Explore Your Interests / Self Assessment

Identify your interests.

Interests run the range from a passing curiosity to something with consistent and lifelong appeal. Your interests can include your passions, hobbies, and curiosities. Your career can evolve to include the interests that you have not yet pursued as much as those to which you are already committed.

  • Try this exercise ›

    Psychologist John Holland identified these six areas of occupational interest. Rank this list from the most to least descriptive of the patterns in your interests. When you’re done, send your responses to your email so you can bring them to your next advising appointment!

Assess your personality.

Your personality is unique to you and includes inherent traits as well as habits that you’ve acquired over time in realms like gathering information, making decisions, and relating to others. Better understanding characteristics of your personality can help you to articulate the circumstances under which you thrive, or natural strengths that you can utilize, regardless of your environment.

  • Try this exercise ›

    Describe yourself at your best and most natural in response to these prompts. When you’re done, send your responses to your email so you can bring them to your next advising appointment!

Inventory your skills.

Your skills are the abilities that you possess. Skills are developed and improved with practice and over time, though they can be influenced by a natural knack or unique talent. Communicating your skills in a way that builds confidence requires that you give evidence of your past exposure and success.

  • Try exercise 1 ›

  • Try exercise 2 ›

    In making decisions about your career options, it is helpful to analyze what you know about yourself from past experiences. Think about what you have learned about your skill level and preferences of certain work components. These components could include broad soft skills like communication, working with others, and problem solving or specific work tasks that you would need to use in your area of interest such as technical skills or programs.

    *Remember it is easier to build a skill in an area versus trying to make yourself like something.

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