Career Discovery and Planning
Interests
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Activities and Hobbies

One place to start identifying patterns of skills and values is to review and make a list of all your activities and hobbies. Everyone has at least one hobby or interest that brings unique satisfaction. Some people are able to develop their careers based on special interests. Think of personal interests as another way to identify your values, skills and abilities. For instance, if you enjoy writing stories it may reflect as a talent for communication, creativity and a fascination with the motivations behind human behavior. If you love outdoor activity, you may have a sense of adventure, a need for physical challenges, a concern for the environment or a passion for nature. If you enjoy community work, you may be interested in making a tangible contribution to society or have strong political, ethical or religious values. Also, don’t discount the value of academic interests as a pathway toward evaluating your personal interests. If science courses are most appealing to you, you probably have strong analytical and quantitative skills.

Make a list of all your activities and interests and see if you can identify specific skills and values. This may provide some useful information as you explore possible careers. Consider the following questions to help generate this list:

• What were some of the topics you most enjoyed studying at Penn?
• Name a hobby that you enjoy so much that time seems to fly by when you’re engaged in it.
• When you watch the news or read a newspaper/magazine, what issues jump out at you the most?
• If money were no object, what would you spend more or most of your time doing?