Career Exploration

It will enable you to self-assess your career relevant personal qualities and explore career fields and major areas of study that are most compatible with your assessment results. Students who use FOCUS 2 make better decisions about their goals and plans and learn how to self-manage their careers.

Use FOCUS 2 to help you choose or change your program of study and also to verify your preferences or early choice of a career field.

To get started on Focus 2

• For first-time users create a new account. Use the access code LAKERS when prompted.

• Returning users log in (using the account you have already created)

Use Focus 2 to

• Assess your career planning readiness, work interests, values, skills, personality type and leisure time interests.
• Broaden your career options and discover occupations matching your personal preferences and attributes.
• Decide which career fields, majors, and training programs are best for you.
• Plan the career and educational pathways that will support your goals and personal needs.

After completion of your Focus 2 assessment, please make an appointment with your Career Coordinator to review the results.

Additional Career Exploration Tools

• College Navigator - Find colleges and universities that offer your program or major.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook - Wages, Training info, and Job Outlook.
• O*NET OnLine - Match your interests and skills with career clusters or research jobs.
• Michigan Jobs & Career Portal - Read up on Michigan career statistics & fast growing careers.
• MyMajors.com - Majors, Related Careers, & Self-Assessment tools.

Informational interviews

An informational interview is a brief meeting with someone in a profession or an organization you want to explore. They can be extremely valuable!

Note: An informational interview is NOT an interview in which you seek a job.

Learn more about setting up this type of information-gathering meeting below.

An Informational Interview Allows You to do the Following

• Explore a specific industry, field, organization and/or position. Assess whether it's a good fit for your skills, personality, and career goals.
• If you already know the field or organization is a good fit for you, do an informational interview to network and gather more information about that field/organization.
• Observe and get a feel for different work environments.
• Connect with professionals who may have tips about future job or internship opportunities.
• Develop the social skills you'll need in professional interactions.

Contact Career Services to help you set up and prepare for informational interviews.