Career planning is a step-by-step process through which you learn more about yourself and about the world of work in order to make intentional and informed plans for your professional future.   
Step by Step

1. Self-Assessment: Our counselors can help guide you through a self-discovery process in order to determine the best career fit.   We have self-assessments that you can take in our office or you may also follow the following links.  A quick way to get started is The Princeton Review Career Quiz, or countdown.   Follow this up with more in-depth assessments like the interest profiler (Use the "Quick Start" option), online skills assessment, or work importance locator.  The Jung Typology Approach is a personality test that has implications for the sort of work that you will enjoy.  Don’t rely on just one assessment.  Complete them all and compare the results for optimal feedback.  An alternative approach, if you love your major but are not sure what careers it is preparing you to follow, is to look at a Major to Career Converter.
   
   
2. Occupational Exploration: Once you discover how your personality, interests, and values fit with the world of work, your career counselor will help you in the process of occupational exploration, using both internet resources and printed material.  Some good web sites where you can learn more about what jobs are really like on a day-to-day basis, as well as their salary and growth potential, include A Day in the Life, Jobs People Love, America’s Career InfoNet, and the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
   
   
3. Decision Making: Together, you and your counselor can talk about how your individual interests and skills fit together with your personal life goals to determine the best career direction for you.   
   
   
4. Reality Testing: Any career direction is just an idea until you confirm it.  You can confirm that you will really like your career choice by checking it out—gaining experience related to your chosen field through internships.  These experiences can be paid, volunteer, or for academic credit. Not convinced that internships are worth your time?  Check out the Black Collegian to be persuaded.  You can look for opportunities through the many listed internship search links. For individualized assistance in finding an internship, contact UDC’s Career Services.  Finally, as part of your reality testing, you’ll want to take a good look at how well you have prepared yourself for the job market in your chosen field.  Take a look at Employability Checkup for a snapshot of your employability.
   
   
5. Career/ Job Placement: The last step, as you get closer to graduation, is to look for either a graduate school or a job.  You’ll find the Plan for Graduate School web site has a lot of good information that can help if you decide to pursue higher education and, if so, at what school.  As graduation nears, this is also a great time to make use of UDC’s Career Services to help you with resume and cover letter writing, interviewing skills, job fair preparation, and job search techniques.  Plus, at the UDC Career Services web site, you’ll find links to a variety of job listings.

While online self-assessments and resources are helpful, there’s no substitute for talking over your situation with a trained professional.  After you explore some of these links to get ideas, be sure to make an appointment for a personal consultation with a career counselor by calling (202) 274-6000.  All services are free to UDC students.