Effective Fall 2025, DGS will become the Division of Exploratory Studies. Same mission; new name.
Welcome to the exploration toolkit
DGS is committed to supporting you through a meaningful and holistic exploration process.
As a result, this Exploration Toolkit is designed to guide your exploration journey by providing helpful resources and action items. Below, you will find a variety of activities for students at every step of the exploration process.
Step 1: Explore Yourself
Understanding yourself is a critical first step in exploring potential majors and career paths. By gaining a deep insight into your own values, skills, and strengths, you can make more informed decisions that align with your personal and professional aspirations. This self-awareness not only guides you towards a career that you'll find fulfilling but also helps you identify environments where you'll thrive. Below, you'll find resources for self-assessment that can help you begin your exploration journey.
Meeting with a DGS academic advisor is a great resource for each step of the exploration journey because they offer personalized guidance tailored to your interests, values, and goals. DGS advisors are happy to help you think through how your interests and values align with Illinois majors and potential career pathways. Their expertise can help clarify options and help you make informed decisions.
A career coaching appointment is a 30-minute, one-on-one appointment with a trained Career Coach who can help you explore major and career options that align with your values and interests. They will ask you questions about how you spend your time, your favorite classes, your extracurricular and hobbies, previous work experience, and more.
Meeting with a career coach is another great resource for each step of the exploration journey.
Grounded in career theory, the O*NET Interest Profiler helps students begin their self-exploration by examining their interests and how they relate to the world of work. Most importantly for this stage in the exploration journey, O*NET will provide students with their top three Holland codes which DGS uses to sort majors into Exploration Pathways.
After completing this activity, take note of your top three Holland Codes and use them to explore the Exploration Pathways in Step 2 of the Toolkit.
Identifying your interests can help you focus on what ideas and pursuits keep you engaged, an important element in satisfying work. In this activity, you will reflect on past experiences you found satisfying or intellectually stimulating, encouraging you to explore other ways your interests might show up in your day-to-day life.
People have unique sets of qualities they value above others in their work. This activity asks students to think about and reflect on the characteristics they value in a career.
Once you complete the activity, keep your results close at hand as you consider potential career fields and majors that may interest you. Remember that your values can change over time, so you may want to return to this periodically throughout your exploration journey.
Knowing what skills you possess, enjoy, and excel at can help you find majors and occupations that align with your strengths. Further, self-assessment can help you discern what skills you may need to develop in order to succeed in a given field. Additionally, being able to articulate your skills is required for the job search and application process, from developing your materials to interviewing.
After completing this activity, reflect on the skills you’ve already developed. Research what skills are needed for your desired profession. Then ask yourself, what majors can help you develop those skills?
Step 2: Explore Majors
Exploring majors on campus opens a world of possibilities and helps you discover academic paths that align with your interests and career goals. By engaging with faculty, attending departmental events, and utilizing campus resources and exploration tools, students can gain valuable insights into various disciplines, helping them make informed decisions about their future. Use some of the resources below to help you get started exploring majors.
The Exploration Pathways site groups Illinois majors into broad themes, allowing you to see connections across majors. Rather than browsing majors by college, you see all the majors offered at Illinois that align with your specific area of interest. Use this guide in conjunction with other major and career exploration tools such as the DGS Major Handbook, CliftonStrengths, EPICS, and the O*NET Interest Profiler. Be sure to also schedule an appointment with a DGS academic advisor to discuss major exploration and meet with a career professional at the Career Center.
The Major Handbook is a comprehensive major exploration tool developed by DGS. Use it to find out more about Illinois majors, their introductory courses, related skills and occupations, and more!
Explore DGS’s Major Handbook with the below activity which invites you to research your majors of interest using the information provided in the Major Handbook.
The Majors & Minors Fair connects exploring students with staff and faculty from over 150 majors, minors, and certificates and other campus resources. Departments that participate in this event look forward to engaging with you and helping you investigate your path toward success. The Career Center, the National and International Scholarships Program, the Jeffries Center, the Writers Workshop, and more will be present!
Not sure what questions to ask representatives at the fair? Try using the Major Advisor Informational Interview worksheet--a list of guided questions to help you gather more information about majors of interest.
Wondering what classes are required for your major(s) of interest? The Academic Catalog is an online resource that details the courses needed to graduate from any major.
If you’d like some guided practice using this resource, the Major Fit Activity below invites you to explore the course requirements for your major(s) of interest using the Academic Catalog. After reviewing the core courses, you’re asked to assign each course a score based on whether or not the course seems interesting to you. Then, tally up your results to see whether the major is a good fit for you!
Step 3: Explore Careers
Exploring careers is essential, even early in the major exploration process, as it helps you understand how your academic interests can translate into real-world opportunities. By researching various professions, engaging in internships, and seeking mentorship from industry professionals, you can gain a clearer picture of potential career paths and their requirements. This proactive approach not only informs your choice of major but also provides valuable insights into the skills and experiences needed to succeed in your chosen field. Utilize the resources below to delve into career exploration and connect your academic journey with your professional aspirations.
The Career Center (TCC) coaches and supports Illinois students, while connecting them to opportunities, as they make career decisions and learn lifelong career management skills. TCC serves students from all majors and degree levels from the moment they arrive on campus.
Their goal is to help guide students through a journey of self-discovery and the career development process to help them successfully transition from the University to a thriving life and career.
Handshake is a career services platform that helps students connect with potential employers for jobs and internships. Through the site, you will be able to explore career options, discover opportunities, receive job and internship recommendations, and get in touch with employers.
Employers post details regarding employer informational sessions, activities, events, etc. posted on Handshake, giving you access to information straight from the source. By utilizing the resource, you are at an advantage by staying up to date on all the current employer-related events, interviews, career fairs, jobs, workshops, and more.
What Can I Do With This Major? features 100 major profiles with information on common career paths, types of employers that hire in the field, and strategies to maximize opportunities. Scroll to the bottom of each profile for links to professional associations, occupational outlook information, and job search resources. Click the link below to get started!
Informational interviews are your chance to speak with people who are currently working in your field of interest. Informational interviews are designed to help you gather information about a particular occupation or career, not obtain a job. It is an interview that you initiate and lead. You ask the questions.
Not sure where to begin? Check out the Career Center’s webpage for steps on how to conduct an informational interview, and to find out what questions to ask to make the most of this experience.
Step 4: Make Decisions
Effective decision-making skills are crucial for navigating your academic and career paths. Making informed decisions requires careful consideration of your values, interests, and the information gathered through exploring majors and careers. By honing your decision-making abilities, you can confidently choose a major and career path that aligns with your goals and aspirations. The resources below will support you in building these essential skills, ensuring that your choices are thoughtful, well-informed, and aligned with your long-term objectives.
Trying to decide between different major options or career paths? Struggling with how to choose? Making decisions isn’t always the easiest thing to do. This decision-making model allows you to evaluate all of your options and the impact they will have on you and the people who are important to you.
Planful decision making refers to a deliberate and strategic approach to making choices, typically involving forethought, careful consideration of options, and an evaluation of potential outcomes. This method contrasts with impulsive or reactive decision making, which occurs spontaneously and often without thorough analysis. This approach helps in minimizing risks and maximizing the chances of achieving desired outcomes. Learn more about this decision-making style using the resources below.
Have you ever analyzed how you approach decisions? Over the years you have developed a personal decision-making style or set of behaviors that you use when confronted by a decision situation. Some styles are effective, while others may be counterproductive.
The ways that people make decisions can be grouped into broad strategies that have their benefits and drawbacks. The following activity is designed to help you think through how you make decisions.
In this TEDTalk, adult developmental psychologist and career counselor, Sharon Belden Castonguay, unpacks how personal identities intersect with cultural influences to unconsciously affect our choice of work—and how self-awareness will be the key to making successful career decisions in what she calls the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Questions?
Email us at genstudies@illinois.edu