FOCUS Career Assessment
FOCUS is a self-paced, online career and education planning tool for use by college students. It will enable you to self-assess your career relevant personal qualities and explore career fields and major areas of study that are most compatible with your assessment results. Students who use FOCUS make better decisions about their goals and plans and learn how to self-manage their careers.
Career planning with FOCUS leads to the following advantages for students:
While in college: More goal focused and motivated - Higher academic achievement - Fewer transfers and switching of majors - Graduate on time
After Graduation: Better entry job with higher income - More satisfied, more productive in their career - Less career change, faster advancement
How to Create Your Student User Account in FOCUS
To create your personal account in FOCUS, the Online Career and Education Planning System
Go to https://www.FocusCareer2.com/Portal/Login.cfm?SID=454
Keycode: griffin
Enter your personal information being sure to select a user name and password that you will remember easily. Once you have created your account, your original account remains active and will store all your results each time you use it. Enter your user name and password (do not create a new account)
You can use FOCUS during several stages of your college years. Use FOCUS to help you:
Choose Your Major Area of Study. The FOCUS system enables you to identify occupations that best match your personal attributes and the major / education requirements for those occupations. You should review the occupations that most appeal to you as potential career goals paying particular attention to the education programs, degrees required, courses, skills, requirements and certification needed to prepare you to work in those occupations. This information will help you choose the major area of study that best supports your career goals. To help you decide about your major area of study, it is recommended that you first complete the following two assessments listed in the FOCUS Main Menu:
Work Interests Assessment. You answer questions to describe your work interests. FOCUS identifies occupations that match your interests profile and helps you analyze and compare the critical features and major areas of study required for those occupations.
Personality Assessment. In this assessment you will answer questions that provide a picture of your personality type. FOCUS identifies occupations that best match your Personality and helps you analyze and compare the critical features and major areas of study required for those occupations.
To further help you select a major: While exploring an occupation the appeals to you, be sure to select “Areas of Study” on the occupation screen to learn what majors and education plans are typically pursued by people working in this occupation.
To help you narrow down your options select Combine the Results of Multiple Assessments: This allows you to combine the results from the assessments you have completed to help you narrow down your occupation results.
To further explore a major offered at your school, select “What can I do with a major in…? on the main menu to review the occupations that a specific major will typically prepare you for.
Verify Your Preferences or Early Choice of a Career Field
It’s best to verify or validate your early decisions about your career goals and study programs so that you do not overlook career options that are compatible with your personal attributes. You are a multi-potential person and undoubtedly have talents, interests, values, personality and skills that qualify you for a wide range of occupations. Be sure of your choice by completing all the FOCUS assessments in the Main Menu so you can discover all the occupations and career fields that match your assessment profiles. Once you have broadened your career horizons you can narrow down your options by comparing the critical features of the occupations that appeal to you. This process will assure that you have made the best possible choice.