The motivating factor of having a career that makes sense to you will make all of the difference in the world when it comes to working hard and sacrificing to make your dreams come true.  This chapter of Career Planning will take you to several sources to evaluate different jobs or careers.  Most people have a difficult time knowing if they want to do a particular job or follow a specific career because of lack of knowledge about that job.  This exercise will help you learn more about some professional work areas. 
 

Searching for Job Information
Think of one or more job titles involved in the industry and insert them here: ______________________ or _____________________.  You should select jobs that match your interests, experience, knowledge, and skills.   You are now ready to do some research on specific career areas.  Take a blank sheet of lined paper and put the job title/s you are going to research on the top of each piece of paper. Each job performs a number of different tasks and these tasks require; skills and specific knowledge about it.  Your task as you complete this section will be to make a list of the tasks, skills and attributes you will need to be successful.

As you read about these jobs or career areas, it is important to collect as much information about these jobs as you can while reviewing the material.   You will first need to go to the campus Library and visit the campus Career Center, both should help you find information that will help you understand these career areas.

Print Media Research
One of the best places to find a variety of print media is your college or local public library.  When you get to the library you will be looking for the College and Career Section.  If you are not familiar with your college library ask the reference librarian or information desk for help.  When you find the Career section, look for the reference books listed below.  After you have found them, look up the job titles you have chosen for your career research.

THE DICTIONARY OF OCCUPATIONS,  reference number (HB 2595 - A5), is one of the most commonly used job research texts. Each job has an individual listing of:  job name, a Dictionary of Occupational Title (DOT) number,  a description of the job, and any other jobs that may be related.

OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK, call number (HF 5382.5  U5 024), is a  second resource commonly used to get information about jobs. Each listing in this reference book has: a job name, a DOT number, job description, job outlook for the year, job summary, and salary range nationally.  A special note from the library staff:  When finished with the reference books, please put them back on the shelf where you found them, so the next person can have easy access to them.