Research Guides: Career Resources: Researching a Career

Searching for Information About a Career

Once you have an idea about what kind of career you would like, it's helpful to do some research on that career so you know what to expect and how to prepare. Check out these resources for assistance in researching your future career!

Online resources for career information & college majors

The following websites provide comprehensive information about specific careers from the skills and training required, to the work environments, projected openings, and details such as salary ranges.

Informational Interviewing: Get the Inside Scoop on Careers This link opens in a new window
Explains what informational career interviews are, why they are useful, and how to go about conducting one.
College Board/Big Future: Major & Career Search This link opens in a new window
Use these tools to explore various careers as well as college majors.
What Can I Do With a Major in… This link opens in a new window
Where a college major may lead you to for a career
SNHU Career YouTube This link opens in a new window
Look here for videos about individual majors as well as videos on a variety of career-related and industry specific topics.
Mapping Your Future: CareerShip: An online career exploration adventure This link opens in a new window
Match your interests, learn about careers, and search for information about careers.
CareerOnestop Toolkit This link opens in a new window
Eleven different tools to learn details about different careers, and what's ahead for your career. This includes green careers, fastest growing careers and a tool to compare careers.
O*NET OnLine This link opens in a new window
The O*NET Program is the nation's primary source of occupational information. Valid data are essential to understanding the rapidly changing nature of work and how it impacts the workforce and U.S. economy. From this information, applications are developed to facilitate the development and maintenance of a skilled workforce. Central to the project is the O*NET database, containing hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors on almost 1,000 occupations covering the entire U.S. economy. The database, which is available to the public at no cost, is continually updated from input by a broad range of workers in each occupation. O*NET information is used by millions of individuals every year, including those taking advantage of O*NET Online, My Next Move, and other publicly and privately developed applications. The data have proven vital in helping people find the training and jobs they need, and employers the skilled workers necessary to be competitive in the marketplace.
Occupational Outlook Handbook This link opens in a new window
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) provides information on what workers do; the work environment; education, training, and other qualifications; pay; the job outlook; information on state and area data; similar occupations; and sources of additional information, for 324 occupational profiles, covering about 4 out of 5 jobs in the economy. The OOH is broken up into clusters of similar occupations. In order to find an occupation, browse the occupation groups of interest on the left-hand side of the homepage, or use the A–Z Index if you know the specific occupation. You may search for occupations by using the selector drop-down menus on the OOH homepage. Select by pay range, entry-level education, on-the-job training, projected number of new jobs, or projected growth rate. If you know the specific occupation you are interested in, you may enter a job title into the “Search Handbook” box on the top right-hand side of the homepage. In addition, you may browse by clicking any of the three links titled “highest paying,” “fastest growing (projected),” and “most new jobs (projected).” Although hundreds of occupations are covered in detail in the OOH, BLS publishes information on additional occupations for which the required education, training, median wages, and employment projections are prepared but detailed occupational information is not developed.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics - Industries at a Glance This link opens in a new window
This site includes over 100 industry pages which display a ‘snapshot’ of national data obtained from different BLS surveys and programs. Many programs also produce additional industry detail, including state, county, and metropolitan area data.

Databases for career information

These library databases provide comprehensive information about different careers including overviews, exercises and tutorials, career advice blogs, and all kinds of employment resources.

GoinGlobal This link opens in a new window
GoinGlobal contains country-specific career and employment resources for more than 80 locations.
PrepSTEP This link opens in a new window
Collection of databases or "Centers" providing tools to assist with educational skills and career goals. Centers contain skill-building exercises, tutorials, e-books and interactive practice tests for professional and graduate exams. Includes Praxis, N-CLEX, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, TOEFL, and more. Users may have to register for a free account to access some materials.

Researching Required Credentials for Careers

Some occupations require additional certificates/credentials/licenses beyond a college degree. You want to find out as much as you can early on, about specialized requirements for careers you are interested in. These are often geographically specific to particular states. Some professions require exams or further documented learning beyond a degree. These resources will help you learn about these requirements so you can prepare to be hireable as soon as possible after graduation.

PrepStep - Library database

PrepSTEP This link opens in a new window
Click on the Career Preparation box when you open this database.

Career Preparation - This page in PrepStep provides detailed information about:
- Specific careers such as: Allied Health, Caseworker, Culinary Arts, Federal Careers, Green Careers, Law Enforcement, Legal, Nursing, Teaching, Changing Careers, Career Information for Veterans
- Preparing for career-related exams in such fields as: Air Traffic Controller, Allied Health & Social Worker, Civil Service, CDL tests, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Electrician & Plumbing, EMS, Firefighting, Law Enforcement, Military, Nursing, Real Estate, Teaching, WorkKeys Assessment, and TOEIC.
- Workplace Skills such as: Professionalism, Time Management, Workplace Communication, Networking/Job Search/Interviewing, Becoming a US Citizen, and Becoming a Canadian Citizen.

Professional Associations

Professional Associations - Resources
This box appearing later in this Guide has resources for locating professional associations within a given field. These association websites will often have specific state-by-state information on credential requirements for practicing that career.

SNHU Faculty

Be sure to speak with your faculty advisor, or professors in your major courses about career requirements in their fields. Most will be able to provide practical, current information on career requirements.

Books on Researching a Career

The following books are a sample of our library books and eBooks on researching a career. For more books and eBooks please search the Online Library Catalog or ask a librarian for help.

What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Available Online
ISBN: 9781984856562
Publication Date: 2019
HBR Guides to Managing Your Career Collection (6 Books) by Harvard Business Review This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Available Online
ISBN: 9781633699274
Publication Date: 2019
Career Finder by Gill Hasson This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Available Online
ISBN: 9780857088659
Publication Date: 2020

Are you an online student who can't get to the library in person? Request a print book be mailed to you!