Alumni Career Exploration

Whether you are changing jobs or making a career transition, the way to make the best choice is to conduct research, talk with people in the field, and, if possible, have a trial work experience in that field. Dickinson offers the following resources to help alumni. Use them alone or in consultation with a Career Center counselor.

Career Exploration Resources

Career Insider, powered by Vault is a career information web site good for extensive career research. It includes thousands of specific company profiles, as well as detailed industry overviews, corporate overviews, career overviews, career advice articles, and downloadable career guides. You can set up your own account through the Alumni Portal of the Dickinson Gateway.

Candid Career
What is CandidCareer.com?
     • A fun and efficient way to explore careers! Similar in nature to YouTube.
     • Discover career fields you did not even know existed and learn what it takes to get there.
     • Save your favorites to help guide your college and/or career discussions with your parents and/or
         school educators.
     • Use the advice to further educate yourself on your favorite careers, complete prerequisites, and pursue
        internships and job openings.

Job Descriptions – Online search engines find job postings that typically list the job duties and education, experience and skill requirements. Use them to research jobs. This is also the place to find professional association websites that offer extensive career information.

O*NET OnLine is an excellent web site developed for the US Department of Labor which gives job descriptions along with details on tasks, knowledge, skills and abilities, job outlook and salary information. Here you can also find suggestions for related careers that use the same skill set.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook was developed by the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides information by occupation on the nature of the work, sources of employment, job outlook and salaries.

Major to Career – This list of careers typically associated with various academic majors may be helpful if you are selecting a first career or changing careers. You will find a list of careers Dickinson alumni have pursued, a list of skills typically developed by people in that major, and links to web sites relevant to the major.

Networking conversations are important for learning about specific careers. Potential resources are Dickinson alumni (through the DickinsonWorks program), current or former colleagues, friends, family members or other acquaintances. For more information on networking, go to the Alumni Networking Guide.

Dickinson Works is an online network of alumni who have agreed to help students and fellow alumni with career exploration and planning by providing advice and information. The database can be searched by locale, career field, employer, graduate degree or major and will generate a list of names and contact information. Note the preferred method of contact and call or email these alumni to discuss your career options. You can access Dickinson Works through the Alumni Portal of the Dickinson Gateway.

Spotlight on Careers is a collaborative project initiated by the Liberal Arts Career Network (LACN), a consortia of thirty private liberal arts colleges, that provides extensive information on 39 different career-fields. Off campus users should contact the Career Center for the username and password.

Career Center Resource Library - If you are on campus, take advantage of the hundreds of books in the resource library in the Career Center in Biddle House that you can utilize when doing research on potential careers.