Exploring Your Interests / Self-Assessment
Career exploration is a journey of understanding yourself, discovering career options, and planning for the future you envision. Whether you’re exploring your interests for the first time, re-evaluating your plans, or feeling overwhelmed by too many possibilities, you’re not alone. Exploration and self-discovery is an ongoing process, and we’re here to support your journey with a range of tools, resources, events, and one-on-one coaching.
Exploring Majors
Your major matters, but it doesn’t define you or your career options! The world of work is organized by industry, not college major. When you start job hunting, employers will look at your experience, extracurriculars, transferable skills, and more – not just what you studied. A major alone won’t land you a job, but everything you do in and outside of the classroom can open doors. So as you explore majors, keep the big picture in mind!
Students choose their majors for a variety of reasons – interests, job prospects, family influence, academic abilities, etc. But the best choice usually comes down to a mix of what you enjoy and what you’re good at doing. Think about the classes you’ve liked the most in high school and/or college and the ones you would actually want to study more in-depth. Then, consider the classes you have done well in academically. The sweet spot is where those two overlap – interest and academic success. At the end of the day, the best major is one that balances your interests, skills, and career possibilities.
When researching majors, use multiple sources to gather as much information and perspective as possible. Do research so you can answer, for yourself, many of the questions below; seek answers on the webpage for the major, and by talking with academic advisors, faculty, students who are ahead of you in the major, alumni, and career advisors.
- Why should you consider this major?
- If this is a restricted major, what do you need to do to be a competitive internal transfer?
- What is expected of students entering this major (skills, time commitment, attitude)?
- What introductory courses are offered that will help you explore this major?
- What type of coursework and projects (essays, papers, group projects, research, assignments) can you expect in the courses for this field?
- What skills will you gain as a result of being in this major?
- If you are a creative person, is this a major where you can use and develop your creativity?
- What minors does this college/school offer? What minors do students in this college/school typically pursue?
- What minor(s), combined with this major, would enhance your employment qualifications?
What are the College’s/School’s/Department’s academic advising procedures:
- Who are the advisors for the School or department?
- Are students advised individually or in groups?
- When and how often are students expected to meet with their advisors?
- Do I need to attend an information session for this major?
What special opportunities does this department offer:
- Scholarships?
- Internships/co-op/field study/experiential learning? If so, is it required? How will the College/School/Department assist me in finding one?
- Clubs, organizations, and/or student associations?
- What other opportunities exist for leadership or involvement in the department?
- What kinds of careers have alumni pursued with this major?
- What might be some unexpected careers alumni pursued with this major?
- How does this major help prepare students for the obvious careers (e.g. CS for computer programming)?
- And the not-so-obvious ones (e.g. biology for lawyer, history for business manager)?
- What career-related skills can I expect to gain as a result of this major?
- Is graduate study/professional school required or suggested to pursue career fields with this major?
- How can I get in contact with current students or Virginia Tech alumni to talk about their experiences in the major or real-world success with this major after graduation?
Did you know there are over 150 majors and 130 minors offered at Virginia Tech?! That may feel a bit overwhelming to narrow down to one major that’s right for you. We’re here to help! Schedule an appointment with one of our career advisors to discuss how to make the decision more manageable. A few tips to get you started: Spend some time reflecting on your interests and goals (see the Self-Assessment for Exploration below), review the list of Virginia Tech majors through the resources linked below, make a list of those that stand out/interest you, then speak with an academic advisor and/or career advisor to discuss your options to begin creating a plan!
- Full list of undergraduate majors
- Majors: Explore @ VT
- View alphabetically
- View by college
- View by interest
- Each major and academic department are organizationally part of a college. Each college provides students with advising, career resources, experiential learning opportunities, and events at the college level. Additionally, each department may have their own career resources, experiential learning opportunities, events, and campus involvement. Check out what might be available to you if selecting a specific major to help you compare and potentially narrow down your options.
- An annual fall event hosted by Academic Advising Initiatives that allows you to speak with departments about nearly every major or minor offered at VT all in the same room! Check out the “Questions to ask when exploring majors” above to help you prepare for talking with the major representatives.
If you’re unsure of what major may be a better fit than your current major, consider starting with the Self-Assessment for Exploration below. You’re welcome to schedule an appointment with a career advisor to discuss the assessments and next steps. You may also want to schedule an appointment with Transitional academic advising to discuss your options and potential exploration courses, especially if you have narrowed your majors down to just a few.
Interested in Engineering, but not sure which Engineering major might be best for you?
- Check out the Explore Engineering resources for information about each engineering major, how to explore each major, and more.
Have you really looked into what the major requires?
- If not, check out the graduation checksheets (if entered Fall 2023 or prior) or the Program Explorer (if entered Fall 2024 or later) the to view the specific course requirements to help you determine if you are interested in the full scope of what you’ll learn through the major. Ask yourself if you’re interested in the majority of the classes and want to go more in-depth into the subject – don’t just choose a major based on the idea of what the major may lead to career-wise!
First jobs and graduate/professional school:
We ask all new Virginia Tech grads to tell us their first destination after their undergraduate degree. This is the first job or grad program immediately following the bachelor’s degree, not the longer-term career path that each graduate takes. You can search by college and major to view top employers, top grad programs, and starting salaries.
Beyond the first year:
Curious about the paths our alumni take beyond the first year after graduation? Check out Career Insights with Steppingblocks to search for VT alumni by degree/program. Through Career Insights, you can view companies that hire our alumni, average salaries, skills, and more.
What Can I Do With This Major? is a resource developed by the University of Tennessee for college students everywhere. Use it to explore potential career options commonly related to college majors.
Since this is a resource shared by many colleges and universities, you will not see an exact list of all the Virginia Tech majors. You will find a list of common college majors and categories of subjects. Think creatively as you explore.
The School of Education at Virginia Tech provides advising and academic planning for students considering teaching and education careers. You may also want to check out teacher preparation programs overview for ideas of where you can volunteer to gain some experience and insight into education careers.
Career and Professional Development has a team, Health Professions Advising (HPA), dedicated to helping students prepare for careers in healthcare. HPA provides detailed information and support on undergraduate coursework, researching professional schools, and events/opportunities to help you prepare for many health professions.
Of course no one else can make decisions for you, but talking with others can offer valuable advice and perspective so that your decisions are based on more complete information. With a little advanced research (using the information shared above), you should be able to create a list of great questions for your conversations!
Career and internship advisors in colleges
There are faculty and staff in many of the colleges and major departments whom you can meet with you to discuss academic and career options associated with majors.
Career and Professional Development advising
We’re here to help you navigate your decisions and connect you with the right resources! While we can’t advise on specific course requirements for majors and minors, the department offering your program is the best place to get that info. Let us know how we can support you!
- Virginia Tech alumni
- Virginia Tech LinkedIn alumni page allows you to find Hokies who majored in specific subjects and/or who are working in careers you may be exploring. This is a great way to explore career paths and find people you can contact to learn from their experience.
- People you already know
- Arrange informational interviews with people you know to learn about their career paths and fields. If you feel like you don’t know anyone to talk to, make a list of people already in your life: friends, family, supervisors, doctors, coaches, neighbors, hair stylists, friends’ parents, etc. Start by talking with those you’re most comfortable with, then ask who they may recommend you speak with next. You may be surprised who knows someone else that is in a career you’re exploring!
- Employers
- Career fairs can be a great opportunity to speak with a number of employers all at once. That may feel overwhelming when you’re just beginning to explore possible careers and desired majors/skills. Consider starting with smaller, more intimate opportunities: employer information sessions, guest speakers who visit your class, college/department networking events, etc.
- Remember, the world of work is not organized by major. So do your homework before attending an employer event to learn more about their organization. Before a career fair, visit the career fair page Handshake to see who’s attending and the types of opportunities they offer. Employers are impressed by students who are prepared! Participate to learn more first-hand from employers about internships and entry-level career options.
Self-Assessment for Exploration
When choosing a career or major, it’s essential to evaluate your interests, skills, values, and personality. Self-assessments are designed to help you gain deeper insight into yourself and how these four elements align with different career options. Below, you can review different assessments and choose the one(s) that suit your needs. If you want help selecting an assessment or want to discuss your assessment reports, we encourage you to make an advising appointment.
There is help, but it’s not a test. It’s self-assessment: a reflective way to think about yourself, what you enjoy doing, and what’s most important to you.
Self-assessments don’t “tell you what to be.” They do help you have a better understanding of your interests, personality, skills, and values. This helps you see the connections between aspects of yourself and aspects of particular career fields and occupations. Results include occupational information for you to consider and research further. Results do not provide a final answer; they do provide an important step in your decision-making process and career planning journey, which will extend over time as you explore, exercise your curiosity, grow and develop, learn more about the external world, and develop increasing understanding of yourself.
Keep in mind that all self-assessments are all based on self-report by you, and require you to have self-awareness. For all of us, our self-awareness develops throughout our lives. Truly understanding and knowing yourself is a journey in and of itself. If you get results and think the results are “wrong,” remember the results are based on what you said about yourself. It can be helpful to revisit self-assessments over time.
Career and Professional Development does not charge students for use of our self-assessment tools. However, we encourage you to be aware that some other websites offering free services might also offer additional services for a fee. Our office does not endorse any fee-based services.
Allow about 45 to 60 minutes to complete this self-assessment. You CAN stop and start the process; you don’t need to complete the assessment all in one sitting.
- TypeFocus access is located in Handshake under Career Center > Resources. You’ll use your Virginia Tech PID and password to login to your Handshake student account to see TypeFocus.
- Follow instructions to register or login to TypeFocus.
- In TypeFocus, begin with Step 1 and complete the Personality, Interests, Skills, and Values assessments.
- When you submit your responses for each of the assessments, you will immediately receive feedback. Take time to reflect on the information provided.
- Continue to Step 2 to see a list of careers that might be a good fit for you based on your assessment feedback.
- Remember to select your desired education level to get the best results.
- Click on the W to see related Virginia Tech majors.
- If you do not see any feedback/suggestions that appeal to you, schedule an appointment to speak with a career advisor to discuss them and other options.
- Continue to Step 3 to evaluate your options.
Allow about 10-minutes to use this self-assessment.
- Create an account on Traitify (vt.traitify.com) using your VT email address (choose “General Studies” if you are a University Studies student).
- Begin the assessment by selecting “me” or “not me” for every picture.
- View results; first you will see your “Personality Blend” and “Personality Breakdown.”
- View Career Matches using the button on the top right of the screen which will match your personality to different careers. You can filter the results by educational level and click on each career to learn more.
- Schedule an advising appointment; your advisor will give you an Access Key to use TruTalent.
- Select Log In and then Register a New Account where you will enter your Access Key.
- Complete the TruTalent Personality assessment.
- Schedule a follow-up advising appointment; your results will be made available to you when you speak with your career advisor.
- At Virginia Tech, students are encouraged to focus on your gifts and talents, honing them into true strengths. The Division of Student Affairs offers CliftonStrengths (also called StrengthsQuest) to provide you with the knowledge and vocabulary to describe your talents and the areas in which you excel. See complete information through Virginia Tech Student Affairs about CliftonStrengths.
- If you have experience with StrengthsQuest you may be familiar with your top talents. While StrengthsQuest has broader purposes than career decision-making, your understanding of your strengths can also help you in the process of exploring career options.
- You are welcome to schedule a career advising appointment to include discussion of Strengths.
TypeFocus
A tool that offers general career exploration assessment, self-awareness, and workplace preference insights based on your individual responses. All of the lists of occupations that match with your personality, interests, skills, and/or values assessments can be filtered by occupations that require advanced degrees. [Log-in instructions noted above]
A career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdocs in the humanities and social sciences. Students can create a free account and take assessments on their interests, skills, and values. There are also resources available and a feature to set goals and develop plans to get there.
A career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdocs in the sciences. Students can create a free account and examine their interests, skills, and values; look at various career paths in science; set goals; and have access to articles and resources.
Be aware some sites might offer services for a fee. Career and Professional Development does not endorse any fee-based services.
There are many self-assessment tools out there — some for free and others for a fee. It is important to keep in mind that not all assessments are valid and/or reliable. The assessments listed above have been tested for validity and reliability. However, we recognize that you may enjoy taking assessments and want additional options and/or information. The free assessment links provided below are solely for informational purposes and are not endorsed by Career and Professional Development:
- O*Net Interest Profiler
- CareerOneStop Work Values Matcher
- Humanmetrics: Jung Typology
- Career Interests Game
- 16 Personalities
After using any self-assessment tool, Virginia Tech students can schedule an advising appointment to help you understand how personality, interests, skills, and/or values connect to your decision-making style and career-related needs and preferences.
- We offer advising appointments to discuss self-assessments. We can help you decide which tools to use, and discuss your feedback/insights after you use tools. Self-assessment is a process, often involving two advising appointments, with activity on your part between. You may want to do additional exploration and research, depending on the decisions you are in the process of making.
- In a first appointment, usually 30 minutes, you’ll discuss your situation with an advisor and we’ll work together to determine what self-assessment tools and other activities would best serve your goals.
- Between appointments you’ll do assessment activities and review your feedback/insights, which will include occupational information to research based on your self-assessment.
- In a follow-up appointment, usually 60 minutes, we’ll process and discuss your assessment feedback/insights and determine best next-steps for you to take.
- If you don’t see an exploration appointment type or availability in Handshake, you can call 540-231-6241.
