Ploymint

In the midst of utter career confusion? Don’t despair; we all go through bouts of uncertainty about whether we made the right career choice — or panic over not even having made a choice yet. Whether you’re a recent grad or an employee who’s just so ready for a career change, these tools will help you discover a new, rewarding career path. So stop with the What should I do with my life? whining and start your search today:

Career One Stop: Backed by data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Career One Stop is a pretty powerful online tool that gives you hard numbers about different industries and professions. The website’s toolkit provides info about industries and even lets you compare wages on a state and city level for different professions. You might not be all about the benjamins, but knowing prospective pay and industry growth projections should definitely factor into your career decisions. You can even take a look at industries with declining employment, so you know what career path to perhaps stay away from. If you’ve already got a career in mind, the site also give you tools to seek out training centers and apprenticeships for your chosen career path. Thanks, DOL!

Candid Career: This is career exploration for the YouTube generation. Candid Career is a website with a collection of thousands of one-to-two minute videos featuring brief interviews with job holders in a super wide variety of fields. Looking at data can be elucidating, but sometimes you just need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. From a fashion designer to a meteorologist (and just about everything in between), the professionals featured give you the low down on their jobs in a super easy-to-digest format. Don’t be overwhelmed by all the videos; you can search and filter by keyword, college major, industry, and more, to narrow it all down. You’ll need a subscription to access all the videos, but if you’re still a student check with your school to see if they already have a group subscription — then you can watch for free!

Glassdoor: At this website, you can read real reviews from real employees, so you get the dish on the good, the bad, and the really ugly. Glassdoor may be best for folks who already have an industry in mind but want to compare and contrast specific companies, or even roles within a company (and get the scoop on salaries, too). Just keep in mind that these kinds of reviews may not represent a truly accurate representation of a company, since most people are only motivated to leave a review if they have an extremely positive or extremely negative experience. Still, though, Glassdoor provides a good starting point, and if a company has garnered only one-star reviews, well, that’s pretty telling.

Your Alumni Network: If you’re a recent grad (or even a not-so-recent one), get back in touch with your alma mater to see if they can hook you back up with the school’s career tools. Several years after I graduated, I got in touch with my school’s career team because I was interested in switching careers — they were able to give me access to a job-centered alumni forum where I solicited advice from fellow alums and even set up a few job-shadowing experiences. Knowing that you have a connection through the school already means that alums are usually more eager to share insights, so it doesn’t hurt to ask.

We all go through a career-centered existential crisis now and then, but these tools should help pull you out of your career despair. Have you found a career exploration tool that works especially well for you? Share it with us in the comments below!