How can I find articles or books about careers in my field of study?

Answered By: APUS Librarians

Last Updated: Jun 05, 2023 Views: 5741

First, you'll need some background information about your chosen career topic. The resources below offer a good overview of the types of positions available and how job titles are listed (which are important when searching the library), along with salary estimates and more.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. (Alternatively, use this guide to find it in our library.)
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration's CareerOneStop.
Career & Technical Education (ProQuest database). Search or browse to see career preparation guides, resumes and industry information in a wide variety of fields.

When you're ready to search for articles or books, follow the steps in these FAQs:

How do I search for articles in the APUS Library?
- If you need scholarly articles, this guide offers more tips.
How do I search for books in the APUS Library?
- If you need a scholarly book, this guide will help you identify one.

NOTE: Keywords are crucial to a successful search.

If you have a specific job in mind you can search for it:
- Be sure to search for the job using the right name. Find job title suggestions via the resources listed at the top of this page.
- Use phrase searching to search for an exact job title.
If you don't have your heart set on a specific job -- or if your specific search doesn't turn up enough results -- you may need to broaden your keywords. Combine your chosen discipline with keywords like these:
- vocation
- occupation
- career
- job
- position
- professional
- training

For example, if you are interested in a career in psychology, you might try searches like these:
- psychology AND "vocational guidance"
- psychology AND careers
- psychology AND jobs
- psychology AND occupations
- psychology AND positions
- psychologist AND training