Teen Career Planning – Help Your Teen To Start Early
Teens have to decide on the career that they want to pursue and their college major, not necessarily in that order. Deciding upon a college major is a difficult task by itself and takes time. Similarly, deciding upon a career path is a process that should start when the teen is still in high school and continue as that person moves into college. The reason being that career choices are fluid and young people are bound to discover new things about themselves, their likes and dislikes and skills as they go along though studies.
Selecting the right career is never an easy matter. Career planning is a process that involves several steps, particularly when it is for a teen. Both universities and business organizations have designed programs for teenagers to assist them in identifying suitable options and making a right choice of career. Such guidance can be obtained by making a payment from a university, by a student as well as any member of the public. The guide can include a questionnaire and information about several careers. The questionnaire helps the person to narrow the choices based on several criteria. A program that has been designed well could also throw light on several career choices that the person may not have known about, effectively broadening his or her horizon. Also, as young people are not clear about the growth path of different careers, they also gain clarity on this issue.
Career counselors and teenage counselors have always said that young people and college students must select a career based on their own interest and skills, not due to pressure of family or peers or some image that may have of a particular career. Thus the so called ‘best’ careers may not always be the right choice. Career planning for teens is a process that will try to dissuade them from such a career unless it suits the individual for reasons mentioned earlier. So many websites and magazines may list hottest jobs, best jobs for collegiates and those with highest salary and perks. However, this is not the right way to decide upon a career and hot jobs should not become an automatic choice for a teen or a young job seeker.
The process of career planning for teens exists to make sure that they select the career path and college program that is best for them as an
individual. A lot of young believe, quite wrongly, that they will be stuck with the career choice that they make now, through out their life. Nothing could be more different. People change their career at several stages during their life. So, a career that is chosen now due to a college major or a training program can be changed later. However, career planning for teens goes a long way in ensuring that there is not much heart burn later.
Career Planning For a Challenging Economy – 3 Strategies
Career planning during a tough economy calls for logical thinking. Yet it’s easy to get caught up in a swirl of emotions. You have to deal with
rumors, fears and uncertainty. In my experience, the best course of action will not seem immediately obvious. But here’s what I recommend, based on years of living through economic cycles.
Begin by turning off the news. Stop buying newspapers that display scary headlines about jobs and sales forecasts. Be especially wary of news networks and programs. They have to come up with stories every day and they like to evoke strong emotion.
Journalists are wonderful people but they need startling headlines. They work on a case basis, highlighting extreme experiences. What’s
happening “out there” may not make any difference to you. I talk to people every day who are changing jobs, getting raises and moving up with promotions.With the time you save by not watching news programs, grow your network of positive, successful people.
This one action alone can get you on the right track. You get ideas and connections that will move you to your goals. You get inspiration to develop new goals.
Sadly, you may have to bite the bullet and release negative people from your life. Don’t be too quick to drop someone who’s having a bad day.
But every time I’ve moved away from one negative source, two positive people arrive unexpectedly.
Finally, take the most difficult step: create a second stream of income before you need one. Use your evenings and weekends to take the first step.
For example, “Karla” needs more money. She wants to enjoy life and buy a lot more, but she realizes she can’t get a raise at work.
Since Karla is still working, she cannot violate her employer’s rules on second jobs. More important, she needs to think outside the box. One city government official works in accounting and runs a lawn care business on weekends. He loves it. He gets out in the fresh air. He gets to be physical rather than cerebral. And his target market wants his services on weekends, when he has no obligations to his employer.
You might also consider developing online income. Avoid the “Get Rich Quick” schemes. To earn revenue on the Internet, you have to invest
some time and energy. Chances are you can use find a business model to fit your own talents, preferences and skills.
Finally, some advice doesn’t change in any economy. While you are still working and secure, create your Plan B. Even in a high-performing
environment, we are all vulnerable. After all, you might wake up one day and realize your job or your business is making you sick. This situation is extremely rare and I never advise anyone to quit a job without another one waiting. But it could happen.
Your Plan B includes provision for health insurance, alternative income sources and a clear idea of how you will support yourself for the next six months to two years. It’s scary to put all these components together when you’re under the gun. So if your job feels comfortable or you’ve just started a job, make creating a Plan B your first priority.
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