Being successful in your field requires more than showing up to class and earning good grades. Being aware of the conditions, requirements, and preferences of your field is crucial to understanding what extracurricular activities you should be pursuing, with whom you should be speaking, and what skills you should be learning. Along with interviewing people in the field, researching the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is an excellent way to gain more knowledge about your career. The following DB assignment will also help you brainstorm for your E3 Project.

Assignment:
Explore the Occupational Outlook Handbook at http://www.bls.gov/ooh. Find your preferred career (you might have to use a variety of keywords), and use the tabs (e.g., “What They Do,” “Work Environment,” “Similar Occupations,” etc.) to examine the various aspects of that field.

Referring to the information you learned on the OOH, write 1-2 paragraphs that indicate the skills you need to acquire and the steps you intend to take to be successful in this field. Also, convey what alternate careers you might consider pursuing, and explain why those occupations interest you.