Counselling and Career Development

Choose a qualification

“What should I study?” is an important question you have to answer because what you study will shape how your career story will unfold. Your decision to study is part of your career development because you choose to spend your resources (or your family’s or community’s resources) at Unisa to have a better future. These resources are your time, money, energy and intellectual potential.

Before you can make any major decision, you need information. You need information about the courses offered at Unisa. You need to understand how specific qualifications are related to your career planning and the kind of opportunities you are hoping to prepare for.

The following sections will help you to:

  1. Identify study options related to your career choice
  2. Explore your study options at Unisa
  3. Consider your next steps

Identify study options related to your career interests

Activity 1

  1. Go to Linking your interests to Unisa qualifications.
  2. Read through the different interest fields listed and choose a maximum of three interest fields you wish to explore.
  3. Click on each of the interest fields to learn more about the interests related to that field, possible job titles, possible work environments, and the qualifications linked to each interest field.
  4. Now answer the following questions for each of the interest fields you explored:

Interest field #1

Interest field name:  
Which interests are linked to this field?  
Which of the possible job titles do I want to explore further?  
Which possible work environments do I want to explore further?  
Which Unisa qualifications related to this interest field do I want to explore further?  

Interest field #2

Interest field name:  
Which interests are linked to this field?  
Which of the possible job titles do I want to explore further?  
Which possible work environments do I want to explore further?  
Which Unisa qualifications related to this interest field do I want to explore further?  

Interest field #3

Interest field name:  
Which interests are linked to this field?  
Which of the possible job titles do I want to explore further?  
Which possible work environments do I want to explore further?  
Which Unisa qualifications related to this interest field do I want to explore further?  

Activity 2

  1. Go to the National Career Advice Portal career questionnaires webpage.
  2. Click on the "Start a questionnaire" button at the bottom of the page.
  3. Click on the "Not registered?" link to register on the site (free of charge).
  4. Once you have registered and logged in, click on the NCAP Interest Questionnaire Start button to complete the questionnaire.
  5. Once you have saved and submitted the final page of the questionnaire, you can click on the "View Results" button.
  6. You will be able to view a list of career fields and the percentage you scored for each. A high percentage next to a career field indicates a high interest in this field.
  7. Click on the name of the career field to view a description of this field.
  8. Click on the word "Careers" under each career field to view a list of occupations related to this career field.
  9. If you click on the name of an occupation, e.g. "biochemist" you will be able to read more about this occupation and the related study options.

Explore your study options at Unisa

  1. Go to Find your qualification & choose your modules section of the registration website.
  2. Find the information about the qualifications you identified in the activity above.
  3. Read through the curriculum information for each qualification you identified.
  4. Note the admission requirements for each qualification, and how the different qualifications compare.
  5. Make notes about your reading.

What are your next steps?

  1. Learn more about your chosen field of study and career opportunities.
  2. Learn more about the Unisa application for admission process (to apply for a qualification).
  3. Talk to a counsellor about your choice.

Last modified: 2023/08/07