Where to Learn About Careers

Where to Learn About Careers

Exploring careers builds from a person’s self-assessment. The purpose is to inform an individual on career choices. You gather information, which facilitates decision making, and stimulates continued exploration, allowing you to assess your options and discover possible alternatives. This includes occupational research, company/organization research, employment trends, informational interviewing, and assessing the need for continued education.

MPA resources exist to help you learn about career pathways:

  • Career Discovery Series
  • Alumni in MPA courses and panels
  • First Destination of MPA Grads
  • Career Treks
  • Career & Networking Fair
  • Alumni Mock Interview
  • Heels Engage

The UNC Career Center compiled career exploration tools so that you can ultimately make informed choices about occupations. The critical thinking skills gained as a result of the interdisciplinary nature of your Carolina education parallel career educational competencies.

  • U.S. Department of Labor
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Vault provides guidebooks about industries and careers, as well as specialized job search preparation.

Use AI to Explore Careers

  • AI in Career Development
  • Prompts inspired by UMass Amherst
    • You are an experienced career coach. Ask me a set of questions to understand my career interests, academic and work experiences, skill set, and what motivates me in the workplace. After providing responses, give me practical advice about what actions I should take in determining my public service career path.
    • What is a typical career path for a [role/job title]? Please explain what knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences are needed to progress in the path.
    • Based on experiences in my resume, what are 5 public service-related career fields I may want to explore? Please share why the field is suggested and how it relates to my resume. [insert resume lines]