By Maya Lifton
As a student, I know how hard it is to choose a major and figure out what you want to do in life. Luckily for us, CSUSM offers many programs that help students decide which career path to take. One resource for these programs is the Career Center.
The Career Center is a welcoming place for all students. Located in Craven Hall 1400, their purpose is to help students achieve their goals, and direct them towards the right career path based on skills, personality, and interests. As a recent visitor, I learned that there are different types of services that can help you outline your strengths and weaknesses. Here are two examples.
The first one is Discover. Discover is a career planning program. Their main goal is to guide and provide information to those seeking help with their career making decisions. With the right information at hand, people can discover a lot about themselves, and the types of jobs they would excel at and enjoy. It’s important to play to your strengths. Information here is offered through research-based assessments, current information databases and a comprehensive, developmental guidance process.
The second service offered is TypeFocus. As the name suggests, this is a program that really helps you focus on your personality strengths. Once you’ve learned your strengths, TypeFocus will teach you how to get the job of your dreams. There are two different types of tests you can take: a personality questionnaire and a success factor questionnaire. The personality questionnaire was created to assess your personality and help figure yourself out. This questionnaire consists of 66 questions, most of which ask you to pick one word that you think describes you best. The success factor questionnaire is made to assist students in understanding their grades and graduation rates. This questionnaire was made to help students understand the type of learners that they are. With this information, students will be able to learn how to succeed in school. Some of the questions ask about grade point averages, studying habits, and majors.
In addition to these services, there are also events and workshops offered by the career center targeting students. These events are meant to inform and build knowledge about your personality traits. Two events to look out for in the near future are the Fall Career Expo taking place October 5th 2010, and the Job Search and Networking Event on November 4, 2010. For more information about Career Center services and events, visit http://www.csusm.edu/careers/.