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Define Your Brand & Decide Your Career (UG)

By Rajkamal Rao

Go Back to Our 7 Steps To Improve ROI For Undergrads

Going to college is one of the most meaningful decisions you will make in your life. Once you decide college is the right thing for you, where to go to college and what to study are two major choices you will make - choices that will have a profound impact on your career.

To start, it makes sense to focus on who you are and what you want. All the things that you do in this step can help you significantly throughout the process - and even beyond. But it is also true that a lot of what you do in this step will change over time. Someone who thinks she wants to be a nurse could change after two years of college leading her to pursue a medical program instead.

But don't worry too much about that now. Let's focus on the basics.

First, write down your strengths and what really differentiates you from your friends. Perhaps you are strong in math. Or you are good in the way you write. Or you have excellent speaking skills based on all the compering you have done at school events. Or you are a good organizer. Or you have learned a foreign language and are good at it. Or you are devoted to a social cause, such as working for a non-profit on weekends.

One of the world's most successful companies, Google, looks for key attributes in a future employee. Although you are not applying to Google for a job, it can help to look at yourself through the Google lens. These attributes are: technical ability; learning ability; emergent leadership (sense of ownership to step in) and intellectual humility to recognize the competence of others on the team to step back.

So, write down every positive thing about you that makes you proud of your accomplishments.

Next, demonstrate, don't just tell. That is, for each positive thing you wrote about yourself, try to provide a concrete example. If you claim you are good in writing, document the articles you wrote - including title and date. If you think you are good in research, document the name of the teachers you conducted the research for and what you learned from the project. Don't exaggerate your accomplishments just yet - be truthful.

In summary, what you are doing is building your "Personal Brand" which will ultimately result in your resume. Your brand is your mark of distinction - a definition of who you are. We all associate brands with some things that we like and some things that we don't. For example, the moment one mentions a BMW automobile, you assign various attributes to it - it looks great, it is featured in James Bond movies, it is a symbol of luxury, it is superbly engineered - but the one factor that is universally associated with a BMW automobile is that it is pricey. It has taken the BMW brand decades to build and nurture this identity.

You are just starting out, so this effort at defining your own brand is critical. It will help you write your resume which is an important part of your college application and allows you to brag about your accomplishments.

Building a personal brand

A good framework for building your personal brand is to define yourself across four dimensions:

· Personal competencies - including how prompt you are, how organized you are, how well you interact with others, how helpful you are to others, skills in languages, etc.

· Functional competencies - this includes how good you are in your core subjects, whether you are a big-picture person or a detail-oriented individual.

· Technical competencies - including how good you are in the use of computers, office tools and software development.

· Industry competencies - high students tend to be low in this dimension but if you have exposure to a particular industry - say healthcare because you interned at a hospital - it is good to write this down.

The second part of this step is to know what you want to do in life. You are allowed to dream here. If you had a magic wand and you could get everything that you wanted, what would you want to be 5 years from now? It's not good enough to say that you want to earn a lot of money, drive good cars, own a nice home and share it with someone you love.

You must be as specific and honest as possible. There is a time and a place to say what another person wants to hear about your plans but this is not it. As we said, this exercise is almost like looking in the mirror: you want to first understand what you want in life.

It is fine if you don't have all the answers - but if you still need help about who you are and what you want to do, we introduce you to a free, quick, world-class method that will help.

The RIASEC model

This method was first invented by John Holland, a psychologist and career counselor. It revolves around a simple assessment that is designed to help people make educational and career decisions based on their interests.

Holland’s renowned Self-Directed Search requires people to answer yes or no to simple statements like "I understand the 'Big Bang' theory of the universe" and "I can refinish furniture or woodwork". Using responses to 60 questions, Holland concluded that people could identify their strengths, weaknesses and size up the right career - and in our case, the right field of study to pursue in college.

Holland, who died in 2008, told the Johns Hopkins Gazette in 1997: “These techniques are childlike because they're so simple. Some scientists think that because this is so easy to understand, it can't amount to anything. In science there is often a sales mission, though people don't like to admit that. In fact, anybody can get this message if they want it."

Although Holland was a professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins, he was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska for his work. He received the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge in 1994, and the Extended Research Award from the American Counseling Association in 1995. For more information about this distinguished human scientist, visit the home page of the National Career Development Association and search for John Holland.

Holland became world famous for his simple RIASEC model. He argued that people naturally fall into one or more of six types - the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising or Conventional. His assessment test helps a person recognize which bucket he or she falls in.

Then, the model provides pointers about different career opportunities that he or she could pursue. The best part of the Holland test is that there is no right or wrong answer, because, after all, each person is unique and different. For the same reason, the test can be retaken multiple times without penalty.

Thanks to the US government, anyone can take this test for free and in the privacy of one’s own home. We are big believers in using information put out by US government agencies whenever we can, because the information is accurate, reliable, generally unbiased and best of all - FREE. The US government spends billions of our tax dollars in collecting, filtering, analyzing and publishing information. The private economy all over the world relies on information published by the US government for these very reasons. Wall Street uses government numbers to make minute adjustments to its strategy of buying, selling and dealing. Farmers use Department of Agriculture data for all things related to the growing cycle. US consumers rarely buy a drug that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Information from the National Weather Service is used by broadcast and print media all over the country.

ONET Interest Profiler

The Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration sponsors a world-class website called My Next Move. This site contains an elegant online version of Holland’s test - called the ONET interest profiler - developed to serve students and career aspirants in today’s global economy. But ONET is more than just this test as you will see in the coming chapters - it can serve as your one-stop shop for career planning not only now but even after you graduate from college.

Once you fill out radio button responses to the 60 questions on the ONET profiler, the results show your RIASEC score which should ordinarily confirm your interests. If you answered “unsure” to too many questions, it may be a good idea to take the test again. When you are comfortable that your RIASEC score indeed represents you, try and print it out - or save it electronically for future reference.

Next, the tool will take you to one of five Job Zones, which are groups of careers that need the same level of experience, education, and training, other things being equal. You will be asked to pick a Job Zone. Using your Job Zone and your interests, the Interest Profiler will help you identify and explore careers that might be right for you.

Occupations grouped by RIASEC code

If you find that the interest profiler doesn’t give you all the careers that may be right for you, consult the following excellent list of occupations grouped by primary interest area thanks to the ONET website.

Up to one hundred occupations per code are shown. We copy and paste this information under fair use so that you can appreciate the research that has gone into this effort. For more information on any specific occupation, click on the RIASEC code of interest. Once you find an occupation of your liking, click on it again and the site provides you with a “Summary Report” - a world of additional information including the following:

The “Interests” section repeats all the RIASEC codes for the occupation. For example, for the occupation “Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers” the interest codes are listed as EIS (Enterprising, Investigative & Social).

Notice that this information is fairly static in the sense that it does not change dramatically from one year to the next. In the next chapter, we will show you how to use government databases to find more dynamic information such as compensation levels that can be expected; how fast or slow the prospects for the career are; the industries that typically hire for such occupations, and the overall future job outlook.

Also, not all of these careers need a college degree. For a subset of careers which does, please go to the next section.

REALISTIC CAREERS

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

1. Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants

2. Continuous Mining Machine Operators Green Occupation Green

3. Cooks, Fast Food

4. Cooks, Short Order

5. Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop

6. Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

7. Dishwashers

8. Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop

9. Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals

10. Food Preparation Workers

11. Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

12. Nursery Workers

13. Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

14. Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

15. Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs

16. Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians

17. Biomass Plant Technicians Green Occupation

18. Bus Drivers, School or Special Client

19. Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers Green Occupation

20. Construction Carpenters Green Occupation

21. Construction Laborers Green Occupation

22. Cooks, Restaurant

23. Forest Firefighters

24. Geothermal Technicians Green Occupation

25. Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers Green Occupation

26. Helpers--Production Workers

27. Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators Green Occupation

28. Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall Green Occupation

29. Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners

30. Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

31. Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners

32. Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators Green Occupation

33. Parking Lot Attendants

34. Recycling and Reclamation Workers Green Occupation

35. Security Guards

36. Solderers and Brazers Green Occupation

37. Stock Clerks- Stockroom, Warehouse, or Storage Yard

38. Team Assemblers Green Occupation

39. Tire Repairers and Changers

40. Weatherization Installers and Technicians Green Occupation

41. Automotive Master Mechanics

42. Automotive Specialty Technicians Green Occupation

43. Computer User Support Specialists

44. Electricians Green Occupation

45. Electronics Engineering Technologists Green Occupation

46. Heating and Air Conditioning Mechanics and Installers Green Occupation

47. Industrial Machinery Mechanics Green Occupation

48. Maintenance and Repair Workers, General Green Occupation

49. Manufacturing Production Technicians Green Occupation

50. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians

51. Medical Equipment Repairers

52. Photonics Technicians Green Occupation

53. Pipe Fitters and Steamfitters Green Occupation

54. Plumbers Green Occupation

55. Police Patrol Officers

56. Precision Agriculture Technicians Green Occupation

57. Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers Green Occupation

58. Surgical Technologists

59. Telecommunications Engineering Specialists

60. Welders, Cutters, and Welder Fitters Green Occupation

61. Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technicians

62. Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers

63. Biological Technicians

64. Cartographers and Photogrammetrists

65. Civil Engineers Green Occupation

66. Construction Managers Green Occupation

67. Electrical Engineering Technologists Green Occupation

68. Electromechanical Engineering Technologists Green Occupation

69. Fish and Game Wardens Green Occupation

70. Foresters

71. Freight and Cargo Inspectors

72. Manufacturing Engineering Technologists Green Occupation

73. Manufacturing Engineers Green Occupation

74. Museum Technicians and Conservators

75. Range Managers

76. Remote Sensing Technicians Green Occupation

77. Security Management Specialists

78. Surveyors

79. Transportation Engineers Green Occupation

80.Wind Energy Engineers Green Occupation

81. Acupuncturists

82. Anesthesiologist Assistants

83. Architectural and Engineering Managers Green Occupation

84. Environmental Engineers Green Occupation

85. Environmental Restoration Planners Green Occupation

86. Farm and Home Management Advisors Green Occupation

87. Geographers

88.Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists

89. Materials Scientists Green Occupation

90. Molecular and Cellular Biologists

91. Nurse Anesthetists

92. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

93. Orthotists and Prosthetists

94. Pathologists

95. Radiologists

96. Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists Green Occupation

97. Soil and Plant Scientists Green Occupation

98. Surgeons

99. Veterinarians

100. Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists Green Occupation

INVESTIGATIVE CAREERS

Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

1. Continuous Mining Machine Operators

2. Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas

3. Logging Equipment Operators

4. Bicycle Repairers

5. Biomass Plant Technicians

6. Brickmasons and Blockmasons

7. Construction Carpenters

8. Dental Laboratory Technicians

9. Dietetic Technicians

10. Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas

11. Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

12. Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers

13. Insulation Workers, Mechanical

14. Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

15. Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders

16. Non-Destructive Testing Specialists

17. Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

18. Pile-Driver Operators

19. Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians

20. Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers

21. Riggers

22. Rough Carpenters

23. Structural Iron and Steel Workers

24. Automotive Master Mechanics

25. Automotive Specialty Technicians

26. Chemical Technicians

27. Computer User Support Specialists

28. Coroners

29. Critical Care Nurses

30. Diagnostic Medical Sonographers

31. Electricians

32. Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics

33. Fire Investigators

34. Industrial Engineering Technicians

35. Industrial Machinery Mechanics

36. Mechanical Engineering Technologists

37. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians

38. Nuclear Medicine Technologists

39. Photonics Technicians

40. Precision Agriculture Technicians

41. Quality Control Analysts

42. Registered Nurses

43. Veterinary Technologists and Technicians

44. Biochemical Engineers

45. Biomedical Engineers

46. Business Intelligence Analysts

47. Computer Systems Analysts

48. Energy Engineers

49. Geospatial Information Scientists and Technologists

50. Industrial Engineering Technologists

51. Intelligence Analysts

52. Logistics Engineers

53. Management Analysts

54. Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

55. Mechatronics Engineers

56. Network and Computer Systems Administrators

57. Photonics Engineers

58. Robotics Engineers

59. Software Developers, Applications

60. Software Developers, Systems Software

61. Transportation Planners

62. Validation Engineers

63. Water Resource Specialists

64. Allergists and Immunologists

65. Audiologists

66. Biostatisticians

67. Climate Change Analysts

68. Dermatologists

69. Environmental Restoration Planners

70. Geneticists

71. Geographers

72. Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists

73. Molecular and Cellular Biologists

74. Nuclear Medicine Physicians

75. Nurse Anesthetists

76. Operations Research Analysts

77. Optometrists

78. Orthoptists

79. Pharmacists

80.Radiologists

81. Sports Medicine Physicians

82. Surgeons

83. Veterinarians

ARTISTIC CAREERS

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

1. Furniture Finishers

2. Models

3. Actors

4. Childcare Workers Bright Outlook Bright Outlook

5. Craft Artists

6. Floral Designers

7. Public Address System and Other Announcers

8. Sewers, Hand

9. Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers

10. Singers

11. Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing

12. Tile and Marble Setters

13. Cooks, Private Household

14. Dancers

15. Desktop Publishers

16. Fashion Designers

17. Film and Video Editors

18. Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

19. Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists Bright Outlook

20. Jewelers

21. Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance

22. Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers

23. Music Composers and Arrangers

24. Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners

25. Musicians, Instrumental

26. Nannies Bright Outlook

27. Photographers

28. Potters, Manufacturing

29. Precious Metal Workers

30. Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education Bright Outlook

31. Radio and Television Announcers

32. Self-Enrichment Education Teachers

33. Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers

34. Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Occupation

35. Architectural Drafters Occupation

36. Art Directors

37. Broadcast News Analysts

38. Choreographers Bright Outlook

39. Commercial and Industrial Designers Occupation

40. Editors

41. Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education Bright Outlook

42. Graphic Designers

43. Interior Designers

44. Interpreters and Translators Bright Outlook

45. Landscape Architects Occupation

46. Multimedia Artists and Animators

47. Music Directors

48. Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers

49. Public Relations Specialists Occupation

50. Reporters and Correspondents Occupation

51. Technical Writers

52. Training and Development Specialists Occupation

53. Video Game Designers Bright Outlook

54. Anthropologists

55. Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary

56. Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary

57. Astronomers

58. Biochemists and Biophysicists

59. Communications Teachers, Postsecondary

60. Counseling Psychologists

61. Education Teachers, Postsecondary

62. English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

63. Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

64. Geneticists Bright Outlook

65. Geographers Bright Outlook

66. Marriage and Family Therapists Bright Outlook

67. Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists

68. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers Bright Outlook

69. Neuropsychologists and Clinical Neuropsychologists Bright Outlook

70. Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary

71. Political Scientists

72. Set and Exhibit Designers

73. Sociologists

SOCIAL CAREERS

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

1. Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop

2. Crossing Guards

3. Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

4. Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

5. Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop

6. Waiters and Waitresses

7. Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians

8. Animal Control Workers

9. Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity Green Occupation Green

10. Childcare Workers

11. Customer Service Representatives Green Occupation

12. Dietetic Technicians

13. Forest Firefighters

14. Funeral Attendants

15. Home Health Aides

16. Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

17. Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers

18. Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants

19. Nursing Assistants

20. Personal Care Aides

21. Physical Therapist Aides

22. Psychiatric Aides

23. Public Address System and Other Announcers

24. Receptionists and Information Clerks

25. Telephone Operators

26. Transportation Attendants, Except Flight Attendants

27. Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers

28. Acute Care Nurses

29. Concierges

30. Critical Care Nurses

31. Dental Hygienists

32. Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics

33. Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

34. Massage Therapists

35. Medical Assistants

36. Nannies

37. Occupational Therapy Aides

38. Occupational Therapy Assistants

39. Physical Therapist Assistants

40. Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

41. Radiation Therapists

42. Registered Nurses

43. Residential Advisors

44. Self-Enrichment Education Teachers

45. Speech-Language Pathology Assistants

46. Teacher Assistants

47. Tour Guides and Escorts

48. Adapted Physical Education Specialists

49. Child, Family, and School Social Workers

50. Coaches and Scouts

51. Community Health Workers

52. Education Administrators, Preschool and Childcare Center/Program

53. Emergency Management Directors

54. Equal Opportunity Representatives and Officers

55. Health Educators

56. Informatics Nurse Specialists

57. Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

58. Midwives

59. Park Naturalists

60. Patient Representatives

61. Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

62. Recreation Workers

63. Recreational Therapists

64. Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

65. Training and Development Specialists Green Occupation

66. Acupuncturists

67. Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses

68. Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators Green Occupation

69. Athletic Trainers

70. Clergy

71. Counseling Psychologists

72. Exercise Physiologists

73. Farm and Home Management Advisors Green Occupation

74. Healthcare Social Workers

75. Hospitalists

76. Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapists

77. Marriage and Family Therapists

78. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

79. Mental Health Counselors

80.Nurse Midwives

81. Nurse Practitioners

82. Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary

83. Occupational Therapists

84. Physical Therapists

85. Physician Assistants

86. Preventive Medicine Physicians

87. Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors

ENTERPRISING CAREERS

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

1. Amusement and Recreation Attendants

2. Bridge and Lock Tenders

3. Cashiers

4. Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food

5. Counter and Rental Clerks

6. Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop

7. Crossing Guards

8. Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

9. Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop

10. Models

11. Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs

12. Waiters and Waitresses

13. Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors

14. Bartenders

15. Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers Green Occupation Green

16. Customer Service Representatives Green Occupation

17. Demonstrators and Product Promoters

18. Door-To-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers

19. Driver/Sales Workers

20. Farm Labor Contractors

21. First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers

22. First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers

23. First-Line Supervisors of Logging Workers Green Occupation

24. First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers Green Occupation

25. First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

26. First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators

27. Gaming Supervisors

28. Parts Salespersons

29. Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters Green Occupation

30. Retail Salespersons

31. Stock Clerks, Sales Floor

32. Telemarketers

33. Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers

34. Chefs and Head Cooks

35. Customs Brokers

36. First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers

37. First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers

38. First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers Green Occupation

39. First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

40. First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers

41. Food Service Managers

42. Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors

43. Geothermal Production Managers Green Occupation

44. Nursery and Greenhouse Managers

45. Opticians, Dispensing

46. Real Estate Sales Agents

47. Sales Agents, Financial Services

48. Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs

49. Ship and Boat Captains

50. Solar Sales Representatives and Assessors Green Occupation

51. Spa Managers

52. Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products Green Occupation

53. Biomass Power Plant Managers Green Occupation

54. Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers Green Occupation

55. Business Continuity Planners

56. Clinical Research Coordinators

57. Construction Managers Green Occupation

58. Financial Managers, Branch or Department

59. General and Operations Managers Green Occupation

60. Human Resources Specialists

61. Information Technology Project Managers

62. Insurance Sales Agents

63. Logisticians

64. Loss Prevention Managers

65. Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners

66. Personal Financial Advisors Green Occupation

67. Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers

68. Real Estate Brokers

69. Regulatory Affairs Managers Green Occupation

70. Sales Agents, Securities and Commodities

71. Sales Managers

72. Security Managers

73. Supply Chain Managers Green Occupation

74. Sustainability Specialists Green Occupation

75. Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers

76. Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators Green Occupation

77. Architectural and Engineering Managers Green Occupation

78. Chief Executives

79. Chief Sustainability Officers Green Occupation

80.Climate Change Analysts Green Occupation

81. Clinical Nurse Specialists

82. Curators

83. Distance Learning Coordinators

84. Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School

85. Education Administrators, Postsecondary

86. Environmental Economists Green Occupation

87. Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

88.Instructional Designers and Technologists

89. Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates

90. Lawyers

91. Medical and Health Services Managers

92. Natural Sciences Managers Green Occupation

93. Treasurers and Controllers

94. Urban and Regional Planners Green Occupation

CONVENTIONAL CAREERS

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

1. Amusement and Recreation Attendants

2. Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants

3. Cashiers

4. Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food

5. Continuous Mining Machine Operators Green Occupation Green

6. Cooks, Fast Food

7. Cooks, Short Order

8. Counter and Rental Clerks

9. Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

10. Dishwashers

11. Food Preparation Workers

12. Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products

13. Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

14. Slaughterers and Meat Packers

15. Bill and Account Collectors

16. Billing, Cost, and Rate Clerks

17. Cargo and Freight Agents

18. Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance Green Occupation

19. Gaming Change Persons and Booth Cashiers

20. Gaming Dealers

21. Helpers--Production Workers

22. Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

23. Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers Green Occupation

24. Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners

25. Marking Clerks

26. Office Clerks, General

27. Order Fillers, Wholesale and Retail Sales

28. Pharmacy Aides

29. Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

30. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers

31. Postal Service Mail Carriers

32. Receptionists and Information Clerks

33. Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

34. Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks Green Occupation

35. Statement Clerks

36. Stock Clerks, Sales Floor

37. Stock Clerks- Stockroom, Warehouse, or Storage Yard

38. Tellers

39. Tire Repairers and Changers

40. Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers

41. Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

42. Dental Assistants

43. Energy Auditors Green Occupation

44. Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

45. Immigration and Customs Inspectors

46. Licensing Examiners and Inspectors

47. Loan Officers

48. Mapping Technicians

49. Medical Records and Health Information Technicians

50. Medical Secretaries

51. Occupational Health and Safety Technicians Green Occupation

52. Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

53. Ophthalmic Medical Technologists

54. Pharmacy Technicians

55. Phlebotomists

56. Police Identification and Records Officers

57. Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks Green Occupation

58. Quality Control Analysts

59. Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

60. Web Administrators

61. Accountants

62. Actuaries

63. Auditors

64. City and Regional Planning Aides

65. Clinical Data Managers

66. Compliance Managers Green Occupation

67. Cost Estimators

68. Database Administrators

69. Document Management Specialists

70. Financial Analysts Green Occupation

71. Geophysical Data Technicians Green Occupation

72. Information Security Analysts

73. Library Technicians

74. Logistics Analysts Green Occupation

75. Proofreaders and Copy Markers

76. Regulatory Affairs Specialists Green Occupation

77. Risk Management Specialists Green Occupation

78. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products

79. Social and Human Service Assistants

80.Social Science Research Assistants

81. Archivists

82. Bioinformatics Scientists

83. Biostatisticians

84. Chief Executives

85. Chief Sustainability Officers Green Occupation

86. Curators

87. Distance Learning Coordinators

88.Economists

89. Education Administrators, Postsecondary

90. Environmental Economists Green Occupation

91. Graduate Teaching Assistants

92. Judicial Law Clerks

93. Librarians

94. Mathematicians

95. Medical and Health Services Managers

96. Operations Research Analysts

97. Pharmacists

98. Statisticians

99. Survey Researchers

100. Treasurers and Controllers

Occupations defined by multiple RIASEC codes

While many careers listed above have a one-to-one relationship between RIASEC code and the occupation, some have a one-to-many relationship. For example, a veterinarian has both Realistic and Investigative traits - and one can see that this makes sense.

Your RIASEC score will show you if you have traits that flow across multiple codes. At the ONET website, you can choose them as additional filters to find the most targeted careers. To test this out, go to the website and choose Conventional, Realistic and Social as your three interest area codes. This will result in 19 occupations as follows:

1. Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers

2. Library Assistants, Clerical

3. Postal Service Clerks

4. Telephone Operators

5. Nursing Assistants

6. Animal Control Workers

7. Personal Care Aides

8. Psychiatric Aides

9. Dental Assistants

10. Pharmacy Technicians

11. Ophthalmic Medical Technicians

12. Surgical Assistants

13. Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists

14. Radiologic Technicians

15. Medical Assistants

16. Surgical Technologists

17. Dental Hygienists

18. Radiation Therapists

19. Audio-Visual and Multimedia Collections Specialists

Occupations needing a college degree

Of the 500 or so careers grouped by RIASEC interest, it is clear that not every occupation requires a college degree. This site is about college selection, so we need to map your RIASEC interest to a career that needs a college degree.

Luckily, ONET also classifies careers in to “Job Zones”, which are really descriptions of how “prepared” one must be to do a job.

For example, many occupations in the restaurant industry (Fast Food Cook, Dishwashers, Waiters and Cafeteria Attendants) do not need a lot of preparation and training. They certainly don’t demand a college degree; in fact, they don’t even need a high school degree which is why many high school students work these jobs in the summer to earn some extra cash. Such jobs are classified as being in Job Zone 1.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have certain jobs (Brain Surgeon, Economics Professor, Lawyer, Astronaut and Scientist) that need a lot of education, training and experience - and these are classified to be in Job Zone 5.

By filtering careers based on Job Zones, we can eliminate those that do not need a college degree. Conversely, we are only interested in Job Zones 4 & 5, because they generally require at least a Bachelor’s degree.

By filtering all RIASEC careers by Job Zones Four and Five results in 224 occupations for Job Zone Four - from Accounts to Wind Energy Engineers - and 157 occupations from Job Zone Five - from Acupuncturists to Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists. Together, these result in 381 careers for which a college degree is highly preferred.

Summary. This page describes how to define your interests and introduces you to a world-class set of tools to shed some light on who you are, which careers you may enjoy and which ones need a college degree. The ONET database will give you accurate information about each occupation you select including the minimum education necessary to be successful.

All of these data points will give you strong indications about what you may want to study in college. As we said before, a student who knows what he/she wants to study and concentrates on a defined path is more likely to graduate in 4 years, thereby improving ROI.

And improving ROI is the primary goal of our site.

A Note About Rao Advisors Premium Services
Our promise is to empower you with as much high-quality, ethical and free advice as is possible via this website. But parents and students often ask us if they can engage with us for individual counseling sessions.

Individual counseling is part of the Premium Offering of Rao Advisors and involves a fee. Please contact us for more information.

Go back to "Rao Advisors - Home".

Exciting offers for low and middle-income families

By Rajkamal Rao

Go Back to Our 7 Steps To Improve ROI For Undergrads

"If you’re making less than $100,000 per year as a family, you tend to not pay much of anything in tuition costs anyway - it is cheaper than going to a state school.” - Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management, University of Pennsylvania.

In recent years, many colleges have expanded their outreach to low and middle-income families by offering extremely generous tuition discounts, sometimes over 90%. Of course, students from these families must still get in through the normal admissions process. In the chart below, a low income student admitted to Harvard can get a discount of 96%! Rules about how to define low income vary, but a family which earns less than $60,000 may qualify.

Source: US Department of Education, College Scorecard

The New York Times Upshot column has also included many public universities in its list of colleges that do their best to attract low and middle income students.

Keep a laser-like focus on costs

By Rajkamal Rao

Go Back to Our 7 Steps To Improve ROI For Undergrads

Primer on US College Costs

US college costs can be broken down mainly into the following categories: application fees, tuition, books, test fees (SAT/GRE/TOEFL), test preparation fees, other administrative fees, housing, visa fees, food, health insurance and transportation (both to get to the US and local transportation costs once in the US). Many of these fees are start up expenditures and are neither trivial nor refundable. Good examples here are the application fee, your test fees or the US visa fee. Here's a four year graphic for Texas A & M in College Station, Texas.

As you can see, the two largest components of US college education are tuition fees and living expenses (housing and food).

Credit Hours and Tuition Fees

A credit hour simply represents one hour of class per week for one term or semester. Most US schools break up an academic year into semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer) and each semester generally is 16 weeks long. For example, the Fall semester typically starts the last week of August and runs through the third week of December.

Let's say you sign up for a class that awards you 3 Semester Credit Hours (SCH). What this means is that for the next 16 weeks, you will meet your professor in class (lecture or lab) for 3 hours a week. Perhaps you meet twice a week for a 1 hour 20 minute class; or you meet for a full long 3-hour class in the evening (with two 10-minute breaks included). The idea is that you will receive 16 x 3 = 48 hours of instruction for that class throughout the semester. If your semester is shorter (as in the Summer when there are fewer weeks in the calendar), you will simply end up meeting for more classes during the week.

Colleges charge their fees based on credit hours. If the out-of-state tuition costs for a semester hour are $400, it means that you will pay $1,200 to sign up for this 3 SCH class. Note that at US Public universities, residents who live in the state are provided huge discounts in tuition costs of up to 50%, sometimes more. That is, for the same class, your friend who sits next to you and has lived in the state with his family for many years may only pay $200 per credit hour for a total cost of only $600. This differential pricing is annoying but unfortunately a fact of US academic life.

Most states require people to have paid taxes for at least one year before they can qualify for in-state fees. Private schools do not discriminate in their fees - all students, resident, non-resident or international pay the same fees.

We now know how much tuition you will pay to complete a single class. But how much will you spend to earn a full degree? A typical four-year BA/BS degree will require you to complete 120 credit hours. So, at $400 per credit hour, this works out to $48,000 for the entire degree - approximately $12,000 per year.

Some schools do the math for you and publish fees for the semester (or year) assuming that you will complete 15 credit hours per semester/30 credit hours a year. For example, the University of Texas in Dallas (a Public university) charges in-state tuition of $5,903 for the Fall semester but an out-of-state tuition of $15,189 per year - a discount of 61% for residents.

What if you are interested in Graduate School to earn a MS/ME degree? Luckily the principle is the same. You pay by the credit hour. Each class is typically 3 SCH (some, like a Masters thesis could be 6 SCH). Most MS degrees are awarded if you complete 36 SCH - that is, 12 Masters level courses if you don't pursue a thesis. At UT Dallas, an international student pursuing a MS degree would pay $4,138 per course - and nearly $50,000 for a 12-course Masters degree.

Credit Hour Transfers

Most colleges and universities honor credit hours earned at other colleges and universities, with some limitations. For an MS degree, up to 9 credit hours earned at another US institution could be transferred although some schools limit this to just 6 credit hours. What this means is that if you attend University A in the Fall semester and sign up for three classes (each with three credit hours), you could potentially transfer to University B for the Spring semester with all those 9 credit hours in tact. Your new school will recognize those hours but won't assign a grade to them when you receive your degree.

For BA/BS degrees, transfer programs especially from 2-year community colleges are a lot more lenient and well defined. In other words, you could attend a 2-year community college where tuition rates are much lower and complete up to 60 credit hours - half the needed credit hours to graduate - and transfer all those credits to a 4-year college.

We will now look at ideas to lower your cost of attending college. A lower starting cost results in lower borrowed amounts and a quicker payback of the loan resulting in higher ROI.

The three most obvious ways to lower how much you pay for college are to somehow negotiate a better deal with a school or obtain a better financial aid package from it or other private sources (scholarships, work-study, etc) or both. Financial aid for US students is mostly need-based although a few merit-based programs are available. There are many books that you can consult to maximize your award - in fact, the best person to help you get started would be your high school guidance counselor.

We provide four additional ideas which work well for all students, needy or not.

1. Exploiting articulation agreements between two and four-year colleges

A little known secret, indeed jewel, in the American education system is its two-year community colleges. This system truly has no parallel in the world.

Community colleges are the next level up from K-12 education and are found just about everywhere, generally, at least one community college per county. The mission of community colleges has always been the same - to provide education for individuals, many of whom are adults, in its service region. As the US economy ebbs and flows, as US jobs are outsourced to other nations, as job retraining becomes a critical need - community colleges play a vital role in imparting continuing education to American citizens. And they get lots of money from the state and federal government to conduct their mission.

The facilities are excellent - though not as good as one would find at a 4-year university - but compellingly impressive for an incoming student. Community colleges are a great way to test-drive a 4-year college to see if college is indeed the right choice for you. Professors are not as qualified as at a 4-year university (most community college lecturers have no more than a Masters degree) but their commitment to teaching is generally excellent. Many teachers have day jobs working full time in industry and return to the community college in the evening to teach. In fact, many students who attend college are working full time in industry but are catching up on college credits to earn towards a four-year degree. The focus therefore is not on partying or having fun - but instead on learning and getting home to their families after they are done in class.

The best kept secret yet is that most good community colleges have articulation agreements with top schools. An articulation agreement is a legally binding agreement between a 2-year community college and a 4-year college detailing a simplified but guaranteed transfer from one to the other.

The idea of articulation is that you complete a pre-determined set of courses (or lesson plan) at a lower-cost college and transfer to a destination institution without questions asked (as long as you meet all conditions of articulation).

Suppose you are interested to get a degree in Biomedical Sciences at the prestigious Texas A&M University. What are your chances of getting into Texas A&M as a traditional undergrad? Even if you rate your chances as high, what would be the cost?

At Austin County Community College (ACCC), an in-district Texas resident pays $255 for a three credit hour course. The same costs $1,400 at Texas A&M, more than 5 times as much.

Luckily for us, ACCC and Texas A&M have signed a binding agreement. Accordingly, if a student completes a pre-determined list of courses at ACCC totaling 67 credit hours, obtains at least a 3.6 GPA and doesn't score lower than a B in science and math, this student is automatically guaranteed admission to Texas A&M!

Let us look at the ROI analysis for an in-state student. For this exercise, we are only considering tuition and fees but omitting all other expenses (living, health insurance, transportation, etc).

Traditional Option: Complete 67 Credit Hours at Texas A&M

Total Cost: $27,970.36

[$5057.09 for 12 credit hours x 5; plus $2,684.91 for 7 credit hours]

Articulation Option: Complete 67 hours at Austin CCC

Cost at ACCC: $5,695 ($85 per credit hour x 67 credits)

We calculate that over four years, your savings are $22,275 resulting in at least a 4% uptick in ROI, all other things being equal. Plus it was probably easier and more structured to get in to TAMU to begin with - without the pressure of taking SATs and other college tests. You earn an Associate’s degree along the way which you can add to your resume. And this is a win-win strategy because your 4-year degree will still be stamped by Texas A&M. Many famous Americans have exploited this route, so you won't be alone.

There is just one issue with this approach, though. Not every four-year college has articulation agreements with community colleges. And by definition, articulation agreements are restricted to partners within a state - that is, the community college and the four-year college both are generally present within the same state making transferring across state lines difficult.

Recognizing this gap, Quad Learning, a private company has slowly begun developing a network of community colleges and four-year colleges across the country, called American Honors. The site's mission statement says: "In collaboration with local community colleges and nationally renowned experts in higher education, we create new pathways for individuals to earn a high-quality bachelor’s degree."

The New York Times reports that at the community colleges participating so far, students in the honors program pay about $2,000 per year more in tuition than their classmates. Quad Learning has long-term revenue-sharing agreements with each college. “We like to think about the price as being halfway between a community college and a four-year, open-access university,” said Chris Romer, president of the company. “If we can do the first two years of college for $12,000, that’s a game changer for a lot of families.” Partner schools include Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Stanford, the University of Arizona and Georgetown.

No matter which approach you choose - the in-state articulation method or the American Honors route - the win-win benefits are clear. You can more easily get into a top quality degree program but at a significant discount.

2. State merit-based, no-questions-asked financial aid

In recent years states like Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, New Mexico and West Virginia have begun to offer innovative programs typically based on state lottery revenues which, for qualifying students, can pay 90% of the cost of tuition at a public school for students that graduate from the state. Unlike most other scholarships which distribute funds from a limited pot of money so that the number of awardees is also limited, these programs make awards to any student who qualifies. In effect, this is an entitlement.

Georgia's HOPE Scholarship is available to Georgia residents who have demonstrated academic achievement and who wish to study in a college or university in Georgia. Essentially, a student who wins this scholarship pays nothing in tuition.

If you happen to live in a Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze state that also happens to offer scholarships such as Georgia’s, the ROI will be outstanding. Not only will you pay very little to attend college, but the state’s economic might will help you start a promising career fairly easily.

3. Work-study based colleges

The College of the Ozarks, a Christian school in Point Lookout, MO has a unique model. You agree to work while you study and the college doesn’t charge you any tuition at all so that you graduate debt-free. The work is coordinated by work supervisors on campus. Students work 15 hours per week, and two 40-hour work-weeks during the academic year. If students participate in the summer work program, these hours are applied toward room and board charges for the upcoming academic year, so even your cost of attendance is essentially paid off.

Other examples of schools that follow this model are little known institutions such as Berea College or Alice Lloyd College.

4. Studying Abroad

Studying abroad is not for everyone but it is definitely an option to place on a college-bound student’s table. For students who are interested in a foreign language such as German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese or Spanish, for example - studying abroad is the way to go. The ability for them to get immersed in the foreign country’s culture, history, and society when studying, living and perhaps working is unsurpassed.

The desire to learn a foreign language really well is not the only reason to consider studying abroad, however. In some fields, there really is no better option. If you are into science, automotive engineering, the environment, heavy machinery or green energy, Japan and Germany are the places to go to. If you are interested in literature, history or philosophy, consider a university in France. If art, sculpture and Renaissance-era paintings are what interest you, there’s no better place than Italy.

According to Fox News, the Institute of International Education is working to double the number of US students studying abroad by 2019. To reach the goal, IIE will focus on recruiting more low-income students and others who have not participated in high numbers. Already, 160 US colleges and universities have committed to participate. The campaign, dubbed Generation Study Abroad, seeks to have 600,000 U.S. students studying abroad annually in five years in either credit or noncredit programs — compared with the 295,000 students who did so in the 2011-12 school year.

Until about ten years ago, studying in a foreign country meant that you had to learn in that country’s language. But in recent years foreign universities have recognized the need to offer programs in English as English has slowly taken hold as the international language of choice. These countries always had generous programs to subsidize tuition or even eliminate it for their own residents. Seven countries, including Germany, Finland, Norway, Slovenia, Brazil and some regions in France extend this benefit to foreign students as well: tuition is 100% free or heavily discounted. The Washington Post has an excellent article about studying in these countries.

German universities offer what are called “International Programs” in which the medium of instruction is English even for German students. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is the largest funding organization in the world supporting the international exchange of students and scholars. A recent search on the DAAD site revealed that there were more than 1,700 such programs offering undergraduate degrees in every imaginable field.

Germany’s higher education institutions enjoy an excellent reputation and are divided into Universities (which generally award Ph.Ds) and Universities of Applied Sciences which offer mostly “practice-oriented” degrees (engineering, business administration, social sciences and design). Germany’s co-op model links industry to academia so that many students have an opportunity to intern at companies and later, even obtain jobs. Part of the allure of studying abroad is to learn the local language which is why learning German is still highly recommended. And tuition is free in most cases. But getting in is not always easy, as the Wall Street Journal reported recently.

For us, studying abroad by paying very little or no tuition is a great way to improve ROI. True, living costs in many European cities are higher than their American counterparts but if the costs of attendance can be reduced by 50% or more, this option becomes attractive.

Consider the case of a student who wants to study international business in Germany. The DAAD site gives us many choices but let’s look at one.

Clicking on the link reveals that living costs (rent for an apartment, utilities, transportation, food, etc.) are estimated to be between 800 EUR and 1,000 EUR per month - about $900 to $1,120 at current exchange rates of 1.12 dollars per Euro. The course duration is seven semesters (3.5 years) and includes two semesters abroad: one semester at one of the international business (IB) partner universities abroad (approx. 70 worldwide), and one semester at an internship (business placement) in a company operating internationally. The total cost of attendance is about $47,000, about half of the $96,000 estimate we had at Texas A&M.

Let us use our familiar ROI model with the same assumptions. Remember that you can get a federal loan to study abroad. The US Department of Education says, “Whether you plan to study abroad for a semester or get your entire degree outside the United States, you may be able to use federal student aid to pay your expenses. The type of aid you can get—and the process you must follow—will depend on the type of program (study-abroad or full degree) you plan to enter.”

Using our trusted Wells Fargo loan calculator we see that when we keep our monthly payment close to $700 (the amount our TAMU grad paid when graduating in 4 years but whose starting salary is higher, at $55,200, TAMU's stated average), the following loan terms would be applicable:

Total loan amount (principal only): $31,000.00 ($47,000 - $16,000 down payment)
Total interest paid: $4,494.10
Total principal and interest paid: $35,494.10
Monthly loan payment: $739.46

The loan will be paid off in just four years, not the 15 years for the TAMU grad. The ROI jumps an amazing 8 percentage points. The point of inflection over the high school grad drops to just 9 years after which the income gap widens substantially. See below:

Summary

There are several creative ways to lower tuition costs - obtaining need-based financial assistance from your target school is not the only way. Fewer dollars spent on education mean a lower loan burden, quicker payoff and a higher Return on Investment.