2A: Learn More About Occupations

After completing the self-assessment tests, you will see some recommended occupations that are good matches for you, your personality and interests. Now you need to start exploring and researching possible careers so you understand it better-for example, what duties you perform on the job, whether it's a growing or declining field and more.

Use books and references sources to get more information about occupations and careers.

1. Find books, journals and videos about your potential career. Search your library catalog to find books that will provide more information. Try this search strategy when using EINSTEIN, RIT Library's on-line catalog. For an interactive tutorial, try the Einstein Catalog Module where you can practice author, title, subject and keyword searches.
   
   
   
   
   • Start with a keyword search. Use words to describe the occupational area (advertising, nursing, teaching, etc.) and the word "career" . Use the asterik* symbol after the word career* to get records with both singluar and plural forms (career, careers). Ex: social work AND career*
     
     

   • Use a thesaurus to find other synonyms (similar words) for your keywords
     
     

   • Look at a record of a book that interests you. . Click on the linked subject heading (such as social service- vocational guidance) to find more like it.
     
     

2. Use a reference source to explore occupations. The Occupational Outlook Handbook is the major key source (available in print and on the Web) for this task. The call number for the print book is HF5381.A1036 and it's available in both the Reference and Reserve areas. This book describes: nature of the work, training needed, employment outlook and potential earnings.
   
   
   
   America's Career InfoNet incorporates information from the Occupational Outlook Handbook and provides even more data, geared to the state level. Using this source, you can search by state to locate:
   

   • fastest growing occupations
   • occupations with the most job openings
   • highest paying occupations in that location

   Videos that provide an overview of work in the field are also available for many occupations.
   
   
   Curious About Deaf People In Different Fields? Explore this link Achieving Goals
   
   Explore the NTID Center on Employment link.
   
   Browse trade magazines for more information about the field you are interested in.

   Majors to Career Converter

   JobWeb

   
   
   
   
   Activity: Check out the following links to see what the the trends are in the job market--what careers will be growing and what careers will be declining. Name 2 careers that will grow and 2 careers that will decline.
   
   

   Tomorrow's Jobs

   Fastest Growing Occupations

2B: Salaries

Potential salary is also a consideration in choosing a career. Some sources for learning about salaries for various careers are:

• Articles in employment and trade publications. See Careers.WSJ.com [select the"Salaries and Hiring Information" button from the menu] for salary tables from the National Business Employment Weekly.
  
  
• You can compare the cost of living in hundreds of U.S. and international cities.

Next: Look into NY and Rochester Job Resources