Finding Your Path to Success
College of Central Florida wants you to succeed while at CF and after you graduate. CF offers many services to help you decide what courses to take and what career to choose. Academic advisors can help with your academic choices. Career counselors can help you choose a career and prepare you for a job interview. CF students can also receive a referral for other services on campus as well as information about resources available in the community.
Career Services
The CF Testing Center maintains a variety of resources to assist students in choosing career goals, programs of study, colleges and life directions. Including:
- educational/career planning
- aptitude assessment
- interest inventories
- building a career portfolio
- career decision making
- occupational exploration
- career assessment
- personality/temperament assessment
The Career Center is in the Bryant Student Union, Room 205A, or call 352-854-2322, ext. 1721.
Nine Predictors of Career Satisfaction
Take some time to consider the following components of an ideal career before thinking about specific job titles.
- What are you good at?
List your top skills and abilities. Think about your personality traits, such as honesty and enthusiasm; your general skills that are useful in many jobs such as writing clearly or the ability to organize and prioritize; and your job-related skills learned through education, training and experience.
- What interests you?
Write down your top interests. Are you proficient with computers? Do you have a knack for repairing engines or furniture? Do you enjoy photography? Do you have a flair for numbers? Do you like to help people solve their problems? Consider all of your interests.
- What motivates you and is most important to you?
Prioritize the values you would like to include in a career. Do you want to help others? Would you like to have authority? Do you want creative or exciting work? How important is variety, independence, recognition, good pay and security to you?
- How much money would you realistically like to earn?
Think about the money issue now so that you can make a good decision when you receive a job offer. If you found the perfect job, what would be the least pay you would accept? What is the reasonable lower end and upper end of pay you can expect in your next job?
- What level of responsibility do you want?
Do you like to be in charge? Are you good at supervising others? Do you want to be accountable for the performance of others or responsible for a territory? Decide how much responsibility you are willing to accept in your ideal career.
- Where do you want your ideal job to be located?
Consider where you would like your work to be located geographically. Are you willing to move? What kind of a commute do you want? Do you want to be near relatives or public transportation? As you add criteria, you will have fewer places to look for your job, but you will find what you want.
- What special knowledge would you like to include in your career?
List knowledge that you have gained from schools, hobbies, family experiences and other sources. Are you a good cook? Are you talented at home decorating? Do you like to work with children? Do you have a good understanding of investments? As you fine-tune your career choice, include one or two of your special knowledge areas. They could make you a unique applicant in the right setting.
- What kind of work environment do you prefer?
Define what you did and did not like in past work settings to create your ideal work environment picture. For example, do you like to work outdoors? Do you prefer a small or large organization? Does a quiet work space appeal to you?
- What types of people do you like to work for and with?
Identify the types of coworkers you prefer. If you have worked for a difficult boss or been unhappy working with a team, you know why this is important. Do you prefer creative types? People who are friendly or who keep your relationship very professional? Do you want a boss who interacts with you all day or one who lets you work independently?
After you consider these nine questions, use them to research specific job titles and employers and keep the factors in mind during job interviews. Although you may need to compromise, getting as close as possible to your ideal career choice will likely pay off in job success and satisfaction.
CareerSource - Talent Center
Need a job while in school or when you graduate? CF partners with the CareerSource - Talent Center to provide on-campus job placement assistance at the Enterprise Center (Building 42), Room 101 on the Ocala Campus. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The telephone number is 352-840-5762 or 1-800-434-JOBS, ext. 1683.
Services for students include:
- • Current, local job postings in EmployFlorida.com
- • One-on-one assistance with a placement specialists
- • Resume and interviewing workshops and assistance
- • On-campus employer recruiters
- • Computers, fax, copier for student use while job searching
All services are provided at NO charge! Visit anytime, call 352-840-5762 to schedule an appointment with a placement specialist, or visit www.careersourceclm.com
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