Explore Your Interests

Visit our Career Design Lab in McNutt to try out two career labs: the Explore Lab and the Decision Lab. These labs are composed of short but effective activities that focus on career exploration and making informed career decisions. Learn how your strengths, interests, and values can help you discover different opportunities, and practice valuable strategies that drive clarity and confidence when making important choices.

The National Career Development Association’s (NCDA) Internet Sites for Career Planning offers several free self-assessment tools, such as:

• CareerOneStop
• My Next Move
• O*NET Resource Center

Below are some of our other favorite career exploration tools:

• 16 Personalities
• Career Dreamer
• Career Explorer
• CliftonStrengths (contact us for a complimentary access code!)
• MAPP Career Assessment
• O*NET Interest Profiler
• Skills Matcher
• The Typefinder for Career Planning
• The Values Bridge (use code POLLAK100 for access to your full report)
• Work Values Matcher

Additionally, consider leveraging AI to assist you in career planning and exploration. Using your preferred LLM, you can copy-paste and edit the following prompt to generate 12 unique job titles:

Based on my interests in [literary analysis, creative writing, theater and performance, social justice and activism, live music production]; my major(s)/academic interests in [English] and [Studio Art]; my values of [fairness, integrity]; my strengths of [Intellection, Developer, Empathy]; my skills, including [data analytics, graphic design]; and my current career ideas including [role xxx in the field of yyy], suggest 12 potential career ideas. Please weigh all aspects equally and consider how my transferable skills might align with each option. The suggested career ideas should be internally validated against the OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (see: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/a-z-index.htm). Include a range of sectors including corporate, non-profit, and others. This information will be used for career exploration. For each career idea, provide a brief description, including common projects, tasks, duties, typical entry-level job titles, and typical companies/organizations/contexts.

Beyond identifying your strengths, interests, and values, it can help to borrow tools from design thinking—the same creative problem-solving process used to build products and experiences—and apply them to your career. This approach, popularized by the Stanford d.school and the book Designing Your Life (Bill Burnett & Dave Evans), treats your career not as a single problem to solve once, but as an ongoing design process: stay curious, try small experiments, gather input from others, and build on what works.

A few mindsets worth adopting as you explore:

• Get curious: Approach career exploration like a designer approaches a new project, with genuine curiosity about what’s out there, rather than pressure to land on the “right” answer right away.
• Reframe the question: Instead of asking “What is the one right job for me?” try asking “What are several ways I could build a meaningful, engaging working life?” There is rarely a single correct path—only paths that fit you better or worse at a given time.
• Have a bias toward action: You can’t think your way to clarity—you have to act your way there. Small, low-risk experiments will always teach you more than months of deliberation.
• Collaborate radically: Career design isn’t a solo activity! Lean on the people around you for input, feedback, and support.

Two hands-on tools to try:

• Good Time Journal: For one to two weeks, jot down the activities you engage in each day and rate each one for engagement (how absorbed were you?) and energy (did it energize or drain you?). At the end of the period, look for patterns. This is a simple way to put data behind the reflective questions above—what you’re curious about, and what makes you lose track of time.
• Odyssey Plan: Sketch three different five-year plans for your life: one that builds on your current path, one that pursues a strong alternative, and one “wild card” you’d pursue if resources or image weren’t a concern. For each, note a few key milestones and gut-check it against your resources, your interest, your confidence, and how well it fits who you are. This exercise is a great complement to the Explore Lab and Decision Lab activities above—it’s less about picking the “right” plan and more about seeing that you have several viable ones.

Remember: careers rarely unfold in a straight line. Paying attention to what engages and energizes you right now is often a better compass than trying to map out the “perfect” destination years in advance—especially given that today’s average employee will change careers 3 to 7 times in their lifetime.

Connection is key in career planning! Talk openly with your friends, classmates, family members and others in your support network. How would they describe you and your greatest strengths? Does this resonate with what you are learning about yourself?

Think about your favorite experiences to date, both inside and outside of the classroom. What aspects of each experience have you enjoyed most and why? What activities are you engaged in when you find yourself completely focused and losing track of time? What are you curious about? What topics are you genuinely excited to discuss and explore?

These exercises can all give you more insight into what pathways might be worth exploring further.

Each year, the National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE) releases eight top career-readiness competencies which are valued by employers in the college-educated applicant pool. Familiarize yourself with these competencies and meet with a Career & Life Design Coach to strategize on how to build your strengths and expertise in these areas!

• Become a member of a student organization, take a part-time job or internship, volunteer, or try a free virtual work experience simulation.
• Attend career fairs and events promoted by the Center for Career Design to learn about different industries, employers, in-demand skills and job functions.
• Use Dartmouth Connect and LinkedIn to find alumni of interest. Reach out and schedule a few one-on-one exploratory conversations, to learn more about others’ experiences at Dartmouth, the paths they took post-graduation, and to hear their advice. A Career & Life Design Coach can help you identify alumni, craft your communications, plan questions, and follow up.
• Research potential industries and employers using platforms like Handshake and LinkedIn.