Stress-Free Career Planning: A Guide for High Schoolers

The future may seem far away if you’re a freshman or sophomore in high school, but the truth is, it’s never too soon to start planning for your future career. High school is the perfect time to start thinking about the future. But before you begin gathering applications or scheduling an aptitude test, ease into career planning by thinking through your interests and life goals.

Explore Your Interests

An interest in science can open up the door to careers in the medical field, research industries, and even national defense. A gift for working with your hands could lend itself to trades like building, mechanics, or iron works. Sort through your interests and skills. And discuss the possibilities associated with each one with a trusted mentor. You may even want to schedule a meeting with your guidance counselor to determine what resources are available to you as you explore career options.

And if you’re at a loss for where to start, career days and local job fairs are a great resource to explore ideas.

Schedule Interviews and Shadow Days

When you’re ready, consider interviewing trusted adults working in various fields. If you’re able to pinpoint adults with jobs that you have an interested in, that’s great! But if a job isn’t on your top-ten list, no worries. Learning about office life, work schedules, and the aspects of different jobs sheds light on what kind of work—works for you. If you interview someone with a job that really interests you, ask for a shadow day with them or one of their colleagues to get an upfront day-in-the-life view of that field.

And please always remember it’s common courtesy to send a thank you note for interviews and shadow opportunities—you never know when these same individuals may be able to help you on your career journey in the future!

Consider Other Goals

As you narrow down your interests, it’s important to consider what careers will also lend themselves to your efforts to attain other goals. If traveling the world is of the utmost importance, or if being at home at 5:00 p.m. for family dinners is a non-negotiable, you’ll want to think through which careers are conducive to those goals. And understand that your goals may change—and that’s okay, too.

Make a Plan to be Qualified

Once you’ve narrowed down your career interests, determine what qualifications are needed for each one. Whether it’s a high school diploma, college degree, technical certificate, or skill, you don’t want to be surprised by the qualifications required to do a job. Make a plan on how to qualify for and pursue the career of your choice—then go for it!

Career planning may be stress-inducing, but if you take your time to think through and explore your options with trusted advisors, there’s no need to be afraid.