In today’s world, your career options can seem virtually endless. A single college degree can lead to hundreds of different jobs. How do you know where to go?
Match your skills and interests
It’s important that your career path connects with your interests and skills. You won’t be happy in a career that doesn’t match your abilities or that you find boring. Read more about discovering your skills and interests.
Narrow the field
Your interests may lead you to a specific occupational field. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook lets you search for careers by occupational field. Click on the topics below to learn more about careers in each field.
Don’t forget that your skills may be useful in many of the career fields.
- Administrative
- Construction
- Farming, fishing and forestry
- Installation (includes electrical, vehicle and musical instrument repair)
- Management and business and financial occupations
- Professional (includes computer, mathematical, engineering, legal, science, education, art and design and health professional occupations)
- Sales
- Service (includes healthcare, protective, food preparation, building and grounds and personal care service)
- Production
- Transportation
If you’re in grades K-8, you can explore careers with the A-Z List of Careers, or search by school subjects you like.
Know the details
Already know of a career you think is a good fit for you? The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook lets you search by career (like graphic designer) to see up-to-date career profiles. Learn about the training and education needed, earnings, current job prospects, what workers do on the job and work conditions.
The Hoosier Hot 50 Jobs list shows the fastest-growing, high-wage jobs in Indiana right now. Learn about average salaries, read about education/training requirements and view videos of Indiana professionals.
The A-Z List of Careers provides career profiles for students in grades K-8.
Get the inside scoop
You can learn a lot more about a career by getting hands-on interaction and experience. Talk to professionals in the field you’re interested in. Better yet, ask if you can job shadow: follow them for a day and see what the job looks like in real life.
If you don’t know anyone, ask your teachers or professors for a recommendation. Friends, family members, coworkers and neighbors may also be able to connect you with people in careers that match your interests and skills.
Learn More Indiana provides tips and information on the following ways to learn about a career:
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