Self-Discovery

Career Exploration & Development begins with learning about yourself and the world around you.  What are you good at?  Do you know how your interests match up to career opportunities?  Do you know what skills you will need to obtain that job? What kind of lifestyle do you want for yourself?  Self-assessments are the place to start shaping your future goals and will help you explore who you are and suggest career options that could be fulfilling for you.

Goals:

• Identify your skills, interests, and values to identify career interests that match you.
• Identify the educational programs that match your career interests.
• Seek out activities that align with you career interests.

Tools to help you with your self-discovery journey:

• Career Coach  is a self-assessment tool to find out what your interests are and how they relate to the world of work!
• Texas Career Check offers information on hundreds of job titles, pay information, and future projected jobs
• My Next Move allows you to search careers, industries, and career interests
• LinkedIn Learning allows you to learn a new skill 
• Join Handshake to find a multitude of information from student stories, interview tips, job roles, life after graduation and much more

Explore Career Opportunities

Career Exploration & Development includes learning about various occupations and determining their fit with your unique skills.  Career exploration helps you make the connections between your interests and the job market.

Goals:

• Identify skills requirements of your selected education program.
• Learn about career pathways that align with your selected education program.
• Determine the level of education needed for your selected education program; Certificate of Completion, Level 1 Certificate, Associate degree, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, or Doctoral degree.

Tools to help you with exploring career opportunities:

• Career Coach – Local Work Opportunities for exploring career options and browse AC programs and search local job postings
• WorkinTexas immediate job openings across Texas
• Workforce Solutions Deep East Texas: Jobs Now immediate job openings for local employers (by county)
• Lufkin/Angelina Chamber of Commerce: Job Search immediate job openings in Lufkin/Angelina County
• Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce: Job Search immediate job openings in Nacogdoches County
• LinkedIn worldwide professional networking
• Join Handshake to find employers for every career path

Marketing Your Skills

Marketing yourself to a potential employer is a way to show them how awesome you are.

Goals:

• Prepare your resume.
• Prepare and practice your elevator speech.
• Strengthen your communication skills by practicing interviewing questions in front of others.

Tools to help you with marketing yourself:

• Career Coach-Resume Builder to build your resume 
• Aztec Ready for Work Series – Employability skills are general skills that are necessary for success in the workforce at all employment levels, in all sectors.  topic include: Communication Skills, Self-Management Skills, Working with Others, and Pre-Employment Skills. Request access to Aztec at gethired@angelina.edu
• Create an Elevator Pitch (quick tips from Carnegie Mellon University) for your 30-60 second statement of who you are, what you want to do career-wise, and what you can provide to a company.
• Using tips from LinkedIn Learning, you can write an effective resume, master common interview questions, learn to communicate with confidence 
• Improve your essential (soft) skills with this 8 module free course Improve your soft skills from Google Digital Garage

• HP Life is a skills-training program designed to for people who what to learn relevant skills including communication and marketing and get a certificate of completion with each course
  • Success Mindset – Find out what a success mindset is, how to develop one, and how it helps you create a successful future.
  • Business Communications – Learn why business communications are important and how to create a simple framework you can use to improve your business communication skills.
  • Business Email – Learn how to write professional business emails to communicate effectively with your customers and suppliers.
  • Effective Leadership – Understand when and how to use different leadership approaches to become a stronger and more effective leader in all aspects of business.
  • Effective Presentations – Learn how to create well-designed slide presentations that express your message clearly and are targeted to a specific audience.
  • Presenting Data – Discover how to use spreadsheet software to create charts that convey your business’s data effectively.

Labor Market

Labor Market information includes a variety of data elements that helps you determine which occupations are growing and are in demand in a particular area.

Goals:

• Determine if there will be job openings for you career interests in the future.
• Identify where the job openings are local, in Texas, or across state lines that are located in areas you plan to live.
• Identify entry level wages for your career interest.

Tools to help you with researching labor market data:

Local Labor Market Information

• Workforce Solutions Deep East Texas Labor Market Information
• Workforce Solutions Deep East Texas Demand Occupations

Texas Labor Market Information

• Texas LMI easy to use labor market research tools

US Labor Market Information

• O*NET tools for career exploration and job analysis

Gaining Skills While Attending College

Complimentary Workforce Education Programs
Complimentary programs are short-term courses that prepare students for certification or licensure.  These fast and affordable programs can help you transition into a new career with additional skills that employers need. 

Goals:

• Determine if there are any short-term courses that align with your career interests that will help with an entry level job.
• Build your professional network with faculty and staff.
• Consider additional skills for your future career goals.

Programs are available in a variety of fields, from medical/allied health and public safety, to industry and risk management & safety. 

Work-Study Program
The Federal Work-Study Program provides part-time employment for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to the student’s course of study. Work-Study is also a great way to build your resume. Work-Study jobs provide a variety of skills and are a great opportunity to acquire work experience that is valuable after graduation.

Work-study Positions available at Angelina College – search workstudy

College Tutor
Being a tutor benefits students in multiple ways. Tutoring students will give you leadership skills, the ability to communicate well, and allow you to be creative.  Tutoring is also a great way to build your resume. Tutoring allows you a place to sharpen your skills when explaining difficult concepts to others and gaining patients when working through difficult situations.

Tutor Positions available at Angelina College – search tutor

Volunteering
What can volunteering teach you?  Did you know that volunteering allows you the opportunity to practice and develop an array of social, relationship and other soft skills beneficial to gain real-world career experience.  Volunteering allows students to apply their in-classroom education to real-world experiences while exploring diverse career paths and opportunities.  Some of the most valuable skills that are learned during volunteering include Time-Management, Leadership, Communication Skills, Professionalism, Teamwork, Problem Solving, and Planning.

Lufkin and Angelina County Volunteer Opportunities

Explore our majors HERE.

Download College to Career Plan of Action Document

Download Mock Resume Worksheet

Download Resume Checklist