Imagine you are a college student interested in computers, but you are confused about your course of study. You aren't sure what direction you should take or what career you might be interested in pursuing after you get your degree. You don't even know what your options are or how they match your interests. Do you want to be a programmer? A Web master? A graphic designer? A database manager?
Most colleges and universities offer a wide range of majors, specializations, and courses of study within the general fields of computer and information sciences. While many of these programs overlap in some respects, they have specific curricula designed to lead to particular careers. Major Choices in Computer and Information Sciences can guide students interested in working with computers to choose the major or specialization that is right for them, as well as get them thinking about the kinds of careers they want to pursue. This entry into the Major Choices series helps students match their interests to the following majors/career paths:
- Computer Programming
- Network Administration
- Database Management
- Computer Engineering
- Information Sciences
- Computer Systems Management and Analysis
- Web Design and Development
- Computer Graphics
From there, students use their assessment scores to explore the majors and specializations that best match their interests and the kinds of careers those majors lead to.
About the Major Choices series
The Major Choices series of assessment booklets is a cheap, efficient way for college students to further develop their major of study, to focus on individual programs within their curriculum, and most importantly, to begin really thinking about the career paths that their degree will afford them. Simply choosing a general field of study isn't enough any more. The $100,000 price tag that comes with a four-year degree requires students to be savvy planners of their curricula and their careers. Major Choices can help.
Each booklet consists of an easy-to-take, 48-item assessment that helps users focus their general interest to specific majors or programs of study. From there the booklet provides descriptions of the majors, including specializations within that major, a sampling of college courses, and a typical high school curriculum. In addition, each booklet provides a brief description of the top five or six jobs that each major is likely to lead to, complete with job outlook, salary, and educational requirements. Suggestions for further research are offered at the end.
In one small, easy-to-use, consumable booklet a prospective or current college student gets:
- An interest-based college major assessment created by one of the leading assessment authors in the country.
- Detailed descriptions on each major and the kinds of careers it leads to.
- 40-50 snapshots of the occupations those majors are likely to lead to.
John Liptak, Ed.D., has written several books and best-selling assessments for JIST. He is one of the leading developers of quantitative and qualitative assessments in the country and is the associate director of the Experiential Learning and Career Development office at Radford University in Radford, Virginia.
He provides career assessment and career counseling services for students. He also helps them develop portfolios and search for employment and internship opportunities that match their interests and values. Liptak focuses on teaching students about the connections between career development and learning, leisure, and work experiences.
He consults on the development of assessments for schools and agencies around the country and has developed specialized assessment instruments for use with clients. He is a regular speaker at national and international conventions on assessment development and is also a JIST-certified trainer.
Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., is one of the nation’s leading occupational experts and appears regularly on national news programs and in major print publications to share his expertise about trends in the world of work. He is a senior product developer at JIST Publishing, has 30 years of experience in the career information field, and is an award-winning career information systems developer.
He has been a researcher and developer at Educational Testing Service, where he helped develop the SIGI Plus computer-based career information system. He oversaw the updating and enhancement of the SIGI PLUS database for more than 15 years. He has served as a board member and as president of the Association of Computer-based Systems for Career Information. Shatkin also is a member of the National Career Development Association and a frequent presenter at its conferences.
Shatkin is the media’s go-to source for up-to-the-minute occupational information and has appeared on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, ABC News Now, the FOX Business Channel’s Money for Breakfast, CNN’s American Morning, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, and many more television and radio shows across the nation. He has been quoted in major print publications including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Fortune, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, and Publishers Weekly—just to name a few.
For interview requests or questions about Liptak or Shatkin, contact Selena Dehne at sdehne@jist.com or (651) 215-7548.
