How to Make Effective College and Career Decisions

As a high school student approaching graduation, you may be starting to hear other classmates around you talking about college. Murmurs about their plans post-graduation, whispers about how far behind others are, and your family's demands about the SAT, ACT, and your progress on applications might be putting a lot of pressure on you to figure out what Your Next Step really is. Whether you are considering college, taking time off, or jumpstarting your career, the first place to start with any decision is having an understanding of your self-knowledge. This means knowing what your interests (what you like to do), skills (what you are good at), and values (what is important to you) are. While this self-knowledge may still be developing, you can work with what you do know about yourself to make the most effective decision possible.

In the Career Center at Florida State University, Career Advisors (like me!) help students (like you!) everyday with questions about what to major in and what to pursue as a career. We start by explaining the theory we use, Cognitive Information Processing (CIP), which rests on a foundation of self-knowledge. Once students have a well-developed understanding of their interests, values, and skills, we move on to expanding their options knowledge. After this, we work together to explore how they make decisions, as well as how they are thinking and feeling about their decision making ability. Below is an image of the Pyramid of Information Processing which illustrates the factors that are involved in a career choice.

On your own, it is also possible to engage in this process. Just think about what you like to do, what you are good at, and what is important to you... Maybe you really like theatre, you are good at English, and your family is important to you, so you know you want to stay in the same state. Perhaps you enjoy biology, but are not the best at math, and you know that having free time is important to you. These are all important factors to consider when making your college and major decisions.

And remember, no matter what you decide... You can always change your mind. Too often, students will feel locked into a choice they have made and believe whatever they major in is what they must find a job in and do forever. This is not the case. It is my goal to help empower you to not only make the most effective decisions for yourself, but also give you the confidence to know you can always make a new decision if you change your mind. Below is an image of the CASVE Cycle (Communication; Analysis; Synthesis; Valuing; Execution) and this illustrates the process of making a decision. The final stage returns to Communication. It is for this reason that we refer to it as a "cycle", because it means that the process of making a decision can continue as you reevaluate the choice you made and decide whether or not you would like to change your mind.

Right now, you might be feeling pressure parents, teachers, and other students to make a choice that you think could potentially shape the rest of their life. I hope that after reading this blog, you not only feel empowered to make a well-informed college or career choice, but you also feel comforted in knowing that the choice you make does not have to be forever.