Understand Yourself

Understanding Yourself

Before you start exploring different career options, it's important to understand your own interests, values, skills, and personality traits. This can help you identify potential careers that align with your strengths and preferences.

Interests

Things that you enjoy doing or are naturally drawn to. Reflect on your courses, student organizations, volunteer activities, and hobbies. What do you enjoy working with?

People: instructing, teaching, facilitating…
Data and Information: analyzing, categorizing, computing…
Things: manufacturing, operating, testing…
Ideas: designing, conceptualizing, synthesizing…

Find Your Interests through Holland Code

Holland Code Theory is a framework to categorize interests and personalities. Each Holland Code is associated with certain skills, preferences, and work environments. You will learn about potential career paths that align with your strengths and interests.

Assess your career interests via O*Net Interest Profiler to get your Holland Code!

Skills/Strengths

Skills

Reflect on your experiences, what skills have you acquired? Apart from the technical skills, do not forget about your interpersonal skills!

Technical Skills	Interpersonal Skills
Programming languages Software proficiency Lab technique Operating systems Technical writing Project management Data analysis …	Career & Self Development Communication Critical Thinking Equity & Inclusion Professionalism Teamwork Technology Read more

Strengths

Think about all the things you're good at, no matter how small or insignificant they might seem. This could include skills, talents, personal qualities, or achievements.

Create Your Top 10 Reasons to Hire Me List

Identify 10 reasons why you think you would be a valuable addition to the team
Use the categories provided in the table to organize your reasons
Provide specific evidence to support each of your reasons
Prioritize your top 10 reasons in order of importance.
Use the information in the table to write a summary of your top 10 reasons to hire you. This summary can be used in your cover letter or interview to showcase why you're the best candidate for the job.

Category	Reasons to Hire Me!	Supporting Evidence
Career interest & choice of college major	e.g. Passion in this field
Specific courses that support career goals	e.g. Relevant knowledge learned through a course
Personality characteristics	e.g. An easygoing team player
Skills	e.g. Programming skills such as Python
Work ethic strengths	e.g. Self-discipline
Professional development activities	e.g. Internship experience in this profession

Clifton Strengths

Clifton Strengths is a strengths-based approach to personal development that emphasizes identifying and leveraging one's unique strengths to achieve success and fulfillment in life. The Clifton Strengths Finder assessment is a popular tool used to identify an individual's top five strengths out of a list of 34 themes, providing a framework for personal and professional growth.