Often, high school students don’t know what career path they want to follow.  That’s fine.  Learning about career options is part of a sound education.  Planning and preparing for your chosen career is exciting and rewarding.  For students struggling in high school, finding a career focus can add purpose to his or her studies, often resulting in better grades.  A career focus can also make selecting a college or vocational training program easier.

If you are unsure about what type of career you might want to pursue after high school, there are many things you can do to identify which job might be right for you.

·                    Think about what you like doing and where your natural talents lie.  Make lists of both things.  Compare the lists and see if there are things you enjoy doing that you also do well.  If there are, that might be the foundation for a happy and successful career, and it might offer you some direction in the high school years that lie ahead.

·                    Contact your high school Guidance counselor and ask which interest surveys are offered at CHS and on the Internet.  Interest inventories give you insight into your personality traits, preferences and strengths. You may take more than one inventory to get more insight into what types of careers might suit you. 

·                    Sign up to take the PLAN test in the fall of your sophomore year.  In addition to helping you prepare for the ACT, it gives valuable information about your interests, strengths and weaknesses.  That information can be used to help you plan for the future.

·                    Another way to match your interests and talents to careers is to use the handbooks CHAMP provided in the high school Media Center.  There are a variety of books, including The Occupational Handbook,  Young Person’s Occupational Handbook  and Get a Jump! What’s Next After High School?

·                    You can gain knowledge about a variety of occupations by talking to adults you know.  Many businesses and professionals welcome students who want to explore career options.  You can take part in hands-on learning experiences if you sign up to participate in one of the programs listed below.  Talk to your Guidance counselor to see who in our area participates in these learning experiences.

Job shadowing – going through a day or two of work, watching someone do his or her job

Mentoring – being paired with a working adult for a discussion of jobs and career likes and dislikes, identifying particular skills and knowledge an employee needs on the job

Internships - working in a job with an employer for a few weeks or longer to learn more about a career field (these jobs often pay)

Youth apprenticeships –working in a technical field that helps the apprentice begin to learn the skills required to carry out a specific job

            Cooperative education – working at a job under the school’s supervision while you are also going to        school (many students do this at the college level)

·                     Check out the Web sites listed at the end of this page for more information about career exploration.

Remember…the jobs of the future belong to people with skills.  Start thinking about your future today!