Career Support

Finding out who you are and what you want by answering the following questions:

• What are your skills, interests, values and personality?
• What is your idea of work and a career?
• What do you want your career to be?

The Career Resource Center offers many ways to learn about yourself and how your personality, interests, values, and skills align with educational and career options best suited to you. To utilize career assessments, inventories, and surveys you may need a referral from a Saddleback College Counselor or the Career Guidance Specialist. You will also need to make a minimum of a 1-hour review session for each inventory.

Assessments offered include: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)®, Strong Interest Inventory®, SIGI 3, Eureka Micro Skills, and Career Cruising. Students are encouraged to review the results of any assessment with the Career Guidance Specialist or a Counselor. Call (949) 582-4575 or email us to schedule an appointment.

Here are some additional resources that may help:

• Saddleback College Career Coach provides an interest assessment, occupational information, and resume builder for students at Saddleback College
• California Career Zone provides an assessment for RIASEC, or interest codes and other resources and occupational information
• O*Net Online, or the Occupational Information Network, will help you explore occupational information nationwide – you can also use My Next Move to search for careers, browse by industry, and take an interest profiler to see a list of customized career options
• 16 Personalities is a free, 10-minute personality test to get a “freakishly accurate” description of who you are and why you do things the way you do.
• Keirsey offers assessments to help you get clarity on who you are, what you do, who you love, and what difference you make.

MBTI®, Myers-Briggs®, and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® are registered trademarks of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Trust in the United States and other Countries. Strong Interest Inventory® is a registered trademark of The Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator® or MBTI.com.

Finding out more about the world of work and your education:

• Investigate possible career fields and talk to people who work in careers that interest you
• Use internships, volunteer jobs, and part-time work to sample jobs and careers
• Research majors and careers that match your self-assessments

We encourage you to explore your options by speaking to your counselors, instructors, professionals in the field, and other students. The Career Resource Center offers free workshops both in-person and online that can help you learn how to explore various career paths, learn how to use online career systems, and conduct career conversations.

Call us at (949) 582-4575 or email us to set up an appointment to learn more about how to explore your options.

Here are some additional resources that may help:

• Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) can be used to research in-depth information on various occupations in a plethora of industries
• O*Net Online, or the Occupational Information Network, will help you explore occupational information nationwide
• California Career Zone provides and occupational information, salary data, and a budget calculator relevant to the state of California
• TalentED allows you to learn about the in-demand industry sectors in Orange County, identify local companies, and identify programs that lead to those careers.
• BigFuture helps you search careers and learn what they pay, what the work is like, and the education and skills you need to succeed
   

Analyzing the information:

• Begin to define your specific career goals
• Make tentative career decisions
• Set short and long term goals that allow you to reach your chosen career

Improving Your Decision Making

Decision making is required in every activity. It is involved in a variety of situations and problems, from the very simple to the very complex. Everyone can learn to improve their decision making skills. Making a decision involves making a choice and selecting from among alternatives. Sometimes decisions may carry with them some dissatisfaction and conflict.

Call us at (949) 582-4575 or email us to set up an appointment to learn more about how to make decisions, including developing a unique step-by-step process that can help you identify your values and make decisions more effectively.

Adapted from Make Up Your Mind – Improving Your Decision-Making Skills, written by Katey Walker, and revised by Nayda I. Torres, and Josephine Turner, Ph.D, University of Florida. 
 

Developing a plan for success:

• Research two year and four year college programs that will allow you to reach your career goals
• Decide on the amount of time you are willing to attend a college or program
• Establish a plan that allows you to complete your education and training in a time frame that works for you

Meet with a Counselor by calling (949) 582-4572. All appointments are scheduled one week in advance. Students who want a Saddleback College certificate, a two-year degree, or who want to transfer to a four-year university must have a comprehensive MAP (My Academic Plan) approved by a counselor.

Here are some additional resources that may help:

• Program Pathways Mapper can assist you with identifying Saddleback College programs of interest and show you examples of what classes you will take and how long it would take for you to complete a degree or certificate
• Saddleback College Career Coach provides an interest assessment and can help you identify programs at Saddleback College that aligns with your interests and career goals
• College Navigator will help you explore basic information on colleges throughout the nation
• ASSIST will help you explore colleges and articulation agreements in the state of California
• The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) Field of Degree site highlights data and information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on a variety of academic fields and majors
• FutureBuilt highlights the Career Education (CE or CTE) programs at California community colleges
   

Developing a plan of action to apply for and secure employment:

• Establish and use job search resources and contacts
• Overcome barriers and keep motivated
• Manage your career with up-to-date cover letters and resumes

We are ready to support students across programs with job search and employment via one-on-one appointments, online resources, workshops, and other events. Areas of service include job search assistance, resume and cover letter writing, interviewing, networking, labor market and salary information, social media and digital branding, employer engagement, campus recruiting, career fairs, on campus employment preparation, and more.
For more information, please call (949) 582-4278, or email us.

Here are some additional resources that may help:

• Handshake is Saddleback College's campus-wide career management platform offering students a central place to find on and off campus jobs, career events, connections and more
• LinkedIn Learning offers students thousands of video-based courses and certificates that augments the critical learning you're acquiring in your academic program
• For more information, check out our job search resources page