What you need to find:
- Skills and abilities needed for each occupation;
- Educational requirements (including appropriate college majors) for each occupation;
- The types of tasks and responsibilities associated with each occupation
Prepare a written summary in which you:
- Discuss and describe the results of your assessment.
- Summarize the research that you conducted on the three occupations using a minimum of three sources.
- Explain and discuss the relationship and connections between the occupations and your interests, abilities, and values.
Tips for searching for reliable internet sources
Searching for quality, reliable internet sources can be overwhelming. Search for your major or career plus one of the following words: professional, association, or organization. Examples: accounting association; marketing professional.
One way to target a search in Google is to search only specific types of sites for career information. For example, if you want to search only .org sites, you can add that to your search by using: site:org. Examples: accounting association site:org; marketing professional site:org.
Business Career Exploration Websites
The Occupational Outlook Handbook, from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, is an excellent source for information about many different occupations.
- Career OneStopFrom the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, this website provides critical information and statistics about 1000's of careers and jobs.
- Illinois Career Information System (CIS)Illinois Career Information System (CIS) is part of the into Careers consortium and offers local, state and national labor market information for businesses, educators, government agencies, researchers, and students, including the Illinois Career Resource Network which provides career development tools for everyone from elementary school students to adult job seekers and second career seniors. Their goal is to produce the most up-to-date, reliable information to help make important life decisions. Illinois residents : login by entering your city or town and zip code.
- My Next MoveMy Next Move is an interactive tool for job seekers and students to learn more about their career options. The site has tasks, skills, salary information, and more for over 900 different careers. Find careers through keyword search; by browsing industries that employ different types of workers; or through the O*NET Interest Profiler, a tool that offers personalized career suggestions based on a person's interests and level of work experience.
- O*Net OnlineSponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment & Training Administration, offers a variety of options for your career search. One highlight of O*NET is the detailed breakdowns for each career field. Each occupation will provide a detailed analysis of tasks, skills, abilities, work styles and values, and much more.
Careers Reference Materials
Encyclopedia of Business and Finance by ISBN: 9780028662640Publication Date: 2014-06-06How is social responsibility viewed by U.S. based companies? How do stocks and bonds differ? Can a corporation be ethical? How has crowdfunding changed the nature of entrepreneurship? Undergraduate business school enrollment for both traditional and non-traditional students is increasing each year, while at the same time more high schools are building economic and business literacy into their curricula. Encyclopedia of Business and Finance, 3rd Edition, is designed to meet both the specific research and general inquiry needs of all of these students by providing easy to understand essays covering all of the foundational topics, themes, and theories that will be covered in their business degree curricula. Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Business and Finance is a two volume set that is organized A-Z. Each signed entry was written by a subject expert and peer reviewed. Entries come equipped with bibliographies and See Also references to facilitate further research. Designed for the non-specialist, the Encyclopedia Of Business And Finance is a two-volume complete reference covering five general areas: finance and banking; accounting; marketing; management; and information systems. Drawing on practical professional expertise as well as that of noted scholars, the contributors include academics and business scholars from leading business programs. The new completely revised second edition includes 315 signed essays. *Fully indexed and numerous cross references to make information accessible quickly and efficiently.
Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance by ISBN: 9781438135465Publication Date: 2010-01-01Online reference material. Provides detailed facts and current statistics for over 750 occupations in more than 90 key career fields. Contains more than 500 photographs.
On the Job: an Encyclopedia of Unique Occupations Around the World by ISBN: 9781440863516Publication Date: 2021-01-13Online book. It's not surprising that the first question we are asked by strangers often has to do with what we do for a living. It's another way of asking, "Who are you, and what are you about?" But what happens when the answer to that question is "I am a gondolier" or "I am an Instagram influencer?" This book tries to answer that question, focusing on approximately 100 unusual occupations around the world. Arranged alphabetically, entries define the jobs and detail their historical, social, and cultural significance. Entries also examine where the job is located, how it came to be, how people get into the position, and what the economic and future outlook is for that job. While the entries focus on contemporary jobs, the encyclopedia also includes sidebars that highlight unique jobs from history to give the reader a sense of how unusual (and often terrible!) some jobs once were. Students will find this book useful in looking at cultures around the world.
Search Additional Reference Resources
Best Bets!
Use this search box to search across hundreds of electronic reference resources from one of four publishers.
Gale, Springer, Sage and EBSCO refer to the publisher or platform. Gale and EBSCO are the broadest, Springer is STEM focused.
To find encyclopedias on your topic (print or online), type in a subject, i.e. dreams, followed by the word encyclopedias:
Career Books
In 2022, Booth Library was a recipient of a Workforce Development Grant. We were able to purchase dozens of career guides with grant funds. Here are some links to some career guide series bought with the funds. You can also search the library catalog for the career you're interested in with the words career guide to see if we have a career guide on your chosen career.
- At Your Best Playbook Series
Career guides for trades including carpentry, electrician, HVAC, masonry, painting, plumbing, and welding. - Masters At Work
Dozens of career guides for various professions including event planner, midwife, sports agent, and veterinarian. - Practical Career Guides
Includes guides for a variety of careers including in the health field, IT field, trades, and more. - Vocational GuidanceTo explore additional career books not in a series, you can browse this search of the library catalog for vocational guidance.
