One of the greatest stressors for college-bound high-school students -- as well as for some
college students -- is choosing a college major. Deciding your major (and minor) is a life
decision, and one that can have an impact on your plans beyond college -- either for your career
or for continued studies in graduate school.
Use this worksheet to help guide your thinking as you take steps toward choosing a
college major that is best for you.
Step 1: Self-Assessment of Interests. Write down a list of activities, course subjects, and topics
that interest you, inspire you. What are your likes and dislikes -- about school, hobbies, work,
and volunteering. If you taken an assessment test in school (or online), you can enter some of the results
here as well. You can also use our Career Passion Tutorial and
Career Passion Worksheet to
help you assess the types of things that excite you. See also our collection of
Career Assessment Tools & Tests.
Things that Interest, Inspire Me
Step 2: Examination of Skills and Abilities. One of the most important elements in choosing a
major (and a future career) is a realistic review of your strengths and weaknesses, skills and abilities. It’s
important to take an honest view of the subjects/skills you are best at, as well as those you struggle with.
Write down your best and worst skills and abilities.
Skills That I Want to Use and Excel at
Skills That I Don't Want to Use or am Weak in
Step 3: Understanding What You Value About Work. Different jobs and careers provide a range
of intrinsic rewards to people working in them. For example, teachers place a much greater value on educating
and impacting the lives of their students than they do on financial rewards. What are you seeking from your
career? Some examples include helping society, working under pressure, group affiliation, stability,
security, social status, financial rewards. Write down a list of what you seek from your future career.
For additional help, review our workplace values assessment.
The Values I Want From My Job/Career
Step 4: Researching Occupations and Careers. Many students have an idea of the types of work
they may want to do, but rarely do they have a full understanding of the requirements of the work -- or even
what the work fully entails. Others have never really thought about careers and have little or no knowledge
of what they want to do after college. This step involves conducting research and recording the information
you found about one or more potential career fields. Write down summary notes below and use additional
sheets or printouts to keep detailed information about each career path. Besides using the Internet
and library for your research, consider both job
shadowing and informational interviews
to gain more personal insights into careers. See also our collection of
Career Exploration Tools and Resources.
Potential Career Fields for Me
Step 5: Information Review & Reality Check. Now that you have a better understanding of
yourself and one or more potential career paths, it’s time to conduct an honest appraisal of whether your
skills, interests, and values are a good match with the careers that most excite you. For example, you may
love the idea of becoming a doctor, but do not have the math or science skills necessary for medical school.
Your task in these situations, is to conduct further research to see if other career paths in the same field
will be a good match for you. (Go back to Step 4 if you need to conduct more research.) Write down the
list of careers and jobs that best fit you, starting with the career that best seems to fit your interests AND skills.
Careers/Jobs That Best Fit Me
Step 6: Matching College Majors to Career Paths. For many jobs, the choice of college major is not as
important as the actual degree, but choosing a major (or combination of majors and minors) that is directly related to
your choice of career often provides a deeper level of skills and understanding of the subject as well as opens door
to internships, co-ops, and other part-time work experience in the field prior to graduation. Conduct research on the
careers from Step 5 to help determine the best college major. For example, if you think you want to be a high school
math teacher, what should you major in? Write down your list of potential majors and minors here.
Prospective Career
Appropriate Major(s)/Minor(s)
Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search
terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
