rjand6more Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I am trying to help ds narrow down his course of study. He is not academically excited and has a hard time focusing(long family history of ADHD). He also has very high anxiety issues. Anyway, he is stalled on what type of a career to pursue. I have very little experience(but am learning!!) about career paths outside of medical/dental. He really is talented in computer diagnostics and networking. He built his own computer this year and has had to do a lot of troubleshooting with it. My usually frustrated, anxious child is patient and full of excitement when he works out problems! Computer science is not an option due to the highly competitive nature and the amount of science and math(he hates them-although he is pretty good at both...) He has not desired a rigorous high school path. I was thinking IT or some type of business? ( It scares me just to think about it-LOL- as I have no idea about these fields.) He is really lost, too. I have tried to go over lists and lists of majors with him and he is OVERWHELMED! We really don't know anyone irl to talk to who has gone to school for anything like this. So, please, if you can make any suggestions to help us narrow down possibilities, I would be so grateful!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Not an expert by any means, but that does sound like an IT position would be a good fit. The computer diagnostics and networking would be things he could do as an independent contractor, or for a large company, and either way, he would most likely be able to set his own schedule and would work solo, or via email/video chat, which could really help ease anxiety issues. A few occupations that came up when I did a quick search based on your description of DS's interests/strengths: Computer and Information Technology Occupations Computer and IT Occupations Network and Computer Systems Administrator Computer Systems Analyst Computer User Support Specialist Information Security Analyst Web Administrator I would suggest having DS do some career counseling with a professional. Through a series of interesting, non-stressful tests a career counselor can help you better understand your personality and your strengths/interests, plus your career "values" or goals, and then help match that all up with specific occupations. Also, they will have access to a lot of specific jobs in the IT field and the educational requirements for the jobs. In case you want to start off slowly exploring at home, below are a few past threads that may be of general help for how to do career exploration on your own. They are from the mega-compilation list of college topics on the pinned thread at the top of the high school board (post #5 of "Transcripts... College Prep/Applications ... Scholarships/Financial Aid... Career Exploration -- past threads linked here"). BEST of luck in finding a great job match for DS! :) Warmest regards, Lori D. Career aptitude test? Has anyone used "Career Direct" from Crown Financial Ministries (or other career assessment tool)? Has anyone used the Strong Interest Inventory Career aptitude testing? Choosing a career book suggestion? Career testing - knowing what to major in/do with your life Helping your college student decide on a major Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Lori D is right on, with her suggestion for Career Counseling... However, with regard to Computer Networking, I have an interest in that and am very thankful that I did not go into that, because when things go awry, it is INCREDIBLY stressful... The whole world is very angry at the network staff, when things stop working. A small example: Our web sites are hosted by a very reputable company in CT, USA. Last week, they had an issue with an upstream provider and everything was offline, for approximately 4 hours as I recall. Like all of their other customers, when our web sites are offline, I'm unhappy, however, I am THANKFUL, that I am not the person tasked with fixing things. The time before that, their DNS Servers (as I recall) were attacked.... Being a Network Administrator can be incredibly stressful. When things like that happen, I always tell my wife, "I hate for our web sites to be offline, but I am thankful they are the ones who need to get things running again..." Being a Systems Administrator, where you are taking care of one box, or a hundred boxes, I would think would be much less stressful. There are many things he might be good at doing, but remember that he is not a STEM student and go from there. And, yes, selecting a career is a major task and it is sad that people need to do that when they are so young. Have him look over the Online Catalog of a major research university like TTU and look at the careers they offer. Possibly something he sees will cause him to be interested and enthusiastic. GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 Not an expert by any means, but that does sound like an IT position would be a good fit. The computer diagnostics and networking would be things he could do as an independent contractor, or for a large company, and either way, he would most likely be able to set his own schedule and would work solo, or via email/video chat, which could really help ease anxiety issues. A few occupations that came up when I did a quick search based on your description of DS's interests/strengths: Computer and Information Technology Occupations Computer and IT Occupations Network and Computer Systems Administrator Computer Systems Analyst Computer User Support Specialist Information Security Analyst Web Administrator I would suggest having DS do some career counseling with a professional. Through a series of interesting, non-stressful tests a career counselor can help you better understand your personality and your strengths/interests, plus your career "values" or goals, and then help match that all up with specific occupations. Also, they will have access to a lot of specific jobs in the IT field and the educational requirements for the jobs. In case you want to start off slowly exploring at home, below are a few past threads that may be of general help for how to do career exploration on your own. They are from the mega-compilation list of college topics on the pinned thread at the top of the high school board (post #5 of "Transcripts... College Prep/Applications ... Scholarships/Financial Aid... Career Exploration -- past threads linked here"). BEST of luck in finding a great job match for DS! :) Warmest regards, Lori D. Career aptitude test? Has anyone used "Career Direct" from Crown Financial Ministries (or other career assessment tool)? Has anyone used the Strong Interest Inventory Career aptitude testing? Choosing a career book suggestion? Career testing - knowing what to major in/do with your life Helping your college student decide on a major Thank you for this thoughtful post!!I have looked at several of the links and will continue doing so! I have no idea about a career counselor. I will look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 Lori D is right on, with her suggestion for Career Counseling... However, with regard to Computer Networking, I have an interest in that and am very thankful that I did not go into that, because when things go awry, it is INCREDIBLY stressful... The whole world is very angry at the network staff, when things stop working. A small example: Our web sites are hosted by a very reputable company in CT, USA. Last week, they had an issue with an upstream provider and everything was offline, for approximately 4 hours as I recall. Like all of their other customers, when our web sites are offline, I'm unhappy, however, I am THANKFUL, that I am not the person tasked with fixing things. The time before that, their DNS Servers (as I recall) were attacked.... Being a Network Administrator can be incredibly stressful. When things like that happen, I always tell my wife, "I hate for our web sites to be offline, but I am thankful they are the ones who need to get things running again..." Being a Systems Administrator, where you are taking care of one box, or a hundred boxes, I would think would be much less stressful. There are many things he might be good at doing, but remember that he is not a STEM student and go from there. And, yes, selecting a career is a major task and it is sad that people need to do that when they are so young. Have him look over the Online Catalog of a major research university like TTU and look at the careers they offer. Possibly something he sees will cause him to be interested and enthusiastic. GL Some food for thought. Thank you for that perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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