Category Archives: Career Exploration

Best Wishes on Finals, Merry Christmas…and Happy Career Exploration!

We wish you the best in all of your endeavors this winter.  May you be blessed with a restful Christmas Break, filled with many special moments with people you love.  We also hope you will take some time to attend to your career development, whether that means shadowing a professional, reading career information online, or seeking out contacts for a summer job or internship.  The Office of Career and Professional Development will be open through December 21st and will re-open on January 2nd.  See you next semester!

New Podcast: Recreation and Leisure Services

There is a new podcast up in our Meet the Majors series, an interview with faculty from the Recreation and Leisure Services major.  Students who enjoy the outdoors, management, psychology, or sociology might find this program interesting.  I encourage you to take a listen.  While you are visiting our site, please peruse the other podcasts available in the series.  These podcasts allow you to hear major information directly from professors, without the need to add another appointment to your busy schedule.  Kick back, and enjoy!

Be There or Be Square

Today is the day.  The University-Wide Majors Fair only takes place once a year, so this afternoon is your best opportunity to talk to representatives from multiple academic programs without trekking all over campus.  Please join us on the 2nd floor of the Bill Daniel Student Center for free Dr Pepper floats and great conversations.  Come get your questions about majors and minors answered.  The event will take place from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and it is a come-and-go event.  See you there!

Careers in Video Game Development

A dream come true for many, video game development is a growing field with opportunities for many different kinds of professionals.  Each year, Game Developer Magazine publishes a Career Guide that can be viewed online.  Included in their “Salary Survey” are programmers, artists/animators, game designers, producers, and others.  This year’s guide has more than 125 pages of information for the aspiring game developer.  Below are links that will allow you to explore Baylor majors that could help prepare you for a career in game development:

Computer Science (Gaming Concentration)

Studio Art (Graphic Design Concentration)

English and Professional Writing

Film and Digital Media

What Can I Do with a Communication Major?

This space is inadequate to describe at length the wealth of possibilities a student could pursue with a communication degree.  Though most majors aid students in improving their communication skills, this post will address career possibilities with majors in Baylor’s Department of Communication:

Communication Studies (formerly Speech Communication)

Film and Digital Media

Communication Specialist

It should be noted that the Communication Specialist major combines coursework from Communication Studies and Film and Digital Media.  Students who are interested in the Communication Specialist major would be wise to check out careers that relate to both components of the major.

As I mentioned above, selecting a communication major opens up a wide variety of career options.  Think about it.  Most jobs require a person to communicate effectively, whether it means expressing oneself verbally, in writing, or in other forms.  Some nice starting points for information are the resources on the Career Counseling website related to choosing a major.  Additionally, a podcast is available for each of the three majors listed above.

Some of the more common occupations you will read or hear about in these resources are in business, media, law, social services, nonprofit, government/politics, and education.  Truly, the possibilities are endless, which is a nice feature for students seeking a major and career that offers variety.

Strengths & Vocation Seminar

Baylor’s Spiritual Life department is hosting the Be the Change Missions Conference next week, and the Career Counseling staff are taking part in the event this year.  On Thursday, September 20th, students will have the opportunity to explore how their strengths relate to vocation.  This seminar will emphasize how strengths can be used to glorify God and contribute to His work here on Earth, whether or not the occupation has traditionally been considered ministry.  This session will build upon students’  Clifton StrengthsFinder report.  Most students take the assessment just prior to starting their first year at Baylor.  If you are interested in attending this session, but you have not taken the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, please contact the Career Counseling office for instructions.

More information on the Be the Change Missions Conference, including the Strengths and Vocation Seminar can be found here.

Discover Nursing

Are you one of Baylor’s many students interested in a career in health care?  You may have seen our post on registered nurses.  This post is a brief follow-up.  The Johnson & Johnson company has put together a website as part of their “Campaign for Nursing’s Future.”  It is DiscoverNursing.com.  The site allows visitors to explore specialties within the field of nursing and obtain facts about the profession.  More information on the nursing programs at Baylor can be found at the Louise Herrington School of Nursing website.

Using O*NET OnLine to Discover Career Possibilities

 O*NET OnLine is a resource of the US Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration, and it is also one of the primary tools that we use in Career Counseling to assist students in gathering occupational information.  Job duties, salary data, and much more can be obtained from this tool.  This post will review several techniques for accessing information in O*NET.  Of course, you could always just type a keyword into the search box and wait to see what comes up.  There are some more strategic ways to use this site, though.

From the home page, click “Find Occupations” in the bar across the top of the screen.

From this page, you are given several options.  If you are currently participating in career counseling through our office, or if you have in the past, you can use your results from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® to identify Job Families that you would like to explore.  O*NET allows you to search by these same job families. 

If you click “Advanced Search” in the bar up top, you can search the site by Interests.  These interests represent the same themes discussed on the Strong Interest Inventory.

There are also ways to search for Green jobs (those that could have an emphasis on environmental protection and stewardship) and jobs where rapid growth is projected.

As always, if you have questions about identifying an occupation that is a great fit for you, contact us to schedule an appointment for Career Counseling.