Career Information for Adult Learners
Ready for a Career Change? Need a place to find out about what types of training opportunities are available to you? UtahMentor can assist you with your goals and objectives for finding and pursuing a new career track. It's never too late to pursue college or post-secondary educational training to change tracks or provide yourself with an opportunity for advancing your career.
Here are some good questions to consider:
- Are you interested in going to college? If so, what type of degree/program would you like to pursue, Technical, Certificated, Associate's, Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate?
- What type of position did you start out in?
- What do you like most about your job?
- What long term goal opportunities does your job provide?
Self-Assessment
Commit yourself to finding a career that's appropriate to your interests, needs, and values. The first step in career planning is self-assessment, which helps you examine who you are and what you know about yourself.
The Career Interest Survey helps you identify your interests, skills, values, and personality using Holland codes. In the List of Careers, explore the occupations that match your Holland code(s) and see if any of them catch your interest. Information available to you includes occupation descriptions, worker characteristics, entry-level academic and training requirements, work environment, physical demands, and related occupations.
Deciding on a Degree or Major
Much of your decision will be based on what you want to do and the college you choose to attend. Some majors are directly related to specific careers. For example, if you hope to be an English teacher, the obvious major to choose is English. But there are many careers that don't require specific majors or courses. If you don't have a specific career goal in mind, it might be best to choose a major that interests you. By doing so, you will grow intellectually and, hopefully, excel academically. To research college majors and programs in Utah, click on the "Academics" feature under any of the school's Virtual Campus Tour in UtahMentor. You can also visit www.utahmajors.org to research different programs, majors, and degrees offered at Utah schools.
Changing Your Mind
Keep in mind that if you decide later that you want to work in some profession completely unrelated to your major, you still can. You might have to go back to college and take the core courses you need, but you can still pursue your dream.
Which School and Level of Training?
You can take Virtual Campus Tours of college campuses to learn about what programs best suit you, and the schools that offer those programs. You can research more about Academics, Campus Highlights, Costs, and Student Life, under each tour. Or, you can click from the following list of Degrees to research those specific schools:
- Certificated/Technical Programs = Six month to two year programs
- Associate's degree = At least two years of education beyond high school (or GED)
- Bachelor's degree = At least four years of education beyond high school (or two years beyond associate's degree)
- Master's degree = At least one to two years of education beyond bachelor's degree
- Doctoral or professional degree = At least two to three years of education beyond bachelor's degree
Utah's Department of Workforce Services is a good place to start searching for job placement and career change solutions.
Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority - offers a variety of financing solutions to help you pay for post-secondary education training at all different levels. Or, simply click on the Pay for College module.
Job Seeking Guides
(Provided by Utah Dept. of Workforce Services)- Cover Letter
- Dress & Grooming
- Interview Techniques
- Internet Job Search
- Job Applications
- Job Success Skills
- Searching for a Job
- Resume Help
- Job Skills Identification
- Tips for Finding a Job
Tips for Finding the Right Job
(Provided by Utah Dept. of Workforce Services)- New Jobs in Utah By Training Level 2002-2012
- Utah Occupations with Most New Openings (Coming Soon!)
- Fastest Growing Utah Occupations
- Wage Information
Job Shadowing
It's hard to know what people in a particular occupation actually do during their typical workday. To get a feel for an occupation, ask someone who works in a career in which you are seriously interested if you can shadow him or her for a day. If he or she agrees, you get to see what the job really entails, both the boring and the beautiful. You also get to make a contact, thereby starting to build your professional network.
Internships
Internships are generally pursued later, either once you're in college or have some work experience. They're designed to provide a more focused exposure to an organization or career. Internships are also a great way to network for future positions, because you gain experience and make personal contacts. Some internships are paid (usually not a large amount) and others are unpaid.
Some organizations, companies, and government offices have formal internship programs that you must apply to and even compete for despite the free labor you are offering. Another way to find an internship is to contact a place at which you'd like to work and offer to work as an intern.
Internship Resources
- Utah Internships
- Adult Career Guide (Dept. of Workforce Services)
- Adult Education Programs (USOE)
