You can't spend all your time out in the sun, right? So why not spend some of your indoor time in the air-conditioned comfort of your college's Career Center (or scoping its Website)? It will be way less crowded during the summer months, and you can get a head start on planning for your future.

HEAD Lines

Career counselors do much more than maintain databases of jobs and internships. They are trained to help you figure out what you love to do, and ultimately, how to break into your dream job. They keep up on the literature so they know what job fields are hot right now... and more importantly, which ones will still be hot when you are getting ready to graduate from college!

TAKE TIME TO:

• Meet with a career counselor to review your résumé and talk about your interests

• Take a career inventory survey

• Browse in the career library

• Check out current job and internship listings

• Find out what other services your career center provides

From Other HEADS

DO SOME RESEARCH about the profession you want to go into someday: That way, when you do graduate from college, you will know the probability of getting a job in that field, or if you will have to go on for further education.

-- RACHEL ALDRICH

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

I WAS INVOLVED WITH MY HIGH SCHOOL newspaper and never questioned that that's what I'd do. I knew I liked to write, and that seemed the best way to do it and make money. Granted, it's not a lot of money, but it's enough to live and let me do what I love. That's probably the best way to choose if you're unsure. Find something you love, that you don't consider work, and figure out how to get paid to do it.

-- JACLYN YOUHANA

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, OHIO

Web Resources

Read about career fields, salary ranges, and more, all provided for you by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics:

www.bls.gov/bls/occupation.htm

The mother of all job sites: www.monster.com  

HoH Tips

• Take 10 minutes and read about a career field you've never thought about, or that you've never had much interest in. Who knows - it might turn out to be more appealing than you initially thought. At the very least, it will give you a more complete perspective on the choices you're making.