As you contemplate decisions regarding a major and /or minor, and a career field, you need information. Some of the information is external to you, that is, knowing what is available in the world or work, or as students often ask - "what's out there?". The other piece is internal - knowing who you are. Vocational Assessments can assist with learning about yourself.
Vocational Assessments are designed to help you learn more about you - how your interests, values, education, skills, etc. are related to various career options. They do not tell you what you should do, but rather provide you with information about options that have some connection to you. In addition, the more sophisticated assessments can provide you with information about your personality and preferences. All of this information can be useful to you as you make these very important decisions.
To learn more about the vocational assessments that are available to you, schedule an appointment with a career counselor. The appointment will take about half an hour and will help you decide which assessments will be most beneficial to you. Upon completion of the assessment(s) you will need to schedule a follow-up appointment to obtain more detailed information and to verify your results. There are nominal charges for most assessments ranging from $2 to $30 depending upon the number and type of assessments you choose to take.
The Career Services Office offers the Newly Revised Strong Interest Inventory that can provide the following reports: a college profile, interpretive report, and confidence report. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator can assist with information about your style - how you like to do things. The Strong Interest Inventory and Myers-Briggs work hand in hand in helping you learn more about yourself. This information is used to help you make decisions about selecting a major or minor, and/or an occupational field.
In addition, there are some paper pencil take home assessments: The Self-Directed Search and the Strong Explorer.
For the non-traditional student who has had significant work and life experience, the Personal Career Development Profile provides a very comprehensive report on personality, interests, and occupational information.
