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Goal Setting and Researching Career Fields

Any great job search begins with a goal. Your goal needs not to be a lifelong career expectation; instead it may simply be a job you are interested in after graduation. So, for now you have the option of not worrying about ten years down the road, and you can instead just think about your next steps.

The more specific your goal is, the more successful you will be. You goal should include information about career fields. As an example, being interested in business isn’t very specific. Instead, consider a more detailed objective within the field of business.

To create a goal, you must first understand yourself and your background. If you are unsure, make an appointment with a Career Center counselor. Career counselors can administer assessments that allow you to understand your interests and your personality and how they may fit to occupations. It all begins with an appointment.
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Goal articulation often becomes easier after a basic understanding of the broader career fields that interest you. To determine the types of opportunities that exist within those fields, you first need a basic awareness of the profession or career field. This includes:

• Career options are available
• Skills, abilities, and experiences that are most needed now and in the future
• Typical career path for the field
• Issues that may affect or impact the field
• Types of employers within the profession
• Different divisions within the profession

Resources that Can Help Your Explore Career Fields:

• Hopkins Career Profiles
• Spotlight on Careers by the Liberal Arts Career Network (Off-campus Password in J-Connect)
• Vault: Industry Guides (Login through J-Connect)
• Career Beam: Industry Profiles and E-Library
• Sloan Career Cornerstone Center for Science, Engineering, Math, Health and Computer Science
• The Career Center Library
• Hopkins alumni (Networking and inCircle)

Researching careers is an important early step in any job search. The right time to ask questions is before you search for positions so you can gain a deeper understanding of the field that you are interested in.

Once you have your goal set and your research underway, you can use this information to target your job search and create an excellent resume.