This article is part of a series from The Career Doctor's Cures & Remedies to Quintessentially Perplexing Career and Job-Hunting Ailments. Read more. Probably the most common question I receive is one where a student -- or parent -- wants more information about a particular career. A similar question along these same lines is "what can I do with a major in _________?" People are always writing to me -- students, parents, job-seekers -- asking about trends in specific jobs or careers. And while I like to keep track of a number of careers, most of the time I need to do a little research to find the answers. How do I go about finding information about a specific career? Step 1: I search for the career in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Handbook provides a plethora of information about a large number of occupations, such as: the nature of the work, working conditions, training and educational requirements, career advancement, job outlook, earnings potential, and more. All you need to do is type in the name of a career field or job title. And you can search the Handbook without ever leaving Quintessential Careers! Step 2: I search for one or more professional associations related to the career. For example, if someone were interested in a career in marketing, I would go the American Marketing Association’s Website and see what they have to say about a career in marketing. Step 3: I search for information about the career in my favorite search engine, Google.com. For example, I might search for "careers in marketing." In fact, there is a site called Careers in Marketing, which has all sorts of great career information. Google lists numerous other sites as well. Step 4: I visit a couple of industry-specific job sites to see if they have any career information, as well as to look at some of the current jobs posted on the sites. For example, I visited MarketingJobs.com. Step 5: I visit one of the great career exploration sites listed on Quintessential Careers, especially if the request is from a college student who loves her major but isn’t sure what she can do with it when she graduates. For example, I visited the "What Can I Do With A Major In..." site from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Each fact sheet offers transferable skills, possible career options, link to career-related Websites, and other career-related information.
See a list of all the most common college, career, and job questions -- and Dr. Hansen's solutions. Who is the Career Doctor? Learn more, read his current career column, or browse the column archives when you visit the Career Doctor's homepage.
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Dr. Randall S. Hansen is a nationally recognized career and job-search expert.
He is Founder and Webmaster of Quintessential Careers, as
well as publisher of its electronic newsletter, 