Explore Occupations

Deciding on the right education path begins with career exploration. There are many tools and resources available to help you set and pursue your career goals.

Assess your skills and interests

These career planning tools and resources can help you to assess your skills and interests and identify potential careers that may be right for you.

The Career Planning for Students and Parents website provides information on career planning, post-secondary education and training, and strategies for preparing for work and gaining work experience. The Awareness pages help develop an understanding of who you are – your values, interests, aptitudes, abilities and personal traits. This will put you in a better position to evaluate educational options and career alternatives.

Service Canada’s Training and Careers site has a career navigator that lets you explore career options. Through an online questionnaire, you can define your abilities and interests and receive suggestions on occupations matching your profile. You can also find employment prospects for the next two years, job descriptions and number of jobs available, as well as information on wages, training options, employers hiring in your community and the skills they are looking for.

The Career Development Manual is an award-winning career-planning site from University of Waterloo Career Services. It features self-assessment exercises on personality, values, skills and interests, knowledge and learning style, and entrepreneurship. Exercises lead to development of a personal career profile and career action plan.

Explore potential careers

These sites provide information on potential careers including the main duties, educational requirements, workforce trends and job prospects.

BC Work Futures provides information about current and future labour market trends, as well as detailed descriptions and outlooks for 200 occupational groups in the B.C. labour market.

The Work Destinations website is a comprehensive source of information on regulated trades and professions in Canada. It contains information in both official languages on entry requirements and is the only site designed primarily for professional or trades people moving within Canada. It also has information for persons considering immigration to Canada.

For the career planner and job seeker, A Guide to the B.C. Economy and Labour Market provides an overview of B.C.’s economy, the changing industry scene and future directions. It focuses on provincial industries with an emphasis on their human resource side. Included are trends in the workforce, industry sector, occupations, earnings, job locations and employment outlook.

Examine labour market experiences of recent graduates

You can find out a lot about a potential career by learning about the experiences of recent graduates. These two surveys give information on the educational satisfaction and labour market outcomes for former students of B.C.’s public post-secondary institutions.

The B.C. College and Institute Student Outcomes Survey contacts former students of B.C.’s colleges, university colleges and institutes nine to 20 months after they finish, or are close to finishing, their programs.

The University Baccalaureate Graduates Surveys contacts graduates of B.C.’s public universities two and five years after graduation.

For more information, check out the What’s Key in Labour Market Information for B.C., an online catalogue of selected career and labour market resources for British Columbia.