Valley helps students find a career path

Valley College is holding workshops throughout the month for students that are undecided about their career goals.

By Gabriel Arizon, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Valley College students who are still unsure of their career path or are in need of help of finding a major can seek assistance with the Undecided Major Workshop.

The Career/Transfer Center is offering several workshops throughout February for students in need of guidance in selecting a major to pursue. Students who participate will sit with a guidance counselor and fill out a career action plan and an assessment to find their skills, interests and goals.

“The whole purpose of an undecided workshop is for incoming freshman or any student who feels like they’re not moving towards their end goal,” Career Guidance Counselor Assistant Albert Galdamez said. “We’re always trying to have students achieve their goals at the end of day.”

Each workshop has a student fill out a career action plan, asking them what their skills are, their interests, what they are naturally good at and their educational goals. Afterwards, the student will take an assessment that asks about activities the student has enjoyed doing before, enjoys doing now and would like to do in the future. The student's answers then show which areas they are most (and least) interested in, such as arts and communication, human service, information technology and manufacturing.

The workshop works to provide students with a general basis of what they want to do, but does not promise them that they will know definitively what they want to do as a career by the end of the hour-and-a-half session.

The workshop isn’t just for those who need help finding a path. According to Galdamez, attendance is a 60-40 split between those who have no general idea of a career path and those who already have a small idea but want something that reinforces it.

“[Some] individuals don’t understand just how much resources and activities and workshops are offered to students and all they have to do is come and ask,” Galdamez said. “We’re always here willing to give out the information … we’re very passionate about helping out students.”

According to data from the Los Angeles Community College District, the number of students who were undecided about their educational goals has been dropping over the last decade. Across all LACCD campuses during the fall of 2017, 12.5 percent of students said they were undecided. This is a gradual decline from the 16.6 percent reported back in 2005.

Valley itself has been showing lower numbers of undecided students for the past few years. Data from 2016 puts the percentage at 13.8, a drop the 16 percent reported in 2013.

According to StateUniversity.com, the most popular majors at Valley are liberal arts and sciences, child care provider and registered nursing.

The remaining workshops will be held in the CTC – located in the Student Services Annex – and will be held on Feb. 21 and 25 at 12 p.m. To sign up, go to the CTC or call at (818) 947-2646.

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