Career Exploration Process

There are a number of steps throughout the career exploration process and some may differ between students. However, there are some universal steps that can benefit all students.

Researching Careers

• One of the best ways to begin researching careers is to utilize some of the wonderful web sites available to all students, such as GCIS, Georgia Career Information Systems. The Georgia Career Information Center, through its Georgia Career Information System (GCIS), provides current and accurate occupational and educational information to schools and agencies throughout Georgia in order to help young people and adults make informed career choices.
  
  
  • AHS login for GCIS: alpharettahs
  • AHS password for GCIS: gcis2513
    
    
    
• When you are using GCIS, there are multiple ways to work through the system, however, we suggest that you follow the steps below to find out some important career-related information about yourself:
  
  
• Click on "SKILLS Assessment" under the Exploration heading on the top left.
  
  
• Now Click "Select Skills"
  
  
• Under the "Skills to Select" word bank, you will choose your 5 "very satisfying skills", your 10 "moderately satisfying skills", and your 20 "somewhat satisfying skills".
  
  
  • These are the skills that you would like to use in the work place.
  • Make sure to use the "Skills Definitions" button to provide a definition of each skill that you select
    
    
• When you have completed the skill rating exercise, click "Rate Skills" on the bottom right of your screen
  
  
• When you see the summary of your selected skills, click on "Top 30 Occupations" on the top of your screen.
  
  
• You now see the Top 30 Occupations as they have been selected based on the skills that you selected. These are the top 30 occupations that use the skills you are good at or the skills you would like to use each day on the job.
  
  
• Click on the career you would like to learn more about and let's find out some more information.
  
  

After Choosing a Career

• When you determine the career that you would like to research further, click on that career.
  
  
• You should now see an overview of the career, giving you an idea of what someone does on a daily basis with this particular job.
  
  
• Different types of information you might want to look for now (click on these headings on the left side of your screen under "Overview":
  
  
  • Preparation-> Gives you an idea of the amount of education you will need after high
    school to pursue this particular career.
    
    
  • Wages-> Tells you the lower range, average, and upper range of the salary scale for a person in this career.
    
    
  • Employment and Outlook-> Lets you know if this occupation is trending towards growth or decline.
  
  

• When you have finished looking up all of the interesting information about your career, make sure to click on the "Programs of Study Directly Related to this Occupation" section on the
  bottom left of your screen
  
  
  • This will tell you what you should major in during college to pursue this particular career.
    
    
  • So, now you have a career and you know what to study to pursue this career
    
    
    
• Finally, choose the major that is most interesting to you:
  
  
  • When you click on the major that is most interesting to you, you will see an overview of what is major consists of and what you would learn if you chose this path of study.
    
    
  • Now, click on "Georgia Schools" or "US Schools" on the bottom of your "Related Information" Section on the left side of your screen. You will be given a list of colleges that have your major. Research the colleges and decide which one is the best for you! For more information on the College Selection process, visit the College Exploration portion of our site.