Okra Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Seasider's comment from the "I wish my parents had encouraged me more..," thread struck a chord in me. "..explore a wide range of vocational opportunities and college choices. They were hands-off, instructed by school counselors that I could make my own choices and believing they were respecting my independence. I could have used more guidance. " I find myself in this exact situation. I have been coming to the conclusion that maybe I should help my daughter more in career exploration. Before I felt that I would just respect whatever she decided to do, whatever that may be. So, Seasider's comment really made me think more about how I can be helping her. My daughter definitely doesn't want to be any of the "typical" careers. She definitely doesn't want to major in engineering, anything medical (doctor, nursing, biomedical anything), law, teaching, She loves History, but does not want to write books or teach history. What other things can you do with a History degree? She loves Science, the biology side of science, but there are so many different things with this! How on earth do I help her explore science options? No matter what her major, I believe she plans on minoring in Spanish. If she majors in a science-related field, I'm not sure exactly how to help her decide what branch of science she's most interested. Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Seasider's comment from the "I wish my parents had encouraged me more..," thread struck a chord in me. "..explore a wide range of vocational opportunities and college choices. They were hands-off, instructed by school counselors that I could make my own choices and believing they were respecting my independence. I could have used more guidance. " I find myself in this exact situation. I have been coming to the conclusion that maybe I should help my daughter more in career exploration. Before I felt that I would just respect whatever she decided to do, whatever that may be. So, Seasider's comment really made me think more about how I can be helping her. My daughter definitely doesn't want to be any of the "typical" careers. She definitely doesn't want to major in engineering, anything medical (doctor, nursing, biomedical anything), law, teaching, She loves History, but does not want to write books or teach history. What other things can you do with a History degree? She loves Science, the biology side of science, but there are so many different things with this! How on earth do I help her explore science options? No matter what her major, I believe she plans on minoring in Spanish. If she majors in a science-related field, I'm not sure exactly how to help her decide what branch of science she's most interested. Thanks all! I think this type of exploration is an excellent use of a reputable Jr college. Take some classes in the various sciences and see what really interests her. DS was planning a chemistry major. He took high school chem and then moved into college level at a Jr College. (Our local Jr College's science program is excellent and credits transfer into the states 4 year colleges so it has the rigor of a 4 year college program at 1/4 of the price). He quickly realized that what he liked about chemistry was the theory and the math, he didn't actuall want to become a chemist. Later he changed his major to a completely opposite direction, but those 2 years in Jr college really helped him with finding out what he wanted in a career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I don't know if this will help or not, but here is a review by our own Laughing Lioness that you might find useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Probably not what you're thinking of at all, but my career developed in the last five years and I love it. I transcribe college and high school classes for hearing impaired students, working from my home in classrooms all over the country. While I don't become any one "thing" (historian, scientist, doctor, artist, social worker, etc.) through this work, I do get to learn about a wide variety of topics! And get paid a living wage to do so. It might be a great way to explore different options. Through my work, I've learned about women in Russia from the 17th century until now, about how to asses the learning of high school level students, about the medical side of how the brain processes language, about the artists of the Renaissance, about ancient history, about how to teach math to elementary school students, about the printmaking process using current technologies, about upper level college organic chemistry, about macroeconomics and the global implications of different economic systems, and I'm currently transcribing classes for someone getting their MBA degree (so I'm learning a lot about business and marketing). And that's just a very small sampling! It's pretty cool. If your child would like information about how to get started in this field, she could contact me. The training is easily accessible, and not expensive, but at the present time, one has to start by working onsite somewhere that uses this service (or that would start using this service with a trained transcriber available). Some of us are hoping this requirement is changed, but for now it stands. I worked at the state university in our town for 2.5 years before moving to solely providing remote service (working from home, using Skype and headphones) for the past 2.5 years. I could support our family on my income if necessary and have done so for short periods of time. It's a pretty good gig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatechip Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Probably not what you're thinking of at all, but my career developed in the last five years and I love it. I transcribe college and high school classes for hearing impaired students, working from my home in classrooms all over the country. While I don't became any one "thing" (historian, scientist, doctor, artist, etc.) through this work, I do get to learn about a wide variety of topics! And get paid a living wage to do so. I've learned about women in Russia from the 17th century until now, about how to asses the learning of high school level students, about the medical side of how the brain processes language, about the artists of the Renaissance, about ancient history, about how to teach math to elementary school students, about the printmaking process using current technologies, about upper level college organic chemistry, about macroeconomics and the global implications of different economic systems, and I'm currently transcribing classes for someone getting their MBA degree (so I'm learning a lot about business and marketing). It's pretty cool! If your child would like information about how to get started in this field, she could contact me. The training is easily accessible, and not expensive, but at the present time, one has to start by working onsite somewhere that uses this service (or that would start using this service with a trained transcriber available). Some of us are hoping this requirement is changed, but for now it stands. I worked at the state university in our town for 2.5 years before moving to solely providing remote service (working from home, using Skype and headphones) for the past 2.5 years. I could support our family on my income if necessary and have done so for short periods of time. It's a pretty good gig! How many hours do you work every week? That does sound really cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I think this Job Shadow site could be of possible use for some kids: http://www.jobshadow.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I have a B.A. In history, followed by 2/3 of a M.A. In Russian and linguistics, finished off with a M.L.I.S. In library and information science. Although the history is but one component of my education, it meshed well with the rest. My work history includes (1) copy editor for the English translation of the monthly Soviet chemical engineering journal; (2) department head of serials (i.e. magazines, newspapers, journals) at a college library; (3) competitive analyst in telecommunications at a major telecommunications company. Those selected mentions were a pretty good variety of occupations, I feel. Regarding your daughter's twin interests in history and science, my actual undergraduate studies were in the history of science in the medieval and Renaissance periods. I considered training for technical writing, and sometimes wish that I had pursued that option. There are books available commercially for "what to do subsequently" with particular majors. Try a large bookstore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 How many hours do you work every week? That does sound really cool! When I was on campus, I worked anywhere from 5-15 hours a week because there were several transcribers and a handful of students. With remote work, I can get more hours because the contracting companies I work for have numerous schools/students all over the country. I generally work about 25-28 hours a week now, but if I was supporting the family, I'd do upward of 30-32, *maybe* 34, if they were well spread out throughout the day. It can be pretty hard on your arms/shoulders, so that would be my upper limit personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Our local public library & the gov't have arranged free access to some career planning type websites which aim to mesh together interests, skills, preferred work environment etc.Dd went through one & her top career suggestion was prison warden :lol: I can't tell you how much we've been laughing about it because we all kind of went, "huh, I can totally see that... " Fwiw, I have a polisci degree & never really considered what I'd do 'after'. I just figured I'd get a position somewhere & I did. I'm telling my kids to just go with stuff that seems interesting (or that they don't actually hate), check out co-op's, try to get interesting summer jobs, be open to all sorts of things. I know times are tough economically in many places & obviously there's an element of reality that has to direct our thinking but for the moment, we're also embracing a bit of vagueness about how it will all unfold. Dd has (through her work exp) been able to cross things off a list of potential careers as what she's seen of them were 'too much stress for not enough reward'. It's such a personal decision & I'm sure it changes with time too (for that matter, I changed majors 3 times...)We've also read a bit of Cal Newport's books & blog. Stuff like: The Nuanced Road to Passion: A Career Case Studyhttp://calnewport.com/blog/2014/08/24/the-nuanced-road-to-passion-a-career-case-study/ "It would be nice if we were all born with a clear preexisting passion. It would also be nice if simply matching your job to a topic you liked was all it took to generate a meaningful career.But...."Also, blogs like this sometimes can shake something loose in the teen (& adult!) heads:7 Strange Questions that Help you find your life purpose http://markmanson.net/life-purpose/ (Sorry but this does have some vulgar language in it...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 My parents were pretty hands-off about most things. When it came to career guidance though, my mom had strong advice. Get a marketable skill. In this day and age, I think that's more important than ever. I'm not going to pay and arm and a leg (or allow child to go into debt) for a degree that won't pay anything after graduation. Whenever one of my kids mentions a career, the first thing I suggest is looking it up on Occupational Outlook Handbook for find what career potential and pay is. I agree that taking some community college is a great way to explore different sciences. All my kids like history. I haven't been able to come up with a career involving it other than writing or teaching. At a certain point, I feel it is necessary to tell them that work is not always great fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Also, blogs like this sometimes can shake something loose in the teen (& adult!) heads: 7 Strange Questions that Help you find your life purpose http://markmanson.net/life-purpose/ (Sorry but this does have some vulgar language in it...) Special thanks for this link, Hornblower. I think DS and I will have a hoot reading through it ... and with any luck that will be enough to motivate a little independent thinking on his part. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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