Explore Career Paths

If you are choosing a major or exploring what you can do with your major, we can help. The steps below guide you in better understanding your professional self, which opportunities align with your strengths and the steps to take while in college to help you launch your career.

Step One: Self-Assessments

Knowing more about your strengths and abilities can help you identify career paths that will align with your best self. Formal career assessments can enhance your awareness of your work interests, work values, work and career readiness skills, personality, leisure interests and career planning readiness.

Focus 2 Career is an online, self-guided, assessment service that provides valid and reliable assessments including the Holland code (work interest) & and MBTI types (personality). Each assessment takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You can combine your assessment results and explore career options and academic majors that align with you. Career options provided are limited to the approximately 867 detailed occupations defined by the Standard Occupational Classification system.

Create your free student account using the access code: EAGLESLA

Additional Self-assessment Support

Career advisors guide you through the sections of Focus 2 Career in these instructional videos:

Step Two: Career Exploration

Knowing more about what is possible can help you determine career paths of interest and the strategies to achieve them. With a better understanding of the working world, you can more easily envision how you can best fit into that world. We provide these resources to help you with this exploration.

Explore Career Paths

What Can I Do With This Major? helps students see common career areas they can enter with the major, typical employers that hire in this field and strategies to maximize career opportunities. The majors listed are general academic majors named by the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code designation.

View: What Can I Do With This Major

Vault Guide to Jobs includes industry guides, ranking guides and guides to key careers and industries.

View: Vault Guide to Jobs

Federal Occupations by Major lists academic majors and some Federal occupations directly related to those majors.

View: Federal Occupations by Major

CalCareers lists jobs with the State of California by industry.

View: California State Occupations by Industry

Explore Companies

Employers by Major lists employers in California who have hired college graduates within the major.

View: Employers by Major

The U.S. Department of Labor helps you find businesses you may want to work for based on your industry of interest.

View: Business Finder by Industry

The American Opportunity Index: Corporate Scorecard for Worker Advancement measures how well major employers are doing in fostering economic mobility for workers and how they could do better.

View: Corporate Scorecard

Some professionals choose to be self-employed individuals who do specific work for clients without committing to full-time employment.

View: Freelance/Contractor Fields & Industries

Explore Salary Potential

Job Future Caster shows what the future prospects for a job will be like and the education path that you’ll need to pursue.
CSU Explore Graduate Earnings Data shows the salary and employment data of Cal State LA alumni by major. Select Los Angeles.

Step Three: Career Conversations

One of the best ways to begin exploring career paths is to have a conversation with professionals in a field that interests you. You can learn more about the career and how to get there, ask about their day-to-day work, major and career pathway and the skills required in the position. We provide these online resources to help you get started.

Cal State LA Alumni Mentoring Program (website) connects you with alumni who would like to have career conversations.
Informational Interview (handout) provides a list of questions you can ask a professional in a career conversation.
Roadtrip Nation Documentaries (website) show how people like you found work that they love.

Step Four: Your Professional Brand

Once you've identified your professional qualities and career paths that align, you're ready to start building your professional brand. Think of your professional brand as a way to activate your personal mission statement. Meaning, a way to bring your personal mission statement to “life” and in a way that combines your personal and professional self. We provide these resources to help you get started.

Building a Professional Brand at Cal State LA (presentation)
Exploring My Major at Cal State LA (worksheet)
Develop Your Professional Brand (handout) - use this guide to create your professional brand statement.
Professional Brand Rubric (handout) - use this to evaluate how you can improve your brand statement.

Step Five: Your Professional Development Plan

Think of your professional development plan as a way to cultivate your professional brand. Meaning, an intentional plan to grow your professional brand so that you can gain the experiences and skills you need to lead your best life. We provide these resources to help you get started.

The Career Development Journey (video and website)
Choose Your Own Career Adventure Checklist (handout)
Exploring My Major at Cal State LA (worksheet)
Timelines for the College Professional Development Plan (presentation)
Professional Development Plan Template (handout)
Applying to Grad School (website)

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.

Connect for Career Support

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.

View: 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.

View on Cal State LA Handshake