Center for Career & Professional Development

One way to discover enjoyable careers is to find ones that match your interests, skills, values and personality. Complete the free career assessment listed below. Assessments increase your self-awareness about your preferences and shows how your preferences match career opportunities. Use the appointment scheduler, to discuss the results with a Career Advisor.  Each assessment takes about only 7 minutes to complete.  

Focus 2 is a self-guided career, major, & education planning system that will help you make an informed decision. Use this tool as an ongoing resource throughout your academic years and as an alumni.

First time users can create an account using this code and your USF email address at this link.

ACCESS CODE is: usf.edu
Take the Focus2 Assessment

Read about occupations that match your interests, skills, values and personality traits. In this step, you should be gathering data about the nature of the work, working conditions, training and education requirements, skills required, employment projections and salaries. Then use the Career Planning Exercise to match your preferences to careers and compare different options.

Take a look at the following resources to help you gather this information.

Candid Careers: Hear from the professionals working within different fields through short video clips.

Career Coach: Browse careers and academic programs. Gain real-time data on wages and employment projections.  

CareerOneStop: A comprehensive source of information to explore a variety of careers and industries. It is important to gain occupational information and trends within an industry because it can make a difference in job growth and salaries. Includes career videos, a military transition portal and much more.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity provides insight on salaries and employment projections.

Events on Campus: Attend a career expo on campus to explore careers or meet with a mentor to expand your industry connections and understanding.

Considering a major and wondering what you can do with it? A major can open the door to a cluster of careers. Explore the What Can I do with this Major? and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find typical job titles, types of employers, and gain a glimpse of the employment projections and wages. Hear directly from professional's perspective who are working in the career with Candid Career videos

The best way to gain the greatest amount of insight into your career options is to speak with the experts. Try the following steps:

• Ask your professor(s) about the career.
• Talk to a Career Advisor about academic programs and their connections to career options you are interested in.
• Talk to a professional working in your career of interest. This is the most important step in the career decision making process and is called an informational interview. You can gain valuable information directly from the professional about the skills required for the position, the trends in the field and the typical projects or assignments they perform. This is one way of test-driving your career before you invest your time and money into an academic program.

You’ve made it to the final step!

You have gathered occupational information. You had fun visiting with faculty, advisors and professionals working in a field of interest. Now it’s time to make a decision. You may be able to decide on a major, which can lead to different career options. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I have a preference in the courses offered in one major over another major?
• What are the pros and cons of one career over another?
• How well does this career fit my personality, values, interests and skills?
• How determined am I in pursuing this major?
• What are the rewards or challenges that I might encounter along the journey?

After considering your answers and making a decision, put your goals in writing using the Career Goal Setting Exercise. We wish you the best of luck and will be here when you need us!