What is a Career?
A career is a job or occupation for which you prepare or get training. Some examples of different careers are: firefighter, lawyer, botanist, or chef.
How Do You Find a Career?
Finding a career is an exciting and interesting process, and you are likely to change your mind along the way. Just keep thinking about the kind of life you want to lead and the kind of person you are, and match your big dreams with reality as much as possible. 1. A good way to start your career exploration is by asking yourself lots of questions that will help you figure out the kind of life—and the kind of job—you’ll want to have. Here are some good questions to start with: - What do you value the most (money, helping people, etc.)?
- What are your favorite classes in school?
- What special talents do you have?
- What kind of lifestyle would you like to have when you’re 30?
- What kind of car will you drive?
- Will you own a house?
- Will you have a family?
- What kinds of jobs sound interesting to you?
The answers to these questions can help give you more of an idea of the kind of life you’re hoping to lead. This will make it much easier to figure out the kind of career that will fit into your plans and help you reach your goals.
2. Decide what you like, what kinds of things excite you, and what you’re good at. You might want to get involved in after-school activities to help give you some more ideas about this. For example, playing sports can show you if you’re a leader or team player, joining different clubs can introduce you to all kinds of new ideas and people. Taking a variety of classes—drama, computers, or autoshop, for example—can help you develop new interests. 3. Research jobs that seem like they’d match your interests and skills. Find out more about the skills or education you’d need to do these jobs, either by talking to a guidance counselor, using the Internet, or going to the library. 4. Get some job experience, either by taking part in service-learning classes at your school, working part-time, or volunteering. 5. Plan your education so you’ll take the right classes and get the right training or degree for the career you want. 6. Remember that you have lots of choices! You can use the Internet or talk to college career centers to find out about jobs you’ve never even imagined existed—all over the country, or even the world! 7. It’s okay to enter college not knowing which career path you want to pursue. Getting to know yourself is the first step in exploring careers. 8. Keep in mind that you’ll need skills and education for ANY career you pursue, whether you’re going to be a banker, an actor, a professional athlete, or a teacher.
Links
The Job Market
This local website fills you in on how to get a summer job, how to ace an interview, and where to look for help in your career search. This is a great place to start your career exploration. Monster.com
This site has all kinds of fun, useful tools, including quizzes that will help you find a great career, and tools to get you started on your search. JobStar
This site covers everything from choosing a career to getting the salary you want. It also has job listings for California and the rest of the country. Teen Cyberlounge
This site is great for teens or young adults, with career planners, quizzes, and resume builders. This is a good one to use throughout your long-term career search. Yahoo
This site lets you research any career or job title and lays out the salary, location, and availability of the positions in the U.S. FlipDog.com
A great place to look for jobs and career information, post your resume, and find job-hunting tips. Saludos.com
This site is geared toward the Latino community and is a resource for bilingual and strictly Spanish-speaking folks. It contains a job search and newsletter as well as listings for bilingual career advancement. Careerbuilder.com
Search for jobs by location in the U.S. and all over the world! This site is geared for advanced career searchers. Occupational Outlook Handbook
Provides a lot of information about specific occupations including the nature of the work, working conditions, employment, training and education, job outlook, and earnings. About Careers
A web portal which links you to career planning and job searching information. Also has links to careers in specific fields such as business/finance and media/arts, etc. Career One Stop
A place where job seekers can connect with employers. There are tips on writing resumes, locating potential employers, discovering career possibilities, exploring wages and occupational trends, and much more! Career Info Net
Partnered with CareerOneStop, this site is one of the most extensive career resource libraries online. Princeton Review Careers
This site has a career quiz that helps you learn more about your personal interests and styles to help you identify potential careers. There is also extensive information on technical schools and how college majors translate into future career options.
Books
Cool Careers for Dummies
By Marty Nemko et al.
Dummies.com Creating Your High School Resume
By Kathryn Troutman |
