Career Development Process
What is Career Planning?
Most people will have multiple careers over the course of their lives. Career planning is thus the life-long process of acquiring and using information about yourself to make career and education decisions. This is done in an attempt to increase satisfaction with career as well as with life in general. College is an ideal time for students to really begin to focus on career planning, which is why Miami University has the Career Exploration and Testing Center (CETC).
At the CETC, we try to help students through the career planning process until they have made some decisions about their career direction. Once they are ready to implement a vocational choice (i.e., job searching and interviewing, finding an internship), Office of Career Services in Hoyt Hall (529-3831) is their primary resource.
How Do I Start the Career Planning Process?
What steps should I follow to help me in
career exploration? There is no recipe for the
career planning process, as each person will
do this differently. The CETC can help you figure
out the right way for you. However, self-assessment
is an essential step for everyone, and is often
the first step. It involves looking at various
aspects of who you are, including your skills,
values, and interests. Because interests, skills,
and values change throughout your life, self-assessment
is never fully completed!
How Will Learning About Myself Help Me to Find
a Career or Major?
Career planning is a process that involves
what we call a feedback loop. The loop includes:
- Self-Information – information about your interests, abilities, values, personality
- World-of-Work Information – information about jobs, educational experiences (i.e., majors), career fields
Here is what it looks like:
Self-Information
World-of-Work Information
Basically, what this means is that as you learn about yourself , you learn more about potential careers that might be a good fit for you. Also, as you learn about careers, your reactions to them reflect who you are as a person (i.e., what about a job makes you in particular react a certain way that others might not). This can teach you about things you would want or not want in a career.
Last Updated: 7-7-04
Contact: brownefr@muohio.edu
(513)529-4645