FOCUS is a online self assessment tool to help students through self discovery, reflection and career exploration. This interactive tool helps to determine your interests, values, preferences, and skills, and provides you with suggested career paths based on your individual results.
FOCUS is free for Brown students and alumni and is accessible anywhere, anytime!
Why Should I Use FOCUS?
FOCUS is an invaluable career assessment tool for everyone. FOCUS can help you decide on career goals and action plans by increasing your awareness of your talents, interests, values, personality and potential for success in certain careers. It will enable you to self-assess your career relevant personal qualities and explore career fields and major areas of study that are most compatible with your assessment results. Students who use FOCUS make better decisions about their goals and plans and learn how to self-manage their careers.
How Do I Use FOCUS?
Follow the steps below to complete FOCUS :
- Go to the FOCUS web site
- Create your new account and begin. Contact the CDC to get the Brown-specific access code
- Take the five assessments under the “Self-Assessment” section:
- Work Interest Assessment
- Personality Assessment
- Skills Assessment
- Values Assessment
- Leisure Interest Assessment
How Long Does It Take?
On average, completing the five assessments under the “Self Assessment” section takes about 20 minutes. Completing your entire profile in FOCUS takes approximately 40 minutes. FOCUS always saves your results so you can always go back into the tool at anytime. You can certainly spend additional time researching different occupational choices.
What’s Next?
Once you’ve completed FOCUS, you’ll have lots of information about yourself and potential concentrations and careers, as well as many questions. Come meet with a career counselor to discuss and interpret the results and help guide you towards the next steps. To schedule on appointment, please call 401.863.3326.
With the results of this self-assessment, and a consultation with a career counselor, you will have detailed information about possible options and a good, objective baseline from which to conduct a strategic exploration and search.
Keep in mind that once your plan is created, the next step always includes connecting with people: alumni, faculty, advisers, your parents, friends, and, of course, employers to learn more about various career paths. Please use the resources of the CDC to assist in this process.