What's Important to Me?
Your career journey is deeply personal and rooted in self-discovery. It's about aligning who you are with what you do. This page is your starting point for a career path that resonates with your values, leverages your skills, and fulfills your aspirations.
Knowing yourself is one of the most important steps in your career journey. To develop career ideas, you need to better understand your interests, values, strengths, and skills and how they relate to meaningful work.
You can engage in this process through three strategies:
- Self-Reflection
- Career Assessment Tools
- Talking to People
Want to dig a bit deeper? Try these activities:
1. Self-Reflection
Reflecting on activities you have participated in, including school, work, volunteering and leisure, will help you gain insight into your interests. Ask yourself the following questions and look for themes (e.g. a preference for activities that involve working with your hands or people):
- What did I enjoy or not enjoy in the experience?
- What made the experience meaningful?
- Which (if any) aspects of the activity would I do again?
Here are a couple of exercises to help you reflect on your interests:
To deepen your self-reflection and explore possible career directions, you can participate in a Career Exploration & Education workshop or a co-curricular program like Dream Job Academy. To register for an upcoming Career Exploration & Education workshop, event, or program, visit Folio and search by keyword or browse by event type (Careers).
2. Career Assessment Tools
No magic assessment can tell you which career is best for you. However, career assessments can be informative tools to learn more about how your personality, strengths, interests and values connect with potential careers and meaningful work.
Here are lists of career assessment tools that can help you think through your interests, values and what aligns with your personality.
3. Talking to People
Talking to people is a great way to learn about diverse career paths, and to clarify what activities you are interested in, what matters to you and what skills you want to develop for future work. To start connecting with alumni and professionals, check out Ten Thousand Coffees or Career Navigator.
To learn more about strategies for effectively connecting with people, you can attend career learning workshops focused on building professional relationships, expanding networks, developing supportive communities, and navigating career conversations. To register for an upcoming Career Exploration & Education workshop, event, or program, visit Folio and search by keyword or browse by event type (Careers).
Looking for More Ways to Explore?
- What is out there?: Explore strategies and tools that will help you learn about career possibilities
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What’s Next?: Ready to take action? Find resources on networking, resume building, and actionable steps toward your career goals.