Career Decision-Making
During the career decision-making stage, your primary goal is to decide on a general career and educational direction. To accomplish this, ask yourself the following:

• How would I define the problem?
  (i.e., how do I decide on a career direction)

• What criteria are important to me in reaching a decision?
  (i.e., on what basis will I choose a career - my interests, values, skills, needs, or a combination of all)

• How important is each of the criteria?
  (i.e., which of my interests, values, skills, and needs are most important to me)

• What alternatives am I considering?
  (i.e., what alternative careers am I considering)

• What are the plusses and minuses of each alternative?
  (i.e., how compatible is each of the careers I'm considering with my most important criteria)

• What is the best alternative for me at this point?
  (i.e., what seems to be the best career choice for me right now)

Thus, your career decision-making model might look something like this:

Things You Can Do at Suffolk

• Get a part-time job, internship, or cooperative education placement in your career area. See SCCC's Job Connection.

• Talk to a career counselor about the best educational preparation for your career areas, and, if appropriate, possible transfer colleges.

• Attend career day programs on your campus; talk to employers about what various jobs are like.

• Use your participation in student organizations as a springboard to involvement in a professional organization, society or interest group.

Things You Can Do on the Internet
Check out our career decision-making links.

Move on to Conducting Your Job Search