Freshmen Orientation Seminar What is the Career or Occupation that you wish to investigate? _________________________________________________________ Reference Area: Finding Information on Specific Careers or Occupations. Reference materials are sources for definitions, explanations, statistics, and overviews. Use the following list of reference materials to complete this section. Reference Materials: Occupational Outlook Handbook Career Information Center (13 volumes) Institute for Research series of individual publications on "Careers" Peterson's Annual Guides to Graduate Study The College Blue Book 1. Read a description of the career or occupation. Describe 3 qualities of the work that appeal to you. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Note 2 characteristics about the work that you weren't aware of until you read the description. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 2. What is the average national salary? _______________________ 3. What college major(s) are considered useful preparation? College major(s) _____________________________________ 4. Is a graduate degree required? ________________________ If so, which degree and in what area? _________________________________________________________ Is certification required? ________________ If so, which certification? ________________________________________________________ 5. To pursue graduate study or complete a certification program required for the career described above, what classes or disciplines would you include in your undergraduate program? (The Peterson's Annual Guides provide overviews of undergraduate requirements for graduate study. These overviews appear in the introductory sections that precede the list of graduate programs. You may also find this information in the Institute for Research series on "Careers") __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 6. Find 2 schools that provide the necessary graduate degree. Note the name and location of each school and the graduate degree offered School & Location: ________________________________________________________ Degree: _________________________________________________ School & Location: ________________________________________________________ Degree: _________________________________________________ MARMOT, the Library's Online Catalog The computer catalog, nicknamed MARMOT, is your access to the library's book collection. You can search the catalog by WORD (your best bet for subjects), by NAME (used for authors or books about individuals), or by BROWSE (your best bet for titles). Search the computer catalog for books that will help you further investigate your career interest or career trends. You may wish to begin by performing a WORD search. To search for books about careers in specific areas, enter VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE, then add a word or words that describe the vocation, or occupation, i.e. TEACHING, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, or PHYSICAL EDUCATION. Books about career planning and trends, in general, can be found by searching under VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE, OCCUPATIONS, JOB HUNTING, or EMPLOYMENT FORECASTING. Cite one book which might help in your investigations. Title of Book: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Author or Editor: ___________________________________________________________ Copyright Date: _________ Call Number: ____________________________ Is the Book Checked Out? ________________ What words did you use to find the above book? _______________________________________________________________ Periodical Indexes Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature The Readers' Guide is a subject index to articles in general-interest magazines, like Time and Newsweek. Select the BROWSE search in Readers' Guide to find an article on your career interest or career trends. When searching for articles about a specific career, look for subjects with the subtopics SUPPLY AND DEMAND or SALARIES, PENSIONS, ETC., i.e. TEACHERS/SALARIES, PENSIONS, ETC. or BIOLOGISTS/SUPPLY AND DEMAND. Articles on career trends and careers, in general, can be found by searching on OCCUPATIONS, COLLEGE GRADUATES/EMPLOYMENT, or EMPLOYMENT/STATISTICS. Cite one article which you might wish to read. Article Title: _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Author(s): ____________________________________________________ Periodical Title: _____________________________________________________ Volume: ___________ Date: __________________ Pages: ___________ Does the library have a subscription to this magazine? _____________ What term did you search on? _________________________________________________________ Subject-Specific Indexes By using the same computers, you can also search other subject-specific indexes which will provide citations to articles, many in scholarly research journals. The subject-specific indexes and the subjects covered in them are: Humanities Index (history, literature, philosophy, archaeology, music) Business Periodicals Index (business and marketing) General Science Index (biology, botany, chemistry, physiology, medicine, physics, environment and conservation) Social Sciences Index (economics, sociology, political science, anthropology) Press F3 to view a list of the subject-specific indexes. Highlight one that may reference articles about your career interest and press ENTER (many articles about careers can be found using the Business Periodicals Index). Use the BROWSE search again to find another article on your specific career interest or career trends. Cite one article that you might wish to read. Article Title: ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Author(s): ________________________________________________________ Periodical Title: ________________________________________________________ Volume: ___________ Date: __________________ Pages: ___________ Does the library have a subscription to this magazine? _____________ What term did you search on? ________________________________________________________ Government Documents Employment Trends 1. Locate your career or occupation in the Job Outlook in Brief. Careers are grouped by "clusters," or occupational groups. Under which "cluster" did you find your career? _____________________________________ What are the employment prospects for your career? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 2. Is your career interest one of the 30 fastest growing occupations? ________________________ 3. Review the document The College Labor Market: Outlook, Current Situation, and Earnings. Find Chart 3, "Employment in jobs requiring a college degree, 1990 and projected 2005" (page 8). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which 2 occupational groups are expected to experience the largest rate of employment growth? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Does your career interest belong to one of these groups? _________ Contributed by Nancy V. Gauss, Leslie J. Savage Library, Western State College of Colorado, Gunnison, CO .