FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Butte College Career Services include many programs and services to assist you with your career life planning and in achieving success. This is our web page and our main office is in SAS 258 (Student and Administrative Services building) on the Main Campus and our telephone number is 530-895-2340. Our Career Services include (but are not limited to) individual career counseling, career planning workshops, EUREKA training, computer lab for career and college research, and a career library. Job Placement & Cooperative Education is also housed here along with Service Learning & Volunteerism and CalWORKs. You may select items on the left Navigation Bar or continue reading these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) for more information.

Career Counseling is usually a face-to-face appointment with a Career Counselor. Career Counseling is available at the Main Campus and at the Chico Center. Call (530) 895-2340 for further information or to schedule an appointment with the Career Counselor.

1. Self-Exploration offers you an opportunity to identify your interests; personality style; values; natural talents, skills, and abilities; motivators; and lifestyle and connect these to career options. It is common to use Career Assessments in your self-exploration.
2. Career Exploration and Research guides you in researching careers, college majors, and vocational programs using quick and reliable career resources. A Career Counselor may give you a few specific websites and access codes so that you can research from the Internet. This can save you hours of searching online and from getting inaccurate information. This information can include educational requirements, salaries, labor market information, and what type of person enters a specific career. Another common topic of research can be “What Can I Do With A Major In ___________?”
3. How Does It Fit involves career-decision making. A Career Counselor can assist you in comparing careers or majors to your personality style, clarifying your life goals, and creating your next step plan. This can involve more research by job shadowing, volunteering, taking a specific class, or working part-time in a job. You make the career decision that is right for you, your personality style, and desired lifestyle.
4. Taking Action is when you go for it! You take the next step to achieving your goal which can include earning a certificate, learning on-the-job, earning a college degree, volunteering, working part-time or getting your “dream” job.

Career Counseling Appointments are offered by a Professional Career Counselor on the Main Campus and at the Chico Center by appointment. To schedule an appointment call 530-895-2340 and ask to meet with a Career Counselor. A typical appointment can last for 50 minutes. For your first appointment, please come ten minutes early to complete a brief questionnaire.

There are three ways to schedule an appointment with a Career Counselor.

1. Call 530-895-2340 by telephone and ask to schedule an appointment with a Career Counselor.
2. Go to Career Services located in room SAS 258 in the Student and Administrative Services building on the main Butte College campus and schedule an appointment.
3. Go to Career Counseling located in room SAS 210 in the Student and Administrative Services building on the main Butte College campus and schedule an appointment.

If this is your first appointment with a Career Counselor, come ten minutes early to complete a brief questionnaire. It may be helpful to bring any past job or college information (as transcripts), career assessment results (if have taken any before), a list of questions that you want to ask, or whatever you believe could be helpful.

If you have met with a Career Counselor before, please bring the materials that you discussed.

No. At this time all Career Counseling appointments are face-to-face. Occasionally follow-up information can be done by telephone or email. (See ONLINE Live Chat).

Yes and no. All Career Services are free or available at no charge except for Career Assessments.

There are Career Counselor appointments on the Main Campus and at the Chico Center. You can access our LIVE Online Chat, “Ask A Career Counselor.” There you may ask a simple career life planning be a complete appointment. Start your Live Chat.The details are listed there. It is generally LIVE on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1:00 pm-3:00 pm PST. If it is not LIVE, you can still send an email question. Please allow for down time on weekends and non-school days such as Holidays.

The Career Center at Butte College offers career counseling appointments, a computer lab for career life planning and career and college research, Career Workshops, and a Career Library.

In Career Services in room SAS 258 in the Student and Administrative Services building on the Main Campus of Butte College.

It is open for student use most Mondays through Thursdays from 8:00 am-5:00 pm and Fridays from 8:00 am-Noon on regular school days. Occasionally it is closed for a short time when an entire class has signed up to use the Career Center. Career Services are always open those hours on regular school days.

The Career Center Library has almost five hundred (500) current books and publications for your use. Many of the books can be checked out for one week. Others can be used in the Career Center Library as references and cannot be checked out. You can view a list of all of these books online.

Books

In Career Services in room SAS 258 in the Student and Administrative Services building on the Main Campus of Butte College.

Career assessments are designed to assist you in learning more about yourself and generating career and college/training options. Career assessments or vocational assessments are sometimes incorrectly called “Career Tests.” They are not tests. There are no wrong answers. Career assessments measure who you are at this time. They are often taken individually (pencil and paper), online, or in a class. Career Assessments commonly take 20-30 to take though they can range from a few minutes to over an hour. In Career Counseling, it is very common to take an interest inventory (your likes and dislikes) and a personality assessment (your personality style or how you approach life).

Career Assessments can include:

• Interests (likes and dislikes)
• Personality Style
• Values (work and life)
• Skills and Abilities and Natural Talents
• Motivators
• Lifestyle Preferences
• And Others

Butte College Career Services offers career assessments not “career tests.” They do not have incorrect answers and measure who you are based on your answers and the assessment. They do NOT tell you what to be. A Career Assessments merely generates career and/or educational options based on the information that you give them.

It is common for a career assessment to take 20-30 minutes to take. Some assessmentscan take from a few minutes while other assessments can take to over an hour each.

At Butte College you may read some brief descriptions of some career assessments (PDF) and self-select what you take. It is advisable to meet with a Career Counselor to select the most appropriate Career Assessments so that they give you the type of information that you really are seeking. Sometimes taking an assessment can be frustrating if it is not really what you meant to take.

There are two basic types of career assessments

1. Standardized
   These career assessments are reliable and useful, have been researched and normed, and based on a theory. Standardized career assessments generally give you a more personalized result. They includes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Strong Interest Inventory, and COPS.
2. Non-standardized
   These can be as simple as questions in an interview or giving you six statements that you rank as most like you or of most interest to you. These career assessments do not generate personalized results; but give you some ideas and options in broad categories (a loose sort). Includes MicroSkills on EUREKA, the Work Importance Profiler on the California Career Zone, and a simple interview or list of questions.

Get this document to find out how.

Get this document to find out how.

Depending on the career assessment it can be immediately or about two weeks. Some online career assessments are immediately computer scored and you get the results right then. Others must be scored and interpreted to you by a Career Counselor. Once you have taken these, you call Career Services to schedule a “career assessment interpretation appointment” with a Career Counselor. These are longer appointments and are scheduled for 1 ½ hours.

Many useful standardized career assessments cost from $1.00 to $12.50. Commonly college students take two that cost a total of $23.00. Butte College merely charges for the actual assessment not the interpretation. If the fee is a problem, schedule an appointment with a Career Counselor and another option may be possible.

Some online career assessments can be useful and are free.

Yes there are many career assessments that are free. Sometimes people take things online that they accidentally find and they may be helpful or not helpful. Some free online assessments are listed below. You are encouraged to schedule an appointment to meet with a Career Counselor to review results. Free online assessments.

They both have pros and cons as to which to select. Often a free career assessment offers you a “loose sort” of items. In other words, your results may say that you are most like group one. Then, everybody in group one gets the same list of career options and college majors. This can be helpful if this is your first time taking career assessment(s) and as a starting point. Also, if you are learning about career life planning.

If you would like more personalized results, then the standardized career assessments might be what you are really looking for. It is okay to take some free career assessments, meet with a career counselor, and then mutually decide that others might be more helpful.

As a professional career counselor, excessive career assessments would not be recommended.

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