Career Path Planning Guide for Students & Parents
High school is an opportunity to prepare for life. Work is a major part of life. Therefore, career exploration, before entering high school, is essential if one does not want to tread aimlessly in courses that have no personal meaning or purpose. Some people may say that this is too young to decide such an important issue. However, deciding on a career can be difficult at any age if the process of choosing a career is not followed. Also, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that most high school age people will have five to seven career changes in their lifetime. This will be due to change of interests, change of values, change of technology, change of physical capabilities, just to mention a few. Therefore, don’t put so much pressure on yourself in thinking that this is a final decision for your life’s work. It is only a decision that works for your current place in life.
Work should not be something you do because you have to. It should be something you do because you want to! To do that, choose something you really enjoy doing and figure out a way to get paid for it! Do you enjoy shopping for clothes? Think about being a fashion buyer. Do you enjoy sports? Think about being a sports writer or manager. Do you enjoy being creative? Think about being a designer, musician, or artist. Do you enjoy working with your hands? Think about being a technician, carpenter, cable installer or contractor.
Whether you are 14 or 41, the process to help you select a career is the same. Every career decision should be based on the following steps:
You can do all of these steps using the free software Choices Planner at http://www.florida.access.bridges.com.
Other web sources for career development are:
Career Voyages
This web site is the result of collaboration between the U.S. Department of
Labor and the U.S. Department of Education. It is designed to provide
information on high growth, high demand occupations along with the skills and
education needed to attain those jobs. It contains hundreds of streaming
videos as well as well as links to career assessment tools and organizational
websites.
Choices Planner
Free to all
College, Career and Life Planning
The information on this website is provided to schools, teachers and students
for their personal, non-commercial use and its sole objective is to provide as
many young people as possible with the tools/information needed to make
informed life decisions (e.g. college, major, career, company/industry).
College
View Career Center
Web site is designed to help students get their careers on track and to
provide them with tools to start planning the future. The site includes a
wealth of information on resume writing, interviewing skills, best-paying and
fastest-growing fields and careers.
FACTS ( Florida Academic
Counseling and Tracking for Students)
Provides information on Florida postsecondary institutions, career guidance,
occupations, resources for planning high school courses and personal high
school academic evaluations
Florida NEXT
Student centered magazine featuring articles and information on the
"future after high school". This site includes section on: Life
Stylin' - celebs and entertainment; Workin' It - jobs and careers; Your 2 Cents
- cash flow; Personal Space - good health and habits; Hall Pass - high school
life; In The Bleachers - sports and more; In Uniform - military; Higher Ed. -
school choices and financial aid/scholarships.
Florida Career Pathways/Tech Prep Network
This website is sponsored by the association of Career Pathways/Tech Prep practitioners
throughout
Fun Factory
In addition to giving information about various careers in major clusters, this
site suggests fun activities to try, lists other resources for more related
information and includes some "cool facts" about careers.
Teachers can register to receive lesson plans and activity ideas.
Labor
Market Statistics
Power Point presentation of the fifteen Highest Paying Jobs and the Jobs in
Most Demand based on the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor
National Career Pathways/Tech Prep
Website
NTPN assists its members in planning, implementing,
evaluating, and improving Career Pathways/Tech Prep programs by pooling the resources of the
country's leading practitioners to provide a network of communication for new
and existing programs.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Office of Employment Projection's web site containing the Occupational
Outlook Handbook; Career Guide to Industries; Occupation Outlook Quarterly;
tomorrow's jobs overview; and how industries differ plus much more.
Seeing
Beyond High School
Interactive program for teens to help them prepare for the future world of
work. Running time is about 14 minutes and students can print a Career Action
Plan and Certificate of Completion
St. Petersburg College Career Pathways/Tech Prep
Program
Learn about the advantages
of combining high school with St. Petersburg College Career Pathways/Tech Prep programs. Many of these programs will save students
time and money with articulated courses.
Teenager's
Guide to the Real World
This site contains excerpts from the book The Teenager's Guide to the
Real World. The following online chapters pertain to careers and the future:
Chapter 0: You Get to Design Your Life; Chapter 1: Money Really Matters;
Chapter 5: You Must Have a Job to Live Life; Chapter 6: Education is One Key to
a Good Job; Chapter 7: Good Jobs Go to Good Employees; Chapter 8: Suits Send
Signals
Virtual Mentor
Look up information about careers or look at the Knowledgebase of questions
posted by students and answered by volunteer mentors who are experienced in
their field. Students who belong to member schools can post their own
questions or discussions.