Choosing a career

[Ritsumei]

So, when it's time to choose a career, what sorts of things do you have your teens do to figure out what will be a good match for them? I want to have my husband do the same sort of thing because he's completely unhappy in his current job, but neither one of us knows how to go about finding a job that he will be happy about getting up to in the morning. Any suggestions?

[SW in IL]

If you have a community college near you, take a look at their career services. Our local CC has all kinds of tests you can take to find out about interests, aptitude and more... The most expensive test is something like $50, most are less, and several are free if you live in district.

 

Sue

[choirfarm]

My son did this as a semester course:

http://www.sonlight.com/580-00.html

 

It is a career planning course. It was excellent. The Finding the Career that fits you had all sorts of aptitude tests and personality tests. My son said they were so scary about how well they pegged him. There are also bible studies in it about what your attitude toward work should be. It gave him a list of possible careers. I remember spending a day just exploring those careers and he had to make a form out for each one: how much they made, what the education required was, hours worked, etc. The second half of the course was about college, applying and such or if you even needed it or if a technical school or apprenticeship would work. It was a really great course. I went ahead and bought the whole package and other than a couple of days where I sat by him when he surfed the net, it was completely independent. He loved it.

 

 

PS The Finding a Career that fits you would be perfect for your husband. My son had to leave a lot of forms blank that talked about your current job or jobs you held.

Christine

[Ritsumei]

Thanks so much!

[merylvdm]

I try to get my kids to do as many different electives in high school as possible - I count them as 1/2 credits and I let them take electives in areas I think they may want to make a career in. For instance, both my boys have done Entrepreneurship. If you have a child interested in science, you could do electives in the branches they are interested in. Or if they are vaguely interested in the medical field, let them do Epidemiology. I just search and find resources for whatever they are interested in.

I have also used contests to expose them to different fields. i encouraged my oldest dd to do History Day - and enter the Documentary category. She thought it sounded fun and did it. That was in 11th grade - and it sparked her interest in film and she is now a 2nd year film major and loving it.

Another way is to encourage them to start their own businesses in areas they have a slight interest in - and see if it develops. My older son has a photography business and another one fixing computers. My younger son builds websites for people. (He is also doing Web design as an elective)

Meryl