Explore Career Paths
In your degree studies, you gain advanced skills that can be applied in a wide variety of careers. You gain the career readiness skills that most employers value and domain knowledge related to your major. The resources below can help you explore career pathways.
Career Pathways by Major or Field
If you are unsure about what jobs relate to your major, the resources below can help you obtain information about the career possibilities.
What Can I Do with This Major?
This website is a great starting point for viewing related fields, job titles, work places and professional organizations related to an academic major.
Search by a major to view interviews from working professionals who majored in that discipline. You can also search by an industry that interests you. An industry describes the activity of the company and includes people with different occupations who work for the same type of business.
When you sign up for this free college student job site, you can search for current job openings by a major. You can also search job openings by industry, which is the type of business activity a company or organization performs.
Job families are groups of occupations based on work performed, skills, education, training and credentials. Select the type of work that interests you to find related job titles.
Industries are broad groups of businesses or organizations with similar activities, products or services. Select the type of activity, product or service that interests you to find related job titles.
Undecided about a Major
If you are unsure what major you should study, you can assess your work interests, values, skills and personality style to identify job options and determine which majors lead to that job.
Focus2Career (Use access Code: EAGLESLA)
Use this self-guided career assessment software to assess your work interests, values, skills, personality and leisure interests. Then, combine the results to find job options that match all or some of your qualities. Choose which job options interest you to see what majors lead to that job. You can also search job options by job family. A job family is a group of jobs based on the work performed, skills and education required.
These videos can help you interpret each section of Focus2Career.
- Career Planning Foundations Section (video)
- Self-Assessment Section (video)
- Explore the Possibilities Section (video)
- Action Plan Portfolio Section (video)
Employers by Major or Field
You can explore employers and job titles by a wide variety of interests. Use these resources to help your research.
Industries and Companies
- Vault Guide to Jobs — Research these guides to learn about key careers and industries by job activities of interest.
- Business Finder by Industry — Search this list of industries by location to find employers near you who perform a business activity of interest.
- Employers by Major — Search this list of employers in California who have hired college graduates with the major.
- Corporate Scorecard — Search this index to find companies that match your career values.
Job Titles By Sector
- Federal Occupations by Major — Search this list of academic majors and the matching federal job titles.
- California State Occupations by Industry — Search this list of jobs in the State of California by industry of interest/job family. An industry/job family is a group of jobs based on the work performed, skills and education required.
- Freelance/Contractor Career Fields — Some professionals choose to be self-employed individuals. Self-employed individuals do specific work for clients without being employed by a company.
Starting Salary by Major or Field
If you would like to know the starting salary for a job or major, use these resources.
CSU Explore Graduate Earnings Data
The California State University system provides data on the salary earnings of students who graduated. Select Los Angeles to view the salary outcomes by major of graduates from Cal State LA.
Choose an occupation category/job family that interests. Then, select a specific occupation/job title of interest. You can also look by state and regional metro area.
Explore lifetime earnings based on workers with varying degree levels (e.g., bachelors, masters). Filter the data by your area of interest including undegraduate major, occupational field, industry, state, etc.
Working Professionals in a Major or Field
To learn more about a job and major, it’s helpful to speak with someone who is working in the profession. Professionals are eager to give back and help students explore careers.
When you sign up for this free college student job seeking software, you can view employer profiles and message them to connect. You can also attend employer events where you can build relationships with working professionals in a job title or company of interest.
Cal State LA Alumni Mentoring Program
The Alumni Association provides a career mentoring program where you can connect with alumni who would like to give back by helping you with career exploration, development and goal setting.
Linkedin is an online social networking site for working professionals and college students. You can view the profiles of working professionals and message them to connect. Use these resources to get started.
- LinkedIn Profile Checklist of College Students (handout)
- Networking on LinkedIn (presentation)
- Cal State LA Career Center LinkedIn Group — Join our group on LinkedIn so you can meet peers, alumni and employers who are eager to give back.
What should I ask working professionals?
When you meet with working professionals to learn about their career, it’s called an informational interview. You interview the professional to hear their advice on how to reach your career goals. Use this handout to brainstorm questions to ask the professional.
Informational Interview Questions (handout)
My Professional Brand in a Major
A professional brand is how employers see you in your major and career. It reflects who you are as a professional. You demonstrate your professional identity in your classroom assignments and campus activities. These experiences are included in your college résumé, job applications and job interviews. Use these resources to start exploring your professional brand.
What is a professional brand?
Professional Brand Template and Scoring Rubric (worksheets)
Use the professional brand template to start creating your professional brand in your major. Then, use the scoring rubric to see how you can continue to advance your brand.
How can I develop my brand while in college?
Professional Development Plan Timelines (presentation)
Review the professional development plan presentation to learn what you can do each academic year to gain experience in your major and build a brand that will help you obtain a good job upon graduation.
Exploring My Major at Cal State LA (worksheet)
Choose Your Own Career Adventure in College (worksheet)
Use the above worksheets to brainstorm how you can explore your career interests and network while in college.
Professional Development Plan Template (worksheet)
Use the development plan template to schedule what you will do each semester to explore your major and career.
Additional Support
Career Advising
Career advisors are available by individual appointment. We can help you explore your career options and create action plans to help you gain experience. Schedule an appointment with a career advisor.
Career Workshops
We offer workshops throughout the year to help you identify your professional brand, connect with professionals to explore career options and create action plan to help you gain experience. Sign up for workshops on the Career Center calendar.
Employer Events
Part of choosing a career path includes knowing about workplace culture and what opportunities are available with your degree. Employers host events where you can learn more about what's possible. Sign up for employer events using Cal State LA Handshake.
