Counseling and Career Services at Rio Salado College
Trying to find your place in the world and discover the opportunities that best match your skillsets and ambitions can be a challenge. That's why we have a dedicated team of career counselors on hand at Rio to help you explore your options. Need help finding a job? Have trouble deciding on a career path that’s right for you? We have counseling and career resources available to help you get to where you want to go.
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Self-Assessment
Start your career exploration journey by answering the question, "Who am I?" Taking some personality and interest assessments will give you a starting place to discover who you are and what you could enjoy as a career. Here are a few sites to help with that:
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Career Research
It is best to research a career of interest as much as possible before entering the field. The internet is a great place to begin your research. Once you’ve read online about your careers of interest, you should try to talk to people who are currently working in the field for more information by conducting an "informational interview."
When you begin to research a career choice, you need to consider several factors: (1) a description of the occupation; (2) education, training or experience needed; (3) salary, wage, and compensation; (4) working conditions; (5) location of employment; (6) personality styles of people working in the field; (7) employment trends and advancement issues ; (8) the possibility for personal satisfaction; (9) the advantages and disadvantages for you; (10) the perceptions of people working in the field about what they do; and (11) related occupations.
- Informational Interviews Provide Perspective
- LinkedIn Salary Information
- Salary.com
- The Benefits of Internships
- Vault Career Intelligence
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Education Planning
An important step in exploring careers is to research the educational requirements of your career options. Start by discovering the minimum education required. If higher education is required and you are willing to continue your education, you will need to locate which colleges or educational institutions offer your program of study.
If you already have a college degree and are seeking a career change, you might research your college major to uncover what other jobs your education has prepared you for.
What education and training you currently have or are willing to obtain will play a large role in finding the best career choice for you.
- Choosing a college major
- College Majors and Your Personality
- Job Search Strategies
- Majors Search
- Schools & Majors search
- Top Ten College Majors
- What can I do with a major in?
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Decision Making & Goal Setting
After you've assessed yourself, researched a variety of careers, and explored educational requirements, do you have enough information to make a decision? Good decision making models state that you must:
- Define your goal
- Know your alternatives
- Gather information
- Consider the consequences (both probable and desirable)
- Determine your plan of action or the steps needed to achieve your goals
Goal setting is extremely important in deciding how you plan to pursue your career choice. Long-term goals usually take 3-5 years to achieve. However, short-term goals take 1-2 years to complete. Setting clear goals makes obtaining your career choice easier. The clearer you are about the steps (or objectives), the more likely you will achieve your goals.
Many use the “SMART” methodology in setting goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.
Specific. The goal should identify a specific action or event that will take place.
Measureable. The goal and its benefits should be quantifiable.
Achievable. The goal should be attainable given available resources.
Realistic. The goal should require you to stretch some, but allow the likelihood of success.
Timely. The goal should state the time period in which it will be accomplished. -
Career Counseling
If you are unable to choose your career path after completing steps 1-4, you might consider individual career counseling or taking our Career Exploration course. Both of these options offer you a professional counselor who can help guide you into making a choice and developing an action plan.
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Guidance is just a phone call away
There are some questions that our career counselors can't answer. If you've got questions or concerns about enrolling, applying for financial aid, or need academic advisement, please reach out to our student success team. Our Success Coaches have the experience and the knowledge to help you meet your goals.