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Researching Careers

Once you have figured out the things you like to do and the things you do well, you can begin exploring careers that incorporate your interests and skills as well as the education needed, average salary earned, potential job openings.

Occupational Characteristics

One step in the process of career exploration is to connect the information about you - your interests your values, your skills, your preferences - to the information about careers , such as work conditions, job duties and responsibilities, work environments, industry areas and more.

Education & Training

How do I become a...?

What is the typical path to entry into a career? Many occupations require certification or a college degree, but some occupations require no formal education. When researching careers it's important to consider the necessary education, training, work experience, licenses, certification, etc. needed to enter the career or advance in the career.

Job Outlook

How many new jobs will there be? How fast is the number of jobs changing? How many job openings will be available? Reliable information about tomorrow's labor market can be a valuable tool in career planning. Understanding the future workforce helps you prepare for your place in it. When choosing among careers, it may help to know about the types and number of jobs likely to be available and the wages of workers in those occupations.

Explore Careers

Explore Careers on What's Next Illinois

website iconhttps://secure.whatsnextillinois.org/Career_Planning/Explore...
Explore Careers on What's Next Illinois

What's Next Illinois has several great tools for exploring careers:

  • Career Finder: Search for careers using interesting topics like salaries, skills, and interests to name just a few.
  • Compare Careers: Pick two careers that interest you and compare them side by side.
  • Career Plan Builder: Mix and match your career and life options to create your future.

Illinois Career Information System

website iconhttp://ilcis.intocareers.org/
Illinois Career Information System

The Illinois Career Information System (CIS) is a searchable website of career information and part of the Illinois Career Resource Network created by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The site allows you to take interest and skill inventories, explore occupation clusters and research careers.

Logging into CIS: If your school is using the CIS portfolio tool you will have a username and password, if not you can log in using the Illinois Resident option.

My Next Move

website iconhttp://www.mynextmove.org/
My Next Move

My Next Move is an interactive tool for job seekers and students to learn more about their career options. My Next Move has tasks, skills, salary information, and more for over 900 different careers. Users can find careers through keyword search; by browsing industries that employ different types of workers; or through the O*NET Interest Profiler, a tool that offers personalized career suggestions based on a person's interests and level of work experience.

Occupation Outlook Handbook

website iconhttp://www.bls.gov/ooh
Occupation Outlook Handbook

Considered the nation’s most widely used source of career information, the Occupation Outlook Handbook (OOH) continues to provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on hundreds of occupations. The information in the OOH has proven invaluable to counselors, students, parents, teachers, jobseekers, career changers, education and training officials, and researchers.

The profiles featured cover hundreds of occupations and describe What They Do, Work Environment, How to Become One, Pay, and more. Each profile also includes employment projections for the decade.

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