Virtual Career Center

Occupation Info

Learn more about areas in which you can transfer your interests, skills and education. Explore your career options and gather additional information on occupational titles and their job descriptions. Reconsider the job that you have always dreamed about!

Directories such as the Encyclopedia of Careers and The Occupational Outlook Handbook can help you clarify your career goals. Following are some points to include in your research.

• What type of knowledge will you need for the occupation?
• Identify the daily tasks and activities. Which organizational, communication, interpersonal, thinking and decision-making skills, and physical skills are needed and what kinds of energy and stress may be involved?
• Identify how much, and in what ways, you will be working with ideas, information, people and things.
• Compare the kinds of responsibility you want from your work with the accountability you see described for the occupation.
• What is the typical environment like? For instance, will you be working indoors, or outside; moving around a little, or a lot; working at a fast pace; or working with many deadlines?
• Review the typical career path. Is there opportunity for you to grow?
• Look for the mid- and long-term prospects for employment. You can find this information in The Occupational Outlook Handbook, "The Occupational Outlook Quarterly" newsletter and professional journals.

How can the Alumni Career Center help you explore your career options?

• Lou Liay Career Library - Books and publications in the library can help you find additional information about occupations you are exploring.
  
  
• Alumni Offering Assistance feature of the Alumni Association's Online DirectoryMore than 40,000 alumni in a wide variety of occupations can give you experience-based information about their work and career paths. This resource is available to members of the Alumni Association and accessible through the Online Directory link at the right.
  
  
• Career Advising — We can work with you to identify additional sources for occupational information and clarify any questions you may have. In addition, we can review how the occupation meets your professional and life planning goals. Career advising is a feature of the Alumni Career Center's Comprehensive Service Package, available for an annual fee of $160 to Alumni Association members. An option to meet one time for one hour with a career adviser for a $40 fee is also available to Alumni Association members.
  
  
• Negotiating Salary — We can discuss your issues concerning compensation and review strategies for negotiating salary and other benefits. Visit our section on evaluating the job offer and negotiating salary.
  
  

• The Unofficial Guide to Hot Careers by Shelley Field

• America's Career InfoNet - occupation trends, statistics on fastest-growing, declining and highest-paying occupations.
  www.acinet.org/acinet
  
  
• Career Voyages - the result of a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education. Designed to provide information on high growth, high demand occupations along with the skills and education needed to attain those jobs.
  www.careervoyages.com
  
  
• The Job Hunter's Bible - Richard Bolles shares strategies for career planning and management, and the job search.
  www.jobhuntersbible.com
  
  
• JobStar Career Guides - links to trends and occupational information, salary surveys.
  jobsmart.org/tools/career/career.htm
  
  
• Major-to-Career Converter - find career options that match your degree and major, and link to current job postings on monster.com.
  www.campusmonster.com
  
  
• Occupational Outlook Handbook - details about the nature of work, the environments, typical earnings, and trends for a range of occupations that represent 91% of U.S. jobs.
  www.bls.gov/oco
  
  
• What Can I Do with A Major In? - Job titles and links to related Web sites and job leads.
  www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/career/Majors
  
  
• O*NET, The Occupational Information Network - is a comprehensive database of worker attributes and job characteristics.
  online.onetcenter.org

Can't find the resources you are looking for? Have questions about the Alumni Career Center services? University of Illinois alumni can ask our career experts for help with job searching and career questions.