Engineering? Journalism? Maybe nursing, teaching or accounting?
With so many choices, it can be hard for students to find the career that suits them best, so West Virginia University’s Career Services Center is trying to make finding the right path a little easier.
With the recent addition of Career Counseling Psychologist K. Sue Hodgson, the center has begun offering psychological-based evaluations to help students identify what careers might make them happiest.
“We anticipate that these new services will be most useful to freshmen who enter WVU and are undecided about their major as well as returning students that find themselves in a position where they want or need to consider a different career path,” said David Durham, director of the WVU Career Services Center.
Hodgson is trained and certified to give the nationally-known Strong Interest Inventory and Myers-Briggs Assessments.
The tests are not designed to tell students what they should major in, but rather show what occupational areas match their interests and personality.
“It is not our intention to tell students what to study,” Durham said. “What we want to do is provide them with the knowledge and skills to recognize their strengths and interests so they can make the best decision.
“For example, a student comes to us who planned on being a doctor, but did not realize the challenge and commitment necessary to complete the required coursework,” he said.
“They realize that med school is not for them, but they still want to work in the medical profession. These tests, along with experienced career counseling help show students more options – you would be surprised how many other professionals work in the health care industry.”
The center is also offering a one-credit course – Counseling 483: Deciding on a Major – designed to help students choose a career path and major to help them get there.
In the class, students will take a variety of assessments, discuss their findings and shadow professionals in careers in which they are interested.
The class is designed to organize student’s interests, work values, personality and general information about the working world and find a major that works well for the student.
For more information on this and other services offered by the WVU Career Services Center call 304-293-2221 or visit http://careerservices.wvu.edu.
By Colleen DeHart
Communications Specialist
WVU News & Information Services
-WVU-
cd/01/15/10
CONTACT: David Durham, Career Services Center
304-293-2221, David.Durham@mail.wvu.edu