One of the key advantages of a major in the Liberal Arts is the variety of available career paths. There are many careers related to your major that you may have never considered before! This Liberal Arts Boot Camp Career Exploration Workbook, along with the RIT Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education Career Counselors, can help you identify your strongest interests, skills, and traits and transform them into a successful and exciting career. You can use this workbook to generate ideas, keep track of research, or obtain suggestions of how to begin and continue your exploration.

Contents Page

Assess yourself ……………………..……………….. 2 Interests …………………………………………. 2 Values ……………………………………………. 3 Personality …………………………………….. 3 Skills ……………………………………………… 4Exploring common paths in Liberal Arts 4-5Find out more … Occupational research 5-6Connect with others ……………………………… 6-7Attending graduate school …………………… 7Skill Development ………………………………… 7-8My Summary …………………………………………. 9-10Resources for more information …………. 11-12

There are many ways to explore careers in the Liberal Arts. We invite you to begin any place that feels comfortable for you. There are four main components:

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Liberal Arts Boot CampCareer Exploration Workbook

Assess yourself

Interests | Personality | Values | Skills

For many, self-assessment is the first step in career exploration. Assessments and personal reflection will help you to articulate your preferences and will be the criteria you use to evaluate career options.

Interests

Since you will likely spend over 90,000 hours of your life working, it makes sense to pick an occupation that is something that you enjoy and will continue to want to learn about over the years. These inventories will help you identify career-related interests and will provide suggestions of occupations that are related to your interests.

There are many ways to identify your passions and interests. A starting point is this simple exercise: My favorite courses

What I like about my major

Activities I am involved in and why

Ways I like to spend my free time

Websites I like to visit

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Types of books I like to read

There are also assessments to help you organize interests:

O*NET Interest Profiler Answer 60 questions about activities that interest you, and receive of list of occupations matching your interests

Strong Interest Inventory Career Counselors at the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education can give you access to take the Strong Interest Inventory, a commonly used assessment instrument to identify your interests and occupations associated with them.

Values

Work can provide a great deal of satisfaction when it fulfills our values.

Below is a sample list of some work values. Indicate whether they would have a positive (+), negative (-), or neutral (=) impact on your work life:

Creativity High earnings Flexibility Fun and Humor Intellectual challenge

Risk-taking Help others Innovation Work alone Friendships

Fast pace Predictability Time freedom Variety Stability

Work-Life Balance

Autonomy Diversity Teamwork Structured

Travel Physical challenge Competition Prestige Power

There are also online activities to help you explore your values more in-depth, such as the Online Values Sort.

Personality

Understanding aspects of your personality can help you identify work environments that are well-suited for you. No single personality trait is advantageous over another, but being aware of one’s personal preferences is an important step in making a satisfactory career choice.

Assessments can help you describe your natural preferences. Formal assessment is available in the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education.

Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test provides a free version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular personality assessment commonly used in career development.

Once you know your MBTI type, The Personality Page allows you to explore many aspects related to personality such as career choice, relationships and personal growth.

Self-reflection is a great way to generate a list of traits you know describe you well. Here are some ideas; indicate those which apply to you and cross out those which do not describe you.

Attitude Personal Style Interpersonal Style Work habits

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Positive

Action-Oriented

Straightforward

Open minded

Realistic

Objective

Caring

Assertive

Motivated

Energetic

Independent

Responsible

Persevering

Flexible

Humorous

Tactful

Adventurous

Enthusiastic

Cooperative

Competitive

Encouraging

Efficient

Dependable

Resourceful

Detail Oriented

Take initiative

Decisive

Risk taker

My other personality traits include:

Based on my personality, I may be best suited for these types of work environments:

Skills

The skills you have and enjoy using may suggest occupations that will appeal to you. There are a few online tools available that will help you connect skills to suitable careers.

O*NET Skills Search helps you use your skill set to identify occupations for exploration.

Skills I want to highlight in my job:

Skills I want to avoid using in my job:

Possible occupations that incorporate my skills:

Explore common paths

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Many students find it helpful to review lists of possible occupations based on college major. This is a great way to explore the variety of options available in each major. You will find a great number of occupations in these lists; be sure to narrow them down based on your interests, personality, skills, and values.

What Can I do with this major? RIT Liberal Arts Boot Camp resources: lists by major (also appears at end of this workbook)

Use this space to record careers of interest:

Major

Options in my major that do NOT interest me:

Major

Find out more

Once you know the names of occupations that you are interested in, you’ll want to research it in depth to evaluate how well it fits your personal characteristics and gain ideas of how you can prepare for successful application to those positions when you are ready.

Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics covers hundreds of occupations, describing work environments, job duties, salaries, and more.

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O*NET  Search for occupational information or browse by similar careers at this comprehensive website. You can also search for occupations that use your skill set.

RIT Wallace Library Career Guide page highlights resources, career e-books, career videos, career trends articles, and other articles related to career exploration. Many books and electronic books with occupational information available at the Wallace Library.

Use this table to keep track of your research:

Job title Job tasks Educational preparation Pros/Cons of this job Job outlook & salary

Connect with others

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According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of all jobs are found through networking. This is an organized way to use the connections you already have to grow your professional contacts. You can begin networking any time, and the relationship building process will continue throughout your career.

Informational Interviews are a way to find out more about an occupation that you are interested in, get an insider’s point of view, and maybe even discover hidden job opportunities.

LinkedIn is also a valuable resource for growing your professional network. To find out more, check out Building to a great student profile and Using LinkedIn to connect with alumni

There are many places to find networking connections. Consider reaching out to professors, upper-class students, family members, friends, co-workers at an internship or on-campus job, and more!

Use this space to generate ideas of potentially helpful contacts. 5 people I can reach out to How I hope they can help me

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Need to know about attending graduate school?

There are lots of helpful links for the graduate school application and selection process on our website: RIT Career Services Graduate School Information

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Skill Development:

You may consider looking to resources outside of your classes to enhance your skill development.

The Student Employment Office posts a variety of opportunities for both on-campus and off-campus jobs

Volunteering and Community Service The RIT Leadership Institute offers a wide variety of professional development opportunities and

volunteering and community service to increase students’ personal success skills.

Also consider spending time developing top skills that employers are looking for. Below you will see a list of skills employers consider “most important” when considering job candidates – regardless of field!

Top 10 Skills Employers are looking for:

Skill How I demonstrate the skill How I can develop the skill in the future

Verbal Communication

Teamwork

Problem-Solving

Planning & organizing

Processing Information

Analyzing data

Technical Knowledge

Using software programs

Creating/editing reports

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Influencing others

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Interests Interests Profiler

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Skills I have Skills Profiler Skills I want to develop

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My Summary

Values Online Values Card Sort

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Personality Traits MBTI Test Personality Page

MBTI Type:

Traits that describe me:

Occupations I want to investigate:

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Places of employment that appeal to me:

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Next steps (networking goals, people I want to connect with…)

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What I learned

I definitely want to avoid:

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College of Liberal ArtsWebsites for Occupational Information

Advertising and Public RelationsRIT Advertising and Public Relations Website RIT Coop requirement for Advertising and Public Relations RIT Career Overview for Advertising and Public RelationsRIT Career Services Online Resource List for Advertising/Public RelationsAdvertising-What Can I Do With This Major? Public Relations-What Can I Do With This Major?

CommunicationsRIT Communications Website RIT Coop Requirement for CommunicationsRIT Career Overview for Communications RIT Career Services Online Resource List for Communications Communications-What Can I Do With This Major?

Criminal JusticeRIT Criminal Justice Website RIT Internship Requirement for Criminal Justice RIT Career Overview for Criminal Justice RIT Career Services Online Resources for Criminal Justice Criminal Justice-What Can I Do with This Major?

EconomicsRIT Economics Website RIT Career Overview for EconomicsEconomics-What Can I Do with This Major? Economics for College Students-American Economic Association Economists -Occupational Outlook Handbook

International and Global StudiesRIT International and Global Studies Website RIT International and Global Studies Career Opportunities Global & International Studies-What Can I Do with This Major? What can I do with a major in International Studies?

Journalism

RIT Journalism Website

Museum StudiesRIT Museum Studies Website RIT Museum Studies Student Resources Museum Careers from the Smithsonian Archivists, Curators and Museum Workers from the OOH

PhilosophyRIT Philosophy Website Philosophy-What Can I Do With This Major? American Philosophical Association-Career ResourcesUpcoming Events in Philosophy

Political ScienceRIT Political Science Website Political Science-What Can I Do With This Major? American Political Science Association-Careers in Political Science

PsychologyRIT Psychology Website RIT Career Overview for Psychology RIT Career Services Psychology Online Resource List Psychology-What Can I Do With This Major? Careers in Psychology-American Psychological Association

Public PolicyRIT Public Policy Website RIT Career Overview for Public Policy RIT Career Services Public Policy Online Resource List Public Administration-What Can I Do with This Major?

Sociology and AnthropologyRIT Sociology/Anthropology Website Anthropology/Archeology-What Can I Do with This Major? Sociology- What Can I Do with This Major? Urban Studies- What Can I Do with This Major? Careers in Anthropology-American Anthropological Association Urban Studies-What Can I Do with this Major?

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Journalism-What Can I Do With This Major?RIT Career Overview for JournalismRIT Coop Requirements for Journalism

Additional Websites Occupational Outlook Handbook O*NET Informational Interviewing Spotlight on CareersRoadtrip Nation

Working for the federal governmentGo Government: Finding your fit in a federal career Federal occupations by college major Pathways Programs (Internships for Students and Recent Grads) Creating Your Federal Resume RIT’s Career Services Office Guide to Finding a Federal JobWorking for the Federal Government from the Career Outlook (Parts 1 and 2 )

Law School ResourcesRIT’s Department of Criminal Justice Prelaw Advising Law School Admission Council American Bar Association Preparing for Pre-Law Pre-law student services

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