Career Planning: Help With A Major Decision
Opportunities come to all of us, whether we recognize them or not. More often, it is “not”; we don’t see them, or if we do, we don’t take advantage of them. When starting a career, the same is true; there are many opportunities — but they must be seized. In this brief, I hope to demonstrate to our younger audience that it is greatly to their advantage to start career planning early, and to take the right approach to career planning.
We all have our own likes and dislikes, career choice also reflects this set of likes and dislikes. While one person may grow up hoping to be a great rock artist, another while be more inclined toward being a space shuttle pilot. Imagination and wonder are great, as they open up our mind to the world of possibilities that are out there, but we must be aware of the importance of hard work in realizing those dreams. It is because we lack career planning that the majority of us never see our childhood dreams come to fruition.
It’s best to start early, and a good way to start is by asking adults you know for opinions about their jobs. You might ask your parents, aunts or uncles, older friends, or teachers about their jobs. Ask for their opinion on careers that you know about and ask them if they can help you get more information about others. Their extensive experience and interaction will help you make a career choice.
If you still feel hesitant or unsure about your future career path, don’t delay going to a professional in career counseling. High school students can and should take full advantage of their school’s career guidance center, getting all the advice they can. These professionals specialize in assessing the skill sets and career needs of individuals, and they are qualified to perform a variety of psychometric tests to evaluate your aptitude for all different types of careers.
Career planning guides can be found at a library, at a bookstore, or on the net. A good one covers both common and uncommon jobs, and also lists the skills required to effectively do those jobs. Anecdotes from people working in a given field are often helpful; if you can imagine yourself in their place easily, the odds are that this is a good possible career for you.
With that in mind it is also quite important to take an assessment of personality, skill set, aptitudes and priorities as well so that career planning can be as advantageous as possible. SWOT analysis is a good way of aiding you in this assessment. Don’t forget that creativity and passion are boundless, so take that big leap, go for that big dream. Once you have a dream career the only thing you need is some reality to the foundation to bring about fulfillment.
Opportunities come to all of us, whether we recognize them or not. More often, it is “not”; we don’t see them, or if we do, we don’t take advantage of them. When starting a career, the same is true; there are many opportunities — but they must be seized. In this brief, I hope to demonstrate to our younger audience that it is greatly to their advantage to start career planning early, and to take the right approach to career choice. Seek out career counseling for opinions regarding the several careers that you know of, and ask them for help to get information on other possible careers as well.
Filed under: Careers