“I’ve always had a pretty clear idea of what I want to do,” says Megan Lovely, a high school senior with aspirations to become a director. She’s proactively pursuing her career goal through an internship with her school drama teacher, engaging in acting, and applying to colleges.
However, many high school students might not share Lovely’s certainty about their future career paths. If you’re in high school and unsure about your vocation, rest assured you’re not alone. Like Lovely, you can begin the crucial process of thinking about and planning your future well before graduation.
“Start exploring what you want to do when you’re a freshman,” advises Mark Danaher, a career counselor at Newington High School. “The high school years go by very quickly.” Early career planning is essential because most professions require preparation, whether through technical courses in high school or further education like college or vocational training. Understanding the career path that resonates with you begins with exploring your interests, and this is where career interest tools become invaluable.
This article will guide high school students on the significance of career planning, emphasizing the Importance Of Career Interest Tools. We will explore how these tools can help you discover your passions, gain relevant experience, navigate education and training options, and ultimately, pursue a fulfilling career path.
Unlocking Your Potential: Explore Your Interests with Career Interest Tools
High school provides the perfect environment to begin contemplating your future career. As Steve Schneider, a school counselor at Sheboygan South High School, points out, “All your life you’ve been asked what you want to do when you grow up. In high school, you start to work towards making that happen.”
It’s perfectly normal for high schoolers to be undecided about their career aspirations. In fact, career paths often evolve, and interests may change even after entering the workforce. The future job market is also dynamic, with new careers emerging constantly. Therefore, settling on a single occupation during high school isn’t the primary goal. Instead, the focus should be on exploring different career areas that align with your interests and skills. This is where career interest tools play a vital role in providing direction and clarity.
“My feeling is that high school students don’t have to know the exact career they want,” says Danaher, “but they should know how to explore careers and put time into investigating them and learning about their skills and interests.” Career interest tools are designed to facilitate this exploration, offering structured methods to understand yourself and the vast world of work.
Self-Discovery: How Career Interest Tools Help You Learn About Yourself
Understanding your preferences and strengths is the foundational step in career exploration. “If you don’t know what you want to do, the question is, ‘What do you like to learn about?’” Schneider suggests. “If you really like science, what do you enjoy about it—the lab work, the research?” Career interest tools, such as interest inventories and personality assessments, can provide valuable insights into these questions. They help you identify patterns in your interests, values, and skills, making the process of self-discovery more structured and less overwhelming.
For example, a career interest assessment might reveal a strong interest in science and a preference for hands-on activities. This combination can point towards careers involving lab work or scientific research. Similarly, if you enjoy helping people, as highlighted by high school junior Kate Sours, career interest tools can help you connect this interest to relevant professions. Sours’ love for babysitting and helping others led her to explore careers in healthcare.
Julie Hartline, a school counseling consultant, emphasizes the importance of aligning your interests with your career: “The whole purpose of thinking about careers is so that when you go to the workforce, you wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work.” Career interest tools assist in this alignment by matching your unique profile with suitable career fields, increasing the likelihood of job satisfaction and long-term fulfillment.
Identifying Potential Careers: Leveraging Career Interest Tools for Direction
Once you’ve gained a better understanding of your interests and aptitudes, the next step is to explore careers that effectively utilize these strengths. If you have a passion for sports, career interest tools might suggest professions like gym teacher, recreational therapist, or coach. For those who excel in mathematics, careers such as cost estimator, accountant, or budget analyst could be highlighted. These tools go beyond simple matching; they often provide detailed information about various careers, including typical tasks, required skills, and educational pathways.
However, it’s crucial to recognize that these are just starting points. The range of occupations is vast, and most roles require a blend of skills. Career interest tools can broaden your horizons and introduce you to career options you might not have considered. School counselors, teachers, and parents can also offer guidance, but career interest tools offer an initial, personalized exploration. Free online resources like My Next Move serve as accessible career interest tools, offering interactive assessments and career information databases.
Considering local employment opportunities is another practical approach. Understanding the industries prevalent in your area can reveal relevant career paths. For example, in areas with strong manufacturing or healthcare sectors, career interest tools can help students explore diverse roles within these industries, ranging from entry-level positions to those requiring advanced degrees.
Sours’ exploration, guided by her interests and possibly supported by career interest tools, led her to nursing, specifically considering neonatal intensive care or pediatrics. Her experience underscores the value of using career interest tools to broaden, rather than narrow, your career perspectives. Keeping an open mind and using these tools can uncover unexpected career paths that you might find surprisingly appealing.
Researching Career Paths: Utilizing Tools for In-Depth Exploration
After identifying potential occupations through career interest tools, thorough research is essential. Resources like Career Outlook and the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) are invaluable tools for this stage. These resources, often recommended by career interest tools, provide detailed information about job duties, education requirements, salary expectations, and job outlook for various professions.
Talking to professionals working in fields that interest you is another powerful research method. Career interest tools can sometimes connect you with professionals or provide networking resources. Informational interviews, facilitated by networking, offer firsthand insights into daily work life. Job shadowing provides an even more immersive experience.
Sours’ shadowing experience with her aunt, a physical therapist, and her participation in a nursing camp were crucial in solidifying her interest in healthcare. These experiences, supplementing her initial exploration with career interest tools, provided a realistic preview of her potential career path. Firsthand experience, guided by initial career interest exploration, is indispensable in determining if an occupation is truly a good fit.
Gaining Real-World Experience: Complementing Career Interest Tools with Action
While career interest tools are crucial for initial exploration and direction, practical experience provides invaluable validation and skill development. Job shadowing offers a glimpse into a profession, but actively gaining experience through internships, jobs, and extracurricular activities takes your career planning to the next level.
Participating in diverse experiences helps refine your understanding of your likes and dislikes in a work environment. These experiences also cultivate essential job skills, such as punctuality and responsibility. However, it’s crucial to maintain a balance, prioritizing academics while seeking relevant experiences.
Internships: Applying Career Interests in a Professional Setting
Internships are exceptional opportunities to gain practical experience directly related to your career interests. These temporary, supervised assignments provide structured job training for students. Some schools integrate internships into their academic programs, offering academic credit for participation.
Lovely’s internship with her high school theater director exemplifies this. Her hands-on involvement in various aspects of theater production solidified her career aspirations in directing. Even when internships are not credit-bearing, the practical experience gained is highly valuable. School counselors are excellent resources for identifying internship opportunities aligned with your interests discovered through career interest tools.
Part-Time Jobs: Developing Transferable Skills and Exploring Industries
Summer or part-time jobs offer another avenue for gaining experience and exploring different industries. Beyond earning income, these jobs teach valuable skills like budgeting and saving. They also provide exposure to workplace dynamics and professional expectations.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlights the diverse industries where young people find employment, including leisure and hospitality, retail, and healthcare. Even seemingly unrelated part-time jobs can provide transferable skills and insights into different work environments, informing your career decisions as you utilize career interest tools for long-term planning.
Youth employment regulations exist to protect young workers, setting limitations on job types and working hours based on age. Balancing work and academics is crucial. Starting with fewer hours and gradually increasing them, ensuring studies remain the priority, is a recommended approach. Regardless of the job’s specific nature, any work experience contributes to a student’s understanding of the professional world and complements the insights gained from career interest tools.
Extracurricular Activities: Exploring Interests and Building Skills Outside the Classroom
Beyond formal internships and jobs, extracurricular activities play a significant role in career exploration and skill development. Joining clubs like the yearbook committee, science club, or debate team allows you to explore specific interests and develop related skills.
Participation in community service and leadership roles, such as student government or honor societies, hones work-related skills and demonstrates initiative. Subject-specific camps, like engineering or writing camps, offer focused learning experiences that can guide career interests. Organizations like SkillsUSA, DECA, and Future Business Leaders of America provide platforms for career readiness activities and competitions.
Volunteering provides opportunities to contribute to your community while gaining valuable experience and exploring different sectors. These diverse activities, alongside the guidance from career interest tools, demonstrate motivation and engagement to future employers and educational institutions. They also contribute to a more informed and well-rounded career plan.
Training for Your Future: Utilizing Resources and Tools for Educational Planning
Career preparation extends beyond high school graduation. Most occupations require further training or education. On-the-job training, apprenticeships, certifications, and various levels of college degrees are common pathways to entry-level positions. The specific training required depends on your chosen career path, informed by your interests and exploration using career interest tools.
Your high school might offer opportunities for career training or college credit before graduation, and post-graduation, your options expand significantly. As you approach workforce entry, refining your choices based on your experiences and the insights from career interest tools becomes increasingly important.
Career Training in High School: Building a Foundation with Available Tools
A solid high school education is foundational for any career. Skills learned in high school, such as problem-solving, communication, and research, are transferable across professions. Academic success and participation in career-training or college-preparation programs demonstrate your readiness to apply these skills.
Planning tools and guidance from school counselors are essential for ensuring your high school coursework aligns with your career aspirations. For example, aspiring electricians might need algebra, and counselors can help with course selection. Your high school record is often considered by employers and postsecondary institutions, reflecting your ability to set goals and follow through. “Starting freshman year, do the absolute best you can in your classes,” advises Laura Inscoe, dean of counseling and student services at Wakefield High School.
However, academic setbacks are not insurmountable. “School studies open doors if you do well, but they don’t shut doors if you don’t,” says Danaher, emphasizing alternative paths to career success. Career exploration tools can help identify these alternative paths.
High schools often offer career programs, such as career academies and technical education, providing hands-on training and industry certifications or college credit. Sours’ participation in a health and medical sciences career academy allowed her to gain healthcare-specific knowledge and skills, earning certifications and college credits. These programs in fields like business, culinary arts, and IT prepare students for both work and further education.
For college-bound students, rigorous academic coursework is generally recommended. College-prep programs like Advanced Placement and dual enrollment can provide a head start on college credit and potentially reduce college course requirements. However, college admissions are holistic, considering factors beyond coursework. College search tools and resources from counselors can help navigate the college application process effectively.
Post-High School Training Options: Navigating Choices with Career Planning Resources
Approximately two-thirds of high school graduates enroll in college, with the remaining entering the workforce. Data indicates that higher education generally correlates with higher wages and lower unemployment rates. Associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, job training programs, and vocational schools offer diverse pathways for post-high school training. Career exploration tools can help you evaluate these options based on your interests and career goals.
Job training is provided directly by employers or the military. Some employers also sponsor employees to earn industry certifications. The duration and type of on-the-job training vary by occupation. Apprenticeships combine paid on-the-job learning with structured training.
Vocational schools, also known as trade or technical schools, offer hands-on training in specific fields, leading to certificates or diplomas. Programs include automotive mechanics, emergency medical technicians, truck driving, culinary arts, and cosmetology. Vocational school directories and online resources can help you find suitable programs. Certificates offer relatively quick career preparation, often completed in under two years, such as nursing assistant certifications.
Associate’s degrees, available at community colleges and some four-year institutions, qualify graduates for roles like dental hygienists and funeral services managers. They can also serve as a stepping stone to a bachelor’s degree, offering a more affordable pathway to higher education. College search tools can help identify associate’s degree programs aligned with your interests.
Bachelor’s degrees offer a broader range of career options. School counselors and college planning tools can assist with college applications and financial aid. Choosing a major aligned with your interests, potentially identified through career interest tools, is a crucial step. Liberal arts programs offer a broad educational foundation, allowing for exploration across disciplines before specializing. Data on job opportunities and starting salaries by major, available through resources like the National Association of Colleges and Employers, can inform your decision, but passion should be the primary driver. Career interest tools help ensure this alignment between passion and career path.
Embrace Flexibility and Pursue Your Dreams: Adapting Your Plan with Ongoing Self-Assessment
Career paths are rarely linear, and there’s no single “right” way to start. Considering a “gap year” after high school can provide valuable experiences and clarity before further education. However, structured planning for a gap year is essential. Career interest tools can be revisited and utilized even during a gap year to refine your direction.
Flexibility is key throughout your career journey. “There’s always the flexibility to shift course,” says Schneider. “A career is not a life sentence. If at some point you realize, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ back up and ask yourself the same questions again: ‘What am I good at? What do I like to do?’” Career interest tools are valuable resources not just in high school but throughout your career, enabling ongoing self-assessment and career adjustments.
Have the confidence to pursue your dream career, even if it seems ambitious. “Put a plan together and go for it,” encourages Danaher, “even if everyone else says you’re crazy, or you’ll never make it.” Career interest tools can help you create that plan, providing a roadmap for achieving your aspirations, even if the path is unconventional.
Resources for Continued Career Exploration: Your Toolkit for the Future
Utilize libraries and online resources for career information. The BLS K–12 site offers career exploration tools to match your interests with occupations. The Occupational Outlook Handbook provides detailed occupational profiles. Your state’s labor market information office may offer localized career data and tools.
Other valuable government resources include:
- My Next Move: A career exploration tool to identify careers by keyword, industry, or interests and training.
- YouthRules!: Information on federal and state youth employment rules.
- Career One Stop: Resources for job seeking and career exploration.
- StudentAid.gov: Information for college preparation and financial aid.
These resources, along with career interest tools discussed throughout this article, form a comprehensive toolkit for your career planning journey, starting in high school and continuing throughout your professional life.
Put Forth Your Best You: Developing Professional Habits Early
Even in high school, cultivating habits valued by future employers is beneficial. “As a student, there are things you can do to get yourself college and work ready,” says career counselor Mark Danaher. Punctuality, responsibility for schoolwork, and professional communication are examples of such habits.
Appropriate attire and behavior are also essential, especially when interacting with potential employers. “You act one way with your friends and another on the jobsite,” notes Julie Hartline. Online presence matters too. Social media can be a networking tool, but online conduct should be professional and responsible.
Employers and college admissions officers often review online profiles. “They’re looking into your background and want to see who you’re going to be because you may represent a business or institution someday,” says Carter. Maintain a professional online presence, as it reflects your overall preparedness for future opportunities. Developing these professional habits early, combined with proactive career planning using career interest tools, sets you on a path to future success.
Elka Torpey is an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
