High school is a great time to start thinking about careers. “All your life you’ve been asked what you want to do when you grow up, ” says Steve Schneider, a school counselor at Sheboygan South High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. “In high school, you start to work towards making that happen.”
Many high schoolers don’t yet know what they want to do. And school counselors say that’s perfectly fine. In fact, students are likely to change their minds multiple times, perhaps even after they enter the workforce.
And some of tomorrow’s careers might not exist today.
Settling on just one occupation in high school isn’t necessary. But looking into the types of careers you might like can help set you up for success. “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.”
Learn about yourself
Understanding what you enjoy—and what you’re good at—is the first step in exploring careers, say school counselors. “If you don’t know what you want to do, the question is, ‘What do you like to learn about?’” Schneider says. “If you really like science, what do you enjoy about it—the lab work, the research?”
Use the answers to those questions to identify careers that may have similar tasks.
High school junior Kate Sours, for example, loves spending time with kids as a babysitter and enjoys helping people. So she focused on those two interests when she began considering potential careers.
It’s important to think about what you like to do, say school counselors, because work will eventually be a big part of your life. “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, ” says Julie Hartline, a school counseling consultant at Cobb County public schools in Smyrna, Georgia.
Identify possible careers
Once you’ve thought about the subjects and activities you like best, the next step is to look for careers that put those interests to use. If you love sports, for example, you might consider a career as a gym teacher, recreational therapist, or coach. If you like math, a career as a cost estimator, accountant, or budget analyst might be a good fit.
