A good way to get a more in-depth look at career is to look at the same information those professionals look at. Articles from professional magazines, journals, and other publications, as well as field-related information in newspapers and popular magazines, are a great place to look. For these resources, you need to use the library's online databases. These are paid online resources, not freely available on the Internet, which offer searchable full text access to many print publications.
When looking for information about a career, if you are not looking at professional associations you are missing out on some of the best information you can find. Professional associations are organizations made up of and managed by people within particular professions. There are organizations for teachers, nurses, chemists, business owners, etc. Some are responsible for licensing their members. There is usually a national organization and then statewide chapters. Some fields have multiple organizations, each focusing on a particular specialty. Most of these organizations include information on their websites or have brochures or books they have created to educate people who might be interested in joining their field. Some offer opportunities to contact or even shadow people working in the field.
To find out more about the professional organizations in your fields of interest, run an Internet search on the name of the career and "professional organization" or "professional association." If you use social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, try looking up the organizations there. Many of them have active Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. Also, the Occupational Outlook Handbook includes professional organizations for each job title under the "More Info" section.
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