STUDENTS & ALUMNI:
Plan Your Career
Career Exploration: Support For Discovering Your Path
Career exploration is the process of discovering how your interests, skills, and values align with potential career paths. If you're unsure about your career direction or program of study, you're not alone—many students start their journey with questions about the future. Our career exploration resources, including Career Coach and personalized Career Counseling, are here to help you gain clarity and confidence as you chart your path forward.
Career Coach
Welcome to Career Coach! Here you can discover majors, in-demand jobs, and explore programs at Pima based on your interests.
Getting started is easy!
1. Access Career Coach
Click on Career Coach button below to begin!
2. Create Your Account
Click on 'Sign Up' and fill out the form using your Pima email address to create your Career Coach account.
3. Assess Your Interests and Skills
Choose the Quick Start assessment for a brief overview or the Detailed assessment for a comprehensive career alignment based on your interests.
Six (6) questions (Quick Start)
Sixty (60) questions (Detailed)
4. Explore Your Career and Programs at Pima
Click "Careers" to browse career areas beyond your interest results, or click "Programs" to discover Pima programs and courses that align with your career interests and goals.
Want to learn more?
Talk with a Career Counselor to learn more about Pima's different pathways and resources to help you achieve your career goals. Career Counselors can discuss your interest results and the careers, majors, and programs you want to research further.
Career Counseling
Career Counselors can help you discover your skills, passions, and goals to create a career plan that works for you.
How Career Counseling Can Help You
Our Career Counselors provide personalized guidance to help you make informed decisions about your future. Services include:
Career Interest & Assessment Inventories – Identify your strengths and interests.
Career Exploration Techniques – Discover career paths that align with your skills.
Career Goal Planning – Develop actionable steps toward your career.
Career Exploration Videos – Gain insights from real-world professionals.
Career Transition Support – Navigate changes in your academic and career journey.
College-to-Career Alignment – Understand how coursework connects to job success.
Career Counseling is best for:
Students who are undecided about their major or career path.
Students considering a change in their Program of Study (major).
Liberal Arts students looking for a career focus for university transfer.
Contact a Career Counselor
Submit your questions to the career counseling team using our contact form. Please allow up to 4 business days for a response.
Career Readiness:
Building Skills That Set You Apart
Career readiness is more than just a set of skills—it’s the foundation for long-term success in the workplace. It involves developing the professional attributes that help you thrive, communicate effectively, collaborate with others, and adapt to an ever-changing world. While technical expertise is essential, it’s these 'power' skills that truly set you apart in your career journey.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) defines career readiness competencies that are crucial for navigating today’s job market. These competencies go beyond what you learn in the classroom, preparing you to excel in real-world professional environments.
Explore the competencies below to understand what behaviors demonstrate readiness in the workplace. Learn more about NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) on the NACE Career Readiness Competencies Defined Webpage.
Career & Self Development
Proactively develop oneself and one’s career through continual personal and professional learning, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities, and networking to build relationships within and without one’s organization.
Sample Behaviors
Show an awareness of own strengths and areas for development.
Identify areas for continual growth while pursuing and applying feedback.
Develop plans and goals for one’s future career.
Professionally advocate for oneself and others.
Display curiosity; seek out opportunities to learn.
Assume duties or positions that will help one progress professionally.
Establish, maintain, and/or leverage relationships with people who can help one professionally.
Seek and embrace development opportunities.
Voluntarily participate in further education, training, or other events to support one’s career.
Communication
Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization.
Sample Behaviors
Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written, and non-verbal/body language, abilities.
Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills.
Communicate in a clear and organized manner so that others can effectively understand.
Frame communication with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual communication abilities, and cultural differences.
Ask appropriate questions for specific information from supervisors, specialists, and others.
Promptly inform relevant others when needing guidance with assigned tasks.
Critical Thinking
Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.
Sample Behaviors
Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment.
Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem.
Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps.
Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that may impact outcomes.
Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of stakeholders.
Multi-task well in a fast-paced environment.
Global Mindset and Fluency
Demonstrates an understanding of systemic, complex global and social issues, and how issues and actions have local and global implications for the future; appropriately challenges unfair and unjust behavior to make a positive difference in the community.
Sample Behaviors
Solicit and use feedback from multiple cultural perspectives to make inclusive and equity-minded decisions.
Seek global cross-cultural interactions and experiences that enhance one’s understanding of people from different demographic groups and that leads to personal growth.
Keep an open mind to diverse ideas and new ways of thinking.
Demonstrate flexibility by adapting to diverse environments.
Leadership
Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.
Sample Behaviors
Inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods.
Serve as a role model to others by approaching tasks with confidence and a positive attitude.
Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.
Plan, initiate, manage, complete and evaluate projects.
Professionalism
Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.
Sample Behaviors
Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization.
Maintain a positive personal brand in alignment with organization and personal career values.
Be present and prepared.
Demonstrate dependability (e.g., report consistently for work or meetings).
Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals.
Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations.
Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work.
Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job.
Teamwork
Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.
Sample Behaviors
Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting.
Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience.
Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables.
Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others.
Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
Collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers.
Technology
Understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish goals.
Sample Behaviors
Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies.
Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work.
Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks.
Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely decision-making.
Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies.
Manipulate information, construct ideas, and use technology to achieve strategic goals.