Career Planning

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What do you want to do with your life? It’s a heavy-duty question, for sure. But it’s good to take some time now so you don’t waste any time once you’re in college. Here are some steps to guide you along the way:

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Step 1 – Take the “Assess Yourself” Personality Test

What do you want to do after high school? It all depends on where you want to be and how quickly you want to get there. Some people have life plans started before their freshman year while others are still at the planning stage a year after high school. Here is a quiz that will assess your responses and show you several careers that MAY interest you.

You Can Do Anything You Want To!

This quiz is designed to help you think about the college majors that are available to you. It will also make you think about your own personality traits and how they may fit well within different areas of study.

TAKE the QUIZ »

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Step 2 – Explore Different Occupations

Use the results of your self-assessment process to start exploring specific occupations, jobs, or job-clusters.

Check out our Career Videos. We have videos to help you learn about careers and jobs from MPB’s Job Hunter and Hinds Community College.

Here are resources and things to consider:

Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) – MDES provides information and services to help job seekers and labor market information.

CareerOneStop – CareerOneStop offers extensive information about jobs in Mississippi, including:

Fastest-growing occupations (overall in MS and for various levels of education)
Occupations with the most openings (overall in MS and for various levels of education)
Occupations with the largest employment (overall in MS and for various levels of education)
Occupations with declining employment (overall in MS and for various levels of education)
Highest-paying occupations (overall in MS and for various levels of education)

What Can I Do With this Major? – If you think you are interested in a particular degree, check out this website to learn about possible jobs/careers you could get with that degree.

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Step 3 – Make A Decision And Plan

Action Plan

Once you’ve got an idea about what you want to do with your life, you need a plan to make it happen.

Start with these steps:

1) Choose a field of study. Think about what type of degree (two-year, four-year, graduate degree, etc.) you need for the career you want. Then decide on a specific major, if possible. Use the Degree Finder Tool to see what degrees are needed for certain careers.

2) Choose a school. Choose the school that will best help you meet your career goals. It should be a school that offers the type of degree and major you want to pursue. Keep in mind, this may not be the school your parents went to, or the school your friends are planning to attend. Use the Degree Finder Tool to see which colleges in Mississippi offer certain degree programs.

3) Get admitted. See the Apply for Admissions section.

4) Find financial aid to pay for college. See the Financial Aid section.

5) Go to college!

Decision Making

Finding jobs and careers that interest you may not be the problem. The problem might be making a decision.

It is estimated that today’s college graduates will have seven careers (not seven jobs) in their working lifetime. Clearly, we all have trouble making career decisions! Nevertheless, you will have to select a major, so it will help if you narrow down the field of possibilities.

Some experiences that will aid in the decision-making process include: