How do I choose a college major?
Choose something you’re good at and that you’re interested in. You can see what UCSB majors are related to your interests by looking at the Careers by Interests. Through this website you can get onto the departmental website for the major you want to learn more about. If you want to get some ideas about what occupations are related to the major, click HERE.

Of course, students are always welcome to come in to talk with a Career Counselor, either for a quick 10-minute drop-in session, or for a longer 30-minute appointment. For appointments, please come by Career Services or call 893-4412.

How does my college major affect my career options?
For most UCSB majors, the answer is “not much”. That’s because UCSB is a research institution, and therefore teaches critical thinking and research skills, but doesn’t really provide job training. The exceptions to this are the Engineering majors and Business Economics, Accounting Emphasis major which prepare students to become (big surprise) engineers and accountants. For everyone else, most UCSB majors can be related to most jobs. However, if you want to see some lists of Careers by UCSB Majors, click HERE.

What can I learn by taking a career assessment?
The Strong Interest Inventory assesses your career interests and matches them against the six Holland career themes which are used in the organization of our career library. Your interests are also compared to people in over 100 different occupations so you can get an idea of what kinds of occupations you might enjoy. This can be helpful whether you are trying to choose a major or figuring out what kind of work to pursue.

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator helps you to identify characteristics of your ideal career and understand what careers might match your personality type.

MyRoad assesses your personality and interests and then relates them to different majors and occupations.

For more information on how to take a career assessment, click HERE.

How do I find out more about occupations that seem interesting?
Once you have some occupational titles in mind, there’s quite a bit of good information available on the Internet. Two good options are:

• The Occupational Outlook Handbook
  This is the industry standard, compiled and maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It lists hundreds of occupations, each including sections on Nature of the Work, Training, Job Outlook, and Earnings.
• California Occupational Guides
  The data contained in this site are similar to the OOH (above), but the labor market information is specifically for jobs in California.
• MyRoad
  MyRoad is another good source. Come by the Career Resource Room in Career Services to get the password for this site.
• In addition, our Career Resource Room is filled with printed material on hundreds of occupations. For a sample, click HERE. Our friendly student peers and professional staff will be happy to help you find what you need, whether in print or on the web.