Binghamton University Libraries provide access to resources (like books, articles and databases) that can help you explore different career paths and prepare for a career after graduation. All of the resources below are available to anyone with a Binghamton account. All of the resources below are available to you as Binghamton students to take advantage of as you explore and learn about careers and career paths. The resources below are organized by the different stages of career exploration and development.
Exploring Interests
When you are beginning to explore potential career paths it can help to think about your skills as well as the activities you enjoy. Using the Fleishman Center’s Career Exploration Guide can assist you in brainstorming. Once you have some ideas you can use these government websites to explore your interests.
- Within O*NET Online you can search for specific occupations, but its real strength is the advanced searching by job duties or soft skills and the ability to browse by O*NET data which includes abilities, interests, knowledge, skills, along with work activities, contexts, styles and values.
- The Occupational Outlook Handbook lets you search for specific occupations as well as by level of education, median income, number of jobs, growth of industry and on the job training.
Exploring Careers
Explore specific industries and career paths through various books and databases available through the Libraries.
- You can browse all of our databases via the Libraries website. View our Databases A-Z page and use the dropdown menu for All Subjects to select a subject area that interests you or connects to your area of study. Some of these databases will be more relevant to potential careers than others. Look for databases that provide a view of the field, which are related to a professional organization like the American Chemical Society, or databases that help you identify researchers or labs. Some databases even provide exam preparation for comprehensive exams needed to work in a field.
- Search our collection of books and ebooks for titles that can help you learn more about a desired field. One of the easiest ways to do this is the type “vocational guidance” and your desired field into Find It! on the Libraries website.
[Note: If you do this, you may want to use the Publication Date filter to narrow down to books published in the last 10-15 years.]
Before an Interview
In advance of any job interview, it is recommended that you research the company or organization that you will be interviewing with. This kind of information can provide you with a deeper understanding of the inner workings of many companies and help you prepare informed questions and answers for any interview.
- MarketLine Advantage is a database that you can use to learn more about the inner workings of many companies. This includes news, parent or subsidiary companies, key employees, product listings, financial information and more.
- You may want to consult a guide to Interviewing, which can assist you with sample interview questions, drafting your own questions for your interviewers and much more. We have general books about interviewing as well as specialized guides to interviewing in different industries. You can use the link above or search Find It! for interviewing. [Note: you may want to try to search Job Interview with and without your desired field.]
The Fleishman Center is hosting several Job and Internship Fairs this fall:
- An in-person fair will be 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 21 at the Events Center
- A virtual fair will be 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Friday, September 23 on the Hirebing by Handshake Virtual Fair Platform
For more information, visit careertools.binghamton.edu/channels/preparing-for-the-job-and-internship-fair/