Students at Eastern who are struggling with their majors can reach out to Career Services to receive career counseling.

Career Services offers many resources to students to help them find the career that fits them.

Bobbi Kingery, the director of Career Services, said “it is never too late to start figuring it out.”

At Career Services, students can take a career assessment called “Focus2,” where students are asked about numerous topics that will help find careers that fit them.

After taking the assessment, students can set appointments with a career counselor to discuss the results.

Kingery said she “asks students to think a way they haven’t been asked to think and being open to that because then you are going to start figuring it out and you’re going to be comfortable.”

Some questions students are asked what environments they like to be in, how they want their lives to look like at 30 years old and what their values are.

Kingery also asks students about what is going to make their day seem worth their time and what will make them feel good about their work.

Kingery said she asks these questions so that students can look at things differently and find a common theme.

“If you start looking at the things you enjoy, those things start popping up; you’ll see those themes,” Kingery said, “and those are the themes we will start looking at that will lead to the employment area that will give you what you want.”

The most common issue Kingery said she sees students run into is that most of them are not experienced enough to choose a career, and most are afraid of making the wrong decision.

“Even after all this time, I can relate to that feeling of ‘I’m not sure what I want to do,’” Kingery said.

Changing majors is common for college students, Kingery said.

“Most college students think everyone has it all figured out except you. The reality is that 80 percent of college students change their major at least once before they graduate,” Kingery said.

The idea of feeling lost can cause people to feel less confident and that there is more pressure on students today, Kingery said.

An example of pressures students face include being reminded of how expensive college is and not to waste their time, she said.

“College at this point should be doing one of two things: One, helping you learn skills that you need for a career you’d like, and the other is giving you time to grow up and figure out who you are,” Kingery said.

The career path is “almost never a straight path,” Kingery said.

“I understand the financial aspect of it; college is expensive, but you guys need time to explore,” Kingery said. “If you don’t have the answers, that’s OK. That’s what we are here for,” Kingery said.

Gillian Eubanks can be reached at 581-2812 or at gdeubanks@eiu.edu.