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[machomadness]

Hey everybody.

I need some help. I'm currently an sophomore pursuing a B.A. in History. I also hold a part-time staff position at my school as a Circulation Assistant in the library. The challenge I'm having is, I don't know what I want to be when I "grow up." I have already decided that I am going to pursue a M.L.I.S., but I don't know if I want to work in a library forever. I really want to work in enrollment management/student affairs/academic advising.. On the same token, I have a yearning to teach. My boss told me that it was a plus to have two master's degrees. Taking that into account, I was considering pursuing a Masters in Student Affairs in Higher Education Administration. Needless to say, I'm at a bit of a crossroads. I know that I have some time to consider my options, yet at the same time, I know that graduation is right around the corner. So with that in mind, would somebody please help me?

[concordancia]

Have you been to your university's career counseling center? Even the worst of them are probably a better resource than what you will find here.

Other sources:
-Your professors in the various fields you are considering.
-Your full time superiors at the library (ie, not other students, even if you do report to them, go to the professionals who have the degrees you are considering)

[sibyl]

concordancia has the right idea.  The folks in the career center should be very helpful in helping you figure out the kinds of skills you can use and expanding your ideas about what kind of work you can do, both in and out of higher education.

I would advise you to expand your pool of informational interviewing.  Talk to the chief enrollment manager, the director of advising, and the dean or associate dean of student affairs.  Unless they are very great idiots, they will all be happy to talk to you about careers in their field.  Ask them what they like about their work, about the kinds of personality traits or work habits that indicate that someone is likely to succeed, and about where a career in their field will take someone.

You are a sophomore; this kind of confusion is typical, and you show good initiative in trying to address it now.  Good luck.

[voxprincipalis]

One approach would be:

1.) Test out various options
2.) Keep your options open

You haven't gone into much detail about what your thoughts are, what your skills, aspirations, and gifts are,  more would be helpful to everyone on this thread I think.

Here's two links with info that might be of help as you're thinking:
http://www.findhow.com/careers/how-to-evaluate-what-kind-of-career-you-want-to-pursue.php


http://www.findhow.com/careers/careers-career-exploration.php

Good luck!

- Ted

The fact that you have promoted "findhow.com" sites on 10 of your 13 extant posts qualifies you as a spammer in my book.

VP