Career Exploration?

[MerryAtHope]

If you have a high schooler who has no idea what field he might like to go into and needs to learn about what kinds of opportunities are out there in general...what resources have helped the most?

[Angie in VA]

Our laughing lioness wrote a blog post on this topic also.

 

http://www.goldengrasses.blogspot.com/2013/09/people-keys-student-binder-tos-review.html

 

I think I read about yet another aptitude test on these boards recently, but I can't remember the name of that test.

[Barbara H]

I suggest starting with the free career assessment on this site. The questions are based on a resource from the US Dept of Labor    It takes about five to ten minutes so not a big investment of time. This one is good because it is from the state of Minnesota so you don't get spammed from it (a lot of the free career search stuff online you can get spammed if you register).

 

Once the student has completed that self assessment encourage them to dig in on the O*net site. It is a free and easy way to search careers. Information is available on the typical job duties, education, salary ranges, job demand, etc.   If you want to make this a formal school assignment that's easy to do.

[MerryAtHope]

Our laughing lioness wrote a blog post on this topic also.

 

http://www.goldengrasses.blogspot.com/2013/09/people-keys-student-binder-tos-review.html

 

I think I read about yet another aptitude test on these boards recently, but I can't remember the name of that test.

 

 

I suggest starting with the free career assessment on this site. The questions are based on a resource from the US Dept of Labor    It takes about five to ten minutes so not a big investment of time. This one is good because it is from the state of Minnesota so you don't get spammed from it (a lot of the free career search stuff online you can get spammed if you register).

 

Once the student has completed that self assessment encourage them to dig in on the O*net site. It is a free and easy way to search careers. Information is available on the typical job duties, education, salary ranges, job demand, etc.   If you want to make this a formal school assignment that's easy to do.

 

Thanks, I'll look at these. I had heard of one that BJU offers, which I think is this same one from Crown Financial. 

 

Yes, planning on making this DS's spring research paper :-).

[Lori D.]

First, be comforted. Very FEW 16yos know what they want to do with their lives as a career. And of the high school graduates who enter college with a specific degree program in mind to pursue — more than 50% will radically change their major partway through. So, it's great to plan and work towards a career goal. But also relax, knowing that MANY students have NO idea of what they want to do until they are well into their 20s, when they've had a chance to look around, experience life, see what's out there, and what THEY like...

 

Things you can do now to help narrow the vast field of occupations a bit:

 

1. Discuss with your teen:

Specifics of what they have liked/disliked about the school subjects you've covered, and how you've covered them. Also, aspects of extracurricular activities they've liked/disliked, and why. As you discuss:  do you uncover area(s) of dislike? That, too helps rule out some jobs. Do you uncover a general area of interest? Is your student interested in:

 

* STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, math)

* Fine Arts (performance or appreciation of music, theater, art, film, photography, sculpture, etc.)

* Humanities (philosophy, worldview, history, psychology, sociology, etc.)

* Business (entrepreneurship, finance, 

* Social Work / Church Work (helping others, counseling, missions, etc.)

* Medical Field (work with patients, research)

* Athletics / Outdoors Occupations (sports, recreation, physical activities, etc.)

* Hands-On / Vocational / Technical Trades (building, plumbing, electrical, mechanic, etc.)

* other

 

If this way of exploring is appealing, check out Career Clusters, which breaks career areas into 16 major "clusters", and then further into 70 "pathways" of more specific occupations, and finally into 1800 "crosswalks" of individual jobs, which can be researched on the U.S. Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook.

 

Glencoe website: Career Education: Career Clusters information
List of 16 Clusters, 70 "Pathways" (from the CTE (Career Technical Education) website)
Career Cluster Interest Survey (the test)

 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) organizes hundreds of jobs under 25 occupational areas at the Dept. of Labor's O-Net website. The OOH also describes what the jobs are like, what education is required, where to find that education, and what the projected future outlook for that occupation is (i.e., a growing/declining job). O-Net (see the "My Next Move" section), has two different search engines: by industry or by key words, and also an interest profiler (a type of career interest test). The OOH is similar in organization to the career clusters, in that it loosely organizes the hundreds of jobs under 25 "occupational groups" (see the list going down on the lefthand side of the OOH home page). 

 

 

2. Review current/past activities:

Is there a *way* you've done a subject, or something about the extracurricular that was especially appealing? (For example: writing, public speaking, computer presentation (design/layout, or technical aspect), working as part of a team, research, thinking, creating, etc.) That can help you determine ways you like to work, or activities you would want to make sure were part of the job (or NOT part of the job, if is something greatly disliked).

 

A very helpful step: take some tests to figure out your student's interests and strengths. There are several types of career tests; the first two are probably most helpful for a teen trying to decide what type of career would be the best fit:

 

a.) Interest Inventory, or Career Aptitude Test

Helps you uncover the ways you like to work, and areas of work interests. (examples: Campbell Interest & Skill Survey; Strong Interest Inventory). Free online interest inventory = California Career Zone.

b.) Work Values Survey

Helps you see what brings meaning to you in your work, or what is of value/important to you in a job. Here are 3 free tests: Work Values Inventory (online); Saint Anselm College (online); Career Center (printable).

 

c.) Personality Inventory

Helps see how you fit in with others in a work place. (examples: Meyers-Briggs Indicator; Keirsey Temperament Sorter). Free online tests: Fun Education; Team Technology: free online test; Personality Lab.

 

d.) Work Skills Test / Aptitude Assessment

Determines your specific abilities/skills in order to meet the qualifications to do specific jobs — i.e., can you type 120 words a minute, do you have a truck driver's license,  can you operate specific machinery, do you have certifications, etc.). Two free online skills profiler tests: California Career Zone; Career One Stop.

 

Starting with an interest inventory test that helps you understand the ways you like to work, can then help you narrow down what kinds of jobs match up with the ways you like to work. These tests are variations on the Holland Code, which is organized with six interest areas and then the career fields and specific jobs that use those interests. The CA Career Zone website has a free online interest inventory test, and then you can explore the descriptions and videos of various occupations. The NY Career Zone also has a very nice exploration section once you know your "Holland Code" areas of interest.

Then once you know your specific interests and have an idea about some possible job areas, you can explore the US Bureau of Labor's free online Occupational Outlook Handbook for info on specific careers, plus different ways to do a search to come up with a list of careers to look at (by salary; by amount of education required; by how much growth that field expects in the next 10 years; etc.). 

 

 

3. Job shadowing

Regularly schedule your student for a day to follow someone and see what their job is like; be sure to have a list of questions your student can ask about the occupation, what the person likes/dislikes about it, the education required, advancement possibilities, etc.

 

 

4. Career Fair

Once a year, our homeschool group organizes an all-day career-day-plus event, where we bring in a number of people from a wide variety of fields; each speaks for 40 minutes, with 4 speakers per time slot, so a total of 24 sessions to choose from.

 

Or, can you meet once a month for 1-2 hours with other homeschool teens/families, and invite in 2 or 3 people from the community to speak about their career fields, and ask questions?

 

 

5. Internship / Volunteering

A great way to step out and see what various occupational areas are like by actually working with them for awhile.

 

 

RESOURCES:

- What Color is Your Parachute for Teens -- book

(career test types, how to match yourself with jobs, education & training needed for specific jobs; the job search process)

- Sonlight Curriculum elective: College & Career Planning Kit â€” 9 week course
- Crown Ministries: Career Direct â€” online testing, and they send you detailed results.

- Post #5 in this pinned thread at the top of the high school Board is a whole section of linked past threads on career exploration with lots of resource ideas.

[MerryAtHope]

As usual, Lori, you are a wealth of information! Thank you SO much! One "Like" just doesn't seem like enough!

 

No, I don't expect him to go to college knowing. I think narrowing down to a few fields of interest would be helpful though, or even having a better idea of likes and dislikes in a working environment. I also think just knowing what's out there would be helpful. These resources are great!

 

(I will say that my friend and I often say that one of the greatest homeschooling myths is that when you get to high school, you'll be able to customize your student's education toward their strengths and interests. I've tried VERY hard to discern what these are, and have been able to do just a couple of things...but far from the picture that was painted for me! I'm sure it works that way for some kids...not here so far! Maybe closer to that with my youngest--I could easily pick 3 areas of interest for her--science, working with children, music. Oldest it would be something like...pokemon, bakugon, legos...I have no idea how to translate these interests into career interests, and neither does he!)

 

Some links have changed (I got 404 errors but looked around for a few of them) for anyone else looking at these (or if you have them saved):

 

Career Clusters Interest Survey: http://www.careertech.org/career-clusters/ccresources/interest-survey.html

16 Clusters/70 pathways: http://www.careertech.org/career-clusters/glance/clusters-occupations.html

 

Merry :-)

[TechWife]

I use the book What Color is Your Parachute? for Teens coupled with the California Career Zone surveys in the career exploration course that I teach. When we have time, we also talk through some of the work scenarios in 10 Minute Critical Thinking Activites for the World of Work.

[Miss Marple]

My boys and I just took the free career assessment. I think it did pretty well for me, ok for ds2, but it was the funniest for ds4. He picked the "more than 4 year college" selection as his educational goal. He had no career matches for >4 years, 1 match for 4 year which was radio/tv announcer, nothing for 2 year degree, but over 20 options for high school :p

 

He is 17 and aspires to MBA/JD and his ACT is 30. Not sure how to think about the results LOL! With his verbal ability (can talk and say absolutely nothing for hours on end) we think the announcer might just be in line with his skill set.

[Barbara H]

My boys and I just took the free career assessment. I think it did pretty well for me, ok for ds2, but it was the funniest for ds4. He picked the "more than 4 year college" selection as his educational goal. He had no career matches for >4 years, 1 match for 4 year which was radio/tv announcer, nothing for 2 year degree, but over 20 options for high school :p

 

He is 17 and aspires to MBA/JD and his ACT is 30. Not sure how to think about the results LOL! With his verbal ability (can talk and say absolutely nothing for hours on end) we think the announcer might just be in line with his skill set.

 

That's funny! Sometimes career assessments will suggest good ideas students haven't thought of. More often though, I see the value primarily as a conversation starter. It plants the seed to get them thinking about their strengths and jobs that might be a good fit. Sometimes nothing is better for clarifying thinking that getting crazy suggestions you totally disagree with.

[Lori D.]

Some links have changed (I got 404 errors but looked around for a few of them) for anyone else looking at these (or if you have them saved)

 

 

Thanks for the heads-up! :) All links are now checked and fixed. :)

[MerryAtHope]

 When we have time, we also talk through some of the work scenarios in 10 Minute Critical Thinking Activites for the World of Work.

 

I haven't heard of this, what kinds of things does it cover & where is it available?

[swellmomma]

What I have done with my teens is have them talk to others in fields that interest them.  We attended "try-a-trade" a couple years ago and will again this May.  This is a 2 day event put on by Skills Alberta/Skills Canada, they have a huge competition for the trades but they also have dozens of different trades for kids/teens to try out and see if it is a field that interests them.  In attending that day, my dd14 was offered 3 apprenticeships when she is old enough (she was only 12 at the time) due to natural ability in those trades.  They were things we had not considered before (automotive painting, cement laying and drywall tape/muddying).  And then we have discussed career paths in the military as well.  In accessing these 3 areas, they have been thinking on their futures.  ds15 had 1 path in mind but it is not really going to work out so he is back to the drawing board so we will be attending try a trade again, researching other career paths etc.  dd14 has her path mapped out and knows what she wants to be doing and how she is going to get there.  She may still change her mind several times, afterall she is young but knowing her, she will follow her path right to the end. 

 

There is a course my teens must take to graduate in this province and it has a whole unit about career planning so I know it will be coming up again but without me since they will take that one online most likely.