Fact Sheets

Undeclared @ MSUM

Many students feel a great deal of pressure to decide upon a major before beginning their university coursework. It isMSU Moorhead’s belief that students are better served by enrolling as “undeclared majors” rather than choosing amajor if they are not prepared to make this decision. Approximately 25 percent of the freshmen who enroll at MSUM each year do not declare a major at the time of their initial enrollment. For these and other interested students, MSUMoffers several services.

Personal Development 103
Career Life Planning class (1 cr.) This is NOT a class that involves lectures and exams, but rather an active learningclass in which you will be completing inventories and participating in other activities that will help you get to knowyourself and make informed careerdecisions. You will explore yourinterests, values, and abilities anddiscover how they relate to yourcareer decision-making. PDEV 103 isoffered every semester and can befound in each semester’s classschedule under the PersonalDevelopment classes.

Career Resource Center (www.mnstate.edu/counsel/)
(Counseling and Personal Growth Center)
Located in the Counseling Center (Bridges 265), this library is available for browsing during counseling center hours.This library contains up-to-date information on a wide variety of careers. If you are interested in a career and would liketo learn more about it, such as how much education is required, how much money you can make and what kind ofwork you will be doing, this is the place to go. Some of the specific materials available in the resource center include:

  • career information on hundreds of occupations
  • career reference books, such as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)
  • undergraduate and graduate college catalogues from all over the United States
  • reference books to help you find out which schools offer particular majors or degrees
  • computers designated to career information sites

An assistant is available to help you locate and use these materials in the Career Resource Center.

Discover

This computerized guidance system is located in the Counseling and Personal Growth Center. This program can beutilized by students in a number of ways including:

  • gathering information about careers or graduate and undergraduate schools
  • taking interest, value, ability and experience inventories on the computer
  • interpretation of the inventories in terms of occupational areas that fit your interests, values, and abilities
  • assistance in choosing educational plans and making life transitions

DISCOVER is available for student use at no charge during Counseling Center hours. An assistant is available to helpwith any questions or problems that may arise during hours that will be posted near the computer each semester.

Interest, Personality and Aptitude Tests
The Counseling and Personal Growth Center offers a number of tests to help you assess your career interests, valuesand aptitudes. Two of the most popular are:

  • Strong Interest Inventory ($11 fee, subject to change) Your answers to this 325-item inventory are computeranalyzed to identify general trends in your interests and also the degree of similarity between you and peopleworking in a wide variety of occupations.
  • Career Occupational Preference System ($5 fee, subject to change) This inventory consists of 192 items that willhelp you determine your interests in activities performed in many different occupations and provides planninginformation about the fields best matched to your interests.

Resource Room
(Career Services) www.mnstate.edu/career/  Part of career exploration includes learning about career trends andwhether or not there is a market for people in certain occupations. The Career Services Resource Room (ComstockMemorial Union 114), is a great place to find this type of information. Along with many vacancy listings that will help yousee which occupations have openings, you will also find information on economic trends and current salary informationfor specific careers. The Resource Room also contains sample resumes, cover letters and interview information forstudent use when you get to the later stages of the career decision-making process. The Resource Room in availablefrom 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and Tuesday evening until 6 p.m.

Corporate Information
Career Services has a large amount of information about specific corporations and agencies, both in the Fargo-Moorhead area and across the country. This information is very helpful if you want to learn more about a specificcompany to determine if you would like to gain an internship or job with that company or to prepare for an interview. The Resource Room also contains reference books listing information about potential employers in a wide variety ofgeographic and occupations areas. These directories list addresses of companies and names and titles of people youcould contact in order to learn about job openings.

Internship Information
A good way to gain hands-on experience in an occupation you are considering is to do an internship in that area.Career Services coordinates the information about agencies that offer internship opportunities for students in everymajor available at MSUM. This information is located in the Resource Room. Ask for assistance if you need helplocating this material.

Informational Videotapes
Career Services has a number of videotapes on career-related topics such as interviewing, resume writing, networkingand negotiating salaries. There is a VCR unit available for your use in the Resource Room. You may come in to look atthese videos whenever the office is open.

Volunteer or Paid Work Experience
Another way to discover what kind of work you like and dislike is to actually go out into the work world and experiencethe different occupations for yourself. You may be able to find a part-time job during the school year or the summer inan area that interests you. You may be able to volunteer at a business or agency if they do not have any paidpositions. Volunteer and paid work experience are great ways to find out first hand what it is like to work in a settingand to decide whether or not this is an area you would like to pursue as a career. You may want to check with the JobShop on Campus (CMU 111) for part-time and summer jobs or you could call businesses directly to see if they haveany positions you would be interested in. Employment ads in newspapers are another source of possible job openings.Volunteer Visions (CMU 225) lists dozens of volunteer opportunities.

Resumè and Interview Workshops
Career Services sponsors resume and interview workshops which are open to everyone and free of charge. Theresume workshop provides a step-by-step approach to resume writing. Various formats are discussed and examplesare shown. The interviewing skills workshop explores the different levels of the hiring process. Discussion focuses onpreparing for and conducting interviews in an individually effective manner. These workshops are helpful for anyonewho is about to enter the work force either on a part-time basis while attending school or full-time after graduation.They are also a useful tool in career exploration because they can give you valuable information about what employersare looking for in college.

Career Fairs
Career Services sponsors a number of career fairs throughout the year. These fairs are useful if you are preparing toenter the job market and also if you are looking for internship sites or exploring career options. There are opportunitiesat these fairs for individual interviews and also open sessions in which you can visit with representatives from variousbusinesses and agencies. These visits can be quite helpful in gaining first-hand knowledge of what people actually doin their jobs. If you are interested in learning more about when and where the fairs will be this year, stop by Career Services for a schedule of events.

Individual Meetings
Career Services staff members are available for individual meetings to discuss all areas of your job search, from theinitial decision-making to job search strategies. Call or stop by to set up an appointment.

The counselors at the Counseling and Personal Growth Center are also available for individual appointments. They are there to discuss any concerns or questions you may have about your educational and career decision-making, aswell as any other issue you would like to discuss confidentially.

Informational Interviews
You can conduct interviews on your own to learn about what people do in certain occupations. Most people will bewilling to visit with you, either formally or informally and share with you what they do at their job, what they like anddislike about their work and how they made their career decision. Another option includes visiting with professors invarious academic departments about the majors you may be interested in. Professors will be able to tell you whatclasses you need to take, what kinds of jobs you can find with that major and other insight they have in the area.Visiting with students in a major is another way to find out information from a different perspective. You can pick up aguide to informational interviewing in the Counseling Center’s Career Resource Center (Bridges 265).