Next Step After Associate's Degree?

Nancy writes: I live in Dallas, TX, and just graduated from Brookhaven Collage last semester. I have an associate’s degree in science, but I do not know where to go from here.

Can you please advise? I need to choose a college major. I am hoping to go to a university next semester, but I do not know what I would like to study. I need to discover my ideal career. Where should I start?

Thank you.

The Career Doctor responds: Where should you start? By reading my article, Choosing a College Major: How to Chart Your Ideal Path. Here’s a basic outline of the steps you should take in beginning your journey to discovering one or more potential majors.

The first stop on your journey should be an examination or self-assessment of your interests. What classes did you like at Brookhaven? What do you like to do in your spare time? What are your hobbies?

The second stop on your journey is an examination of your abilities. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What kind of skills do you have? What classes did you excel in at Brookhaven?

The third stop on your journey involves examining what you value. Examples of values include: helping society, working under pressure, group affiliation, stability, security, status, working alone or with groups, and many others.

The fourth stop on your journey is career exploration. Spend some time exploring various occupations and determine if one or more of them matches your skills and interests — and gets you excited.

Finally, make sure you also spend some time with the career services folks either at Brookhaven or at whatever university you attend next semester…besides being great people, they also have more cool tests and techniques for helping you along your journey of self-discovery.

Best of luck with your journey — it’s an exciting time for you…just don’t stress out about your decision too much.