Selecting a Career...

If you are not familiar with the process of selecting a major or a career, you should see a counselor. Taking into consideration your academic record, financial resources, work and family responsibilities, aspirations and interests, the counselor will recommend steps for you to follow in the selection of a career. A counselor may recommend that you do some of the following activities:

Take a career interest inventory assessment.  An interest inventory consists of a series of statements regarding your likes and dislikes in relation to various work-related activities. Once your responses to these statements are scored, you will be provided with a list of occupations to explore. The interest inventory assessment can be done either as a take-home paper and pencil instrument (Campbell, Strong) or as a do-it-yourself assessment using a computer (Choices) program.

Explore the recommended careers /occupations. You can find the following information on most careers and occupations:

• Description: Gives you an idea of the work activities performed by an individual in a particular occupation
• How much education is needed. Courses needed (Math, Science, English?)
• Positive and negative aspects
• Salaries earned by individuals
• Future job outlook

Find this information in one of the following:

• Career Guides: Occupational Outlook Handbook, Encyclopedia of Careers, Dictionary of Occupational Titles and various other career publications

• Occupational Files which are located in four file cabinets in the Career and Transfer Center

• Computer Program:Choices provides printouts with occupational information

• Internet: You can access the Occupational Outlook Handbook and other sources of career information. Click on Bookmarks (on the menu bar) and select Careers. There you will find a list of Web sites that provide information on careers.

Also, we recommend that you follow some of the above mentioned steps if you already have an interest in a career, but need help making a final selection.

For more information on this subject you can pick up a copy of the Career Exploration Guide. This guide can take you through the career decision-making process. You can obtain a copy of the Career Exploration Guide in the Career and Transfer Center.

The Counseling Department offers a career decision-making course, COUN 101, to those who wish to learn decision-making skills to be used for career and life planning. Ask a counselor for more information on this course.

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Transfer Planning...

Transfer planning is similar to career decision-making. You need to determine what characteristics you want from a school (academic majors offered, size, convenience, cost, etc.) and match those with potential colleges and universities. The following resources and strategies will help you determine the college or university you want to attend after you leave Community College of Philadelphia.

Finding Colleges and Universities Which Offer My Major

Go to the bookcase labeled "College and Career Information"

Look for the "Index of Majors and Graduate Degrees" which matches majors with colleges and universities. In order to find which schools have your major, you must:

Find your major. Majors are listed in alphabetical order. Look under more than one title (Justice or Criminal Justice; Health Information Technology or Medical Records Technology, etc.)

Find the state where you want to continue your education. You will see a list of colleges and universities that offer your major.

You could also look in one of our college guides: Barron's, Peterson's, etc.

Finding Information on Colleges and Universities

At the Career and Transfer Center, go to the bookcase labeled "College and Career Information"

Look in one of our college guides: Barron's, Peterson's, The College Board, etc. These guides have basic information on college tuition and other costs, majors, application deadlines, addresses and phone numbers, etc.

Go to the bookcase labeled "College Catalogues". We have catalogues for most colleges and universities in the Greater Philadelphia Area, Pennsylvania and some out-of-state schools. An attempt is made to acquire catalogs from mid-Atlantic states and other popular schools.

Use our Internet connection to access the homepages of most colleges and universities in the US and abroad. Most of these Web sites have extensive information on individual colleges, including their catalogues.

Transferring Courses and Associate Degrees

• Look in the files labeled "College Transfer Information." There you will find guidelines with the courses that transfer from Community College of Philadelphia to most area schools. We do not have transfer guidelines for every college nor for every program at each college, but we do have some guidelines for the most popular majors and colleges.

• Review the Transfer Agreements located in the file cabinets which contain the transfer guidelines to specific majors at specific schools.

• Review the Transfer Agreements on-line.

• Consult the Master List of Transfer Courses which is located in a binder on top of the transfer files.

If you find little or no information about a college that interests you, please consult with a counselor.

Counselors are also available if you have questions about the transfer process. You may make an appointment by seeing the Intake Receptionist in room W2-2 or calling 751-8169.

For more information on this subject you can pick up a copy of the College Transfer Exploration Guide. This guide can take you through the college transfer decision-making process. You can obtain a copy of the College Transfer Exploration Guide in the Career and Transfer Center.

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Letters of Recommendation

The Career and Transfer Center provides services to students who wish to keep their letters of recommendation from teachers on file at the Center as follows:

Students fill out a Letter of Recommendation Form. The staff of the Center prepares a file with the student's name.

The student is given one or more forms (on official Community College letterhead) for his/her teachers to write the letters of recommendation.

Teachers return the letters to the staff of the Center or give them to the student to bring back to the Center.

The staff of the Center places the letter (s) in the student's file.

At the student's request, the staff will mail copies of the letter(s) to other schools. These copies are sent with a cover form on official Community College of Philadelphia letterhead. Students are responsible for providing the name, title, office, etc. where the letter (s) is to be sent.

 

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Obtaining Information On Grants And Scholarships...

In addition to the government sponsored financial aid programs (Pell, PHEAA, etc.), there are a variety of private sources for grants and scholarships. The Career and Transfer Center offers various sources for information on these grants and scholarships such as:

Books - The "College and Career Information" bookcase contains several books where students can look for information on financial assistance including grants and scholarships from government or private sources.

Computer Programs and Web sites such as: The Financial Aid Information Page and FastWEB that allow you to search for information on grants and scholarships may be reached using the computers in the Center. These programs ask you to answer a series of questions about your personal and educational background and give you a list of grants and scholarships for which you may qualify. You could use this list to apply for these grants and scholarship programs.

At any time, you can make an appointment with a counselor to discuss your concerns about career and transfer issues. Ask the Intake Receptionist (in W2-2) for an appointment. Counselors are generally available from 9:00 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9:00 a. m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays during the Fall and Spring semesters. See the Intake Receptionist for the summer schedule.

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