers of your personality and how they connect to career clusters that suit you best.
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – This timeless personality assessment provides valuable insight into your behavioral tendencies, communication style, and ideal work environments.
• High5 – A strengths-based assessment that helps you discover what you naturally do best, helping you find roles where you can truly thrive.
• Zippia’s Major Finder – Wondering what careers align with your major? Zippia’s Major Finder helps you explore potential paths by connecting your field of study to real-world opportunities, roles, and industries.

📱 Career Exploration Tools

Looking for more interactive ways to explore career possibilities? Try these easy-to-use platforms:

Career OneStop

Developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, this site offers a robust set of tools. Search for specific jobs or explore career fields to learn about salaries, growth outlook, necessary certifications, and more. Not sure where to begin? Use the Interest Profiler or Skills Matcher to find careers that align with you.

Job Scout

Prefer a more visual, quiz-based approach? Job Scout helps you discover potential career paths through interactive assessments and real-life videos, offering a clearer picture of what different jobs actually look like.

These career tools and assessments offer more than just job suggestions—they provide meaningful insights into your unique strengths, preferences, and abilities.

As you explore these resources, you may uncover a passion that inspires you to thrive in your chosen career. When your work aligns with what truly energizes and excites you, it can lead to greater motivation, satisfaction, and a deeper sense of fulfillment.

Passion often leads to purpose. When your career reflects your values and natural abilities, you’re more likely to experience a strong sense of direction—one that goes beyond simply earning a paycheck. This alignment can pave the way for a career that not only meets your goals but brings lasting meaning and joy.

LinkedIn Economic Graph

Navigating the complex world of career choices can be daunting for students, but tools like LinkedIn’s Career Explorer provide valuable guidance. By leveraging the resources available at LinkedIn Career Explorer, students can gain insights into various career paths, understand the skills required for different roles, and explore job opportunities that align with their interests and qualifications. This innovative platform utilizes LinkedIn’s extensive data to help students make informed decisions about their future careers, offering personalized recommendations and highlighting potential career transitions based on current skills. Whether you’re unsure of where to start or looking to pivot to a new field, LinkedIn Career Explorer can serve as a crucial tool in mapping out a successful career journey.

What Can I Do with This Major?

Once you have an idea for possible majors, then you need to understand what all you can do with that major.

“What Can I Do with This Major?” is a helpful guide for college students exploring career options. It explains:

• Skills: What you’ll learn in your major.
• Career Paths: Jobs and industries where you can work.
• Employers: Types of companies that hire graduates in your field.
• Tips: How to improve your chances of getting a job, like internships and networking.
• Professional Associations: Groups that offer networking and development opportunities.

This resource helps you connect your studies with potential careers and plan your future effectively.

Leveraging AI

AI can be leveraged to explore career interests and self-assessment by utilizing its ability to analyze vast amounts of data and personalize recommendations based on individual profiles. Through sophisticated algorithms and machine learning techniques, AI can assess a person’s skills, interests, and personality traits by interpreting responses to quizzes, surveys, and even social media activity. This data-driven approach enables AI to suggest tailored career paths, highlight areas for skill development, and provide insights into strengths and weaknesses, thereby guiding individuals towards fulfilling and well-suited professional opportunities.

• Major and Career Exploration:
  • What <undergraduate/graduate> degree programs align with an interest in <interest>?
  • Generate a list of careers relating to <degree>
  • Generate a list of industries where professionals with a background in are in high demand and provide insights into specific job titles.
    • Warning: Due to the database cutoff for most AI programs, this information may not be relevant/up to date
  • What are the most important skills for a career in?
    • Follow up: How can I highlight <skill> on my resume in a way that is relevant to <field>?
• Job Search Strategies:
  • Generate current position titles for.
    • Follow up: Generate keywords and skills relating to <job title>.
  • What job search strategies help applicants seeking positions in <field> specifically?
  • What technical and soft skills should an applicant develop to excel in <field>?
  • What type of networking options or mentorship programs relate to <field>?
• Job Search Documents
  • Depending on the AI platform you are using, you can either upload or copy and paste your resume or cover letter into it to compare to the job description. Note: ensure all personally identifiable information has been removed from your resume prior to uploading or copying and pasting.
    • Identify the skills mentioned in this job description
      • Follow up: Provide suggestions on how to showcase these skills better
    • Provide a list of industry-specific keywords that can be added to tailor the document for
      • Follow-up: Where can those keywords be integrated into the document?
      • Follow up: What skills could be added to improve the applicant’s chances for this position?
    • Compare this document to the following job description for <position> and highlight the relevant skills: “<job description>”
• Interview Skills:
  • What are some common interview questions for <field/position title>?
  • What is a good <technical/behavioral> interview question for <degree/field>?
    • Follow up: What is a good response to this question?
    • Follow up: What is an interviewer looking for in a response to this question?

Investing time in self-discovery through these assessments can be a powerful step toward understanding who you are and where you’re meant to go. The result? A clearer path, a stronger sense of purpose, and a more rewarding professional journey.