Discovering your career path, Part II

This is Part II of a four-part series discussing methods to narrow down what jobs you’d like to pursue post-graduation.

One of the great things about college (that you often don’t appreciate until after you graduate) is the unbridled access you have to an immense amount of diverse knowledge. I’m not just talking about the library or free Internet access. Each college and university offers hundreds of courses with fascinating subject matter, and you never know what lessons, skills or new interests you could take away from a class off your beaten path.

I’ve talked to many people about their careers who have said something like, “I majored in XYZ in college… but I don’t do anything related to that now.” I found that unbelievable until I entered the job market and began to understand the concept of transferable skills. You can find a piece of knowledge in each class that you can apply to a future career.

“There are many benefits to having a diverse class schedule,” said Hannah Stork, assistant director of Career Services and Counseling Service at Manchester University. “A diverse transcript can help you expand your job search. A well-rounded candidate will stand out.”

One of the greatest disservices you can do to yourself is limit coursework to just your major or minor. Many colleges don’t allow you to do this anyway by requiring core classes in different academic departments, but it’s a great idea to go even further in diversifying your transcript. When you choose these classes, I challenge you to keep the big picture in mind. Don’t ask yourself, “Which of these classes will be the easiest?” Instead ask, “Which of these classes gives me the best opportunity to learn something valuable?”

Exploratory courses can be a great way to discover different fields you might be interested in pursuing as a career. Maybe you take a social sciences class and develop a desire to work in the non-profit sector. Maybe you take a public speaking course, discover you have a talent for crafting language and decide to pick up a minor in communications. Or maybe you take a physical education class, learn the intricacies of a sport and decide you want to coach someday.

Your campus’ career services office can help you choose classes specializing in the knowledge or skill set you’re seeking.

“You should have a well-thought-out plan when investigating different courses,” Stork said. “The way to develop such a plan is to first meet with a career counselor or an academic advisor to discuss your thoughts and ideas on various courses.”

Even if you don’t find a new career path through exploratory classes, you can certainly develop skills that will serve you well in the future.

“There are really great classes offered in college and many can offer direct benefits to your future career,” Stork said. “You can learn critical thinking, time management, teamwork, patience, leadership, prioritization and much more from any class. This is one of the huge benefits of a liberal arts education – the development of the whole person.

“Remember, it’s not just about taking the course, but being able to communicate what you learned from it and how it will help you in a particular field,” Stork said.

Classes are 100 percent what you make of them. Are you in class “just to pass,” or are you making the most of developing yourself as a future professional?

Look for Part III in the coming days, where we’ll explore the value of career aptitude tests.