5 Steps That May Help You Choose a Career Path
5 Steps That May Help You Choose a Career Path
Whether you're just starting college or in the midst of your degree program, the question of "What's next?" may be on your mind. If your next step is undetermined, you can begin exploring your academic goals and options by taking time to reflect, research and plan. Here are some steps you can take to help you begin to explore potential career paths.
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Assess Yourself
Explore your interests, skills and traits to identify career options that may be a good fit. Think about what you enjoy doing and what you may want to do professionally. Self-assessment tests can also help you recognize abilities, preferences and goals.
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Make a List
Based on the work from your assessment, build a list of potential occupations. Try to limit your list to between 5-10 occupations. You do not want to limit or overwhelm yourself.
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Explore Your Options
This is where you’ll spend a little time getting to know each career path on your list. Look at job descriptions, education and experience requirements, job outlook, advancement opportunities and potential earnings. After that first round of research, your list may naturally get shorter.
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Dig Deeper
Once the basic job duties, potential salary, outlook and requirements seem to fit what you’re looking for, take a closer look at those career fields. Networking can be a helpful place to start. Make a list of people who work in the field, whether you know them through local businesses, friends, family members or former co-workers. Then consider setting up informational interviews to learn what the day-to-day work is really like.
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Start an Action Plan
Once you have considered your options, you may be ready to focus on one career path. From there, think through the steps that could help you move toward it. Break your plan into short- and long-term goals. Short-term goals are typically things you can work toward within a year, while long-term goals may take one to five years. For each goal, note any possible roadblocks and ways you might address them.
As you explore possible career paths, reviewing programs that match your interests, academic goals, and schedule can be a helpful next step. Explore AIU’s online degree programs to see which options may fit your path.
AIU cannot guarantee employment, salary or career advancement. Not all programs are available to residents of all states. REQ2233019 06/2026