One of the biggest decisions you
will ever make is deciding on a career. Your career
choice will impact your family life, where you will
live, the level of income you will make, your retirement,
and many other factors.
Since most people make career choices
when they are in high school or college, it is important
that they understand the process of career planning.
When is the right time to begin career
planning? There is a lot of debate
as to when is too soon, but the fact is, the sooner
a person begins to think about career planning,
the better. Junior high or middle school students
may not be thinking about the future, but if they
can get an idea of what areas they are interested
in, they can make better choices as to which classes
to take in high school. These high school classes
can better prepare them for college, vocation training,
or the job industry once they graduate.
Yet, is a person in his early teens
properly equipped for career planning decisions?
Possibly not. That is why parents and teachers much
get involved with educating and guiding young teens
in career
planning. They should help young people understand
their personalities, skills, natural talents, and
interests to determine which points may translate
into a satisfying career. People’s interests
and skills may change as they grow older, but the
basic, natural core of a person does not change
that much. A person who is artistically talented
when he is young will still be artistically talented
when he gets older. A person who is a whiz at mathematics
or science in his younger years will still be skilled
in those areas in his later years.
Once these personality traits are
recognized, they should be translated into choices
for career planning. What types of jobs are available
for a person with great computer programming skills,
athletic skills, or leadership skills? Research
should be done in these areas to see what the job
market offers in these fields, keeping in mind that
it will be a few years before the person is ready
to take a job. Thought should be given as to how
the job market might change in the next 5 to 10
years. This will impact career planning greatly.
Make a list of the jobs you might
possibly be interested in, do more research about
the training necessary for that job, whether college
degree, vocational training, or on-the-job training.
Also research the expected salaries for those jobs,
the forecast for openings in these fields, and opportunities
for promotion or continued education.
Career
planning is not a one-time task. It is a continuous
process. After finishing the steps listed above,
check back to your list periodically to see if you
should remove any jobs from the list and see if
there are any new ones to add. Also, a periodic
check up on skills and interests should be completed
to make sure that the training you are pursuing
will qualify you for the jobs you are interested
in. And finally, be sure that the jobs are not in
conflict with your moral values and priorities for
your life.
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