Career Exploration Self-Reflection Questions

Career Exploration Self-Reflection Questions

This self-assessment is designed to help you reflect on your interests, values, and strengths. You can work through these prompts independently at your own pace, and/or use your responses to guide a conversation with a career advisor. Think of this as a living document to update whenever you want to check in on your growth, reassess your direction, or prepare for your next steps.

Interests

  1. What has been your favorite class in high school or at Amherst College?  Why did you like it?
  2. What are some of your non-academic interests/hobbies? What do you do for fun?
  3. Think back to the last time you were in the zone and lost track of time.  What were you doing?  Can you describe the environment around you?
  4. What topic, or topics, do you think you could talk about for hours?
  5. What do you dislike doing or simply do out of obligation?

Values

  1. What do you hope your work contributes to—people, communities, or society at large?
  2. When you think about making an impact, what issues or causes feel important to you?
  3. What kind of work environment feels most energizing or meaningful to you (collaborative, creative, service-oriented, structured, etc.)?
  4. Imagine yourself a year out from graduating from Amherst.  What kind of work and life would feel fulfilling to you?
  5. Who are the role models you admire, and what about their careers or lives resonates with you?
  6. When you imagine your ideal day at work, what does it look and feel like?
  7. When have you felt most proud of something you accomplished, and what does that say about what matters to you?

Priorities

  1. What balance between work, personal time, and other commitments feels right for you?
  2. What do you want your days to feel like—busy and fast-paced, creative and open-ended, structured and predictable?
  3. Do you picture yourself working in one place consistently, or having variety and change over time?
  4. How important are things like salary, location, flexibility, or stability compared to the type of work you’re doing?
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