I am currently undecided in my career exploration process. I am still in the exploratory program at The Ohio State University. I have spent the last semester researching majors and going to listen to speakers from the colleges within Ohio State. Before college I had no idea what I wanted to do, but now I have a few options that I am considering for majors. Currently at the top of my major choices are City and Regional Planning and Geographic Information Science. During my second semester, I am taking classes for City and Regional Planning to see if I should pursue it as a major. I want to be able to use my creativity and organizational skills in my career. I also want to be able to work outside because I love to immerse myself in nature.
As an undecided major, I have already gone through the Holland Code workshop. From both workshops, I got the same results. I learned that I am realistic, investigative, and conventional. I love to organize and plan projects, be hands-on, and be extremely detailed. Cartographer, Surveyor, Geographic Information Systems Technician, Food Scientist, Electrical Engineer, Geospatial Information Scientist, Environmental Engineer, Civil Drafter, Police Identification and Records Officer, and Fire Investigator are some careers that O*Net recommends.
One of my current paths comes up with my code. This path is the Geographic Information Science major which corresponds to the code career, Geographic Information Systems Technician. Even though that is the only career that perfectly matches my top two major choices, all the other careers that come up with my code require similar skills that my major choices require. Most of the jobs I saw interested me. I know my code is correct because the jobs that showed up are in line with the majors I have considered pursuing.
My current academic plans are to pursue a bachelor’s degree along with a minor that can help specify my major. Although I do not know what major I want to pursue, I have an idea that it will deal with mapping, surveying, planning, or something that includes organized creative projects. Almost every career that showed up on the Holland code careers matched these college major “requirements”. These apply to my current academic plans by providing me with more choices for careers that match what I want out of a job. The Holland code careers might help me decide the perfect career.
My next steps are to take classes next semester that deal with the majors that fit my “requirements” to see if I enjoy what the majors are about. After I confirm that I enjoy the major from the class, I will no longer be undecided. I know what I am interested in. Now all I need is experience to see if the major fits the description. After I declare a major, I will work toward a more specific career or find a minor that could correlate with my major.