First and foremost, know yourself. Ideally, I think it best to do something that you truly, deeply, passionately enjoy doing…something you would do anyway even for no pay…this way, if you are lucky to find a job in that area…you will enjoy your work…and they pay you to do what you enjoy…Wow!! (It happened that way for me!)

Here’s what I suggest: Pretend you won the world’s biggest lottery and would never ever have to work or worry about money forever. If that were true, ask yourself what you would do to keep from becoming bored each day. (write the list on a sheet of paper…but make 3 columns, and make your list in the left column. Then fold up the paper and put it away for a few days.

A few days later, take out the list and look at each item carefully. For each thing you like to do, try to figure out A) what is so intellectually/mentally exciting about it for you? (and put those things in the center column)….and then B) what physical activity is associated with the things you like to do (and list those things in the right column).

When you are done, you have an inventory of the things you like to do, and why you like to do them (knowledge and skills). Now the grand prize is to figure out what job exists in the world that deals with your areas of interest that requires the knowledge and skills you either have or are interested in….so in essence, you want to find a job that pays you do to do what you would normally want to do anyway.

Once you identify that dream job or some prospective jobs, check them out in two ways…salary/career info, and knowledge/skills inventory.

For the salary/career info, try something like www.salary.com. Use it to find out the typical career path and salary/benefits…and what the pay is like in different parts of the country.

For the knowledge/skills inventory, visit http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/public/c…

There are a number of ways to use these lists. Start with a self-inventory. Then use it to inventory a job description for any job you might be interested in. You can get job descriptions for these other jobs and inventory them using the SCANS lists to see how close a match your personal inventory comes to the job descriptions. The closer the match, the higher the probability of success and enjoyment in that job. You can also use the lists to inventory what you learned from any classes you take….and to see if the classes are giving you the knowledge and skills needed for the job you want.

Look to the future: what will the job market/demand for your dream job be by the time you are graduating. For that, try visiting this website http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm

And then, think about a Plan B. Things have a way of changing on you and through your life. Once you pick a goal, think about what is closely related to your major that you also like, and could easily switch to if your original major or plan didn’t quite work out. If you change majors (and I changed mine 7 times in the first 2 years of college….so I can related to your feeling mixed up), you want to be able to change to something that won’t require starting all over…something that can make use of some or most of the classes you have already taken.

So it all gets back to knowing yourself.

Hope this helps…..and don’t worry, it’s ok to change your mind. I did….and managed to finish 2 degrees…survive 35+ job changes…and when I retired early, received top recognition in my field…and will be starting what some folks consider as another career. So don’t worry, and don’t give up…but do learn how to know yourself. Best wishes.

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