“Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.”

-Confucious

SUCCESS IN THE NEW ECONOMY =

Post-High School Credential or Degree + Hands on Skills+ Perfecting what you are good at

Finding the BEST match for your future is as easy as…

• 

  Find a career that’s
  compatible with you.

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  Make sure it meets
  your needs.

• 

  Confirm there will be jobs in the future.

“College is a really expensive career exploration plan.”

~Deb Shanafelt, CTE Director, Clover Park School District

Use the FREE resources below
(or check with your school or community service organization advisor, counselor or specialist to get a login for the select resources in the left menu bar.)

What career matches my  interests, skills, and values?

You can save time and money and increase your chances of finding a career that you love and in which you can excel. There are many great tools to find careers that fit your interests, skills, and values.

Explore some options with College & Career Compass.

Take an assessment survey.

You can often take these with your school career counselor or career services office. It is often helpful to go over the results with an advisor to get the most out of the information. Or you can access a free one from one of these sites:

Interest Survey:

Personality Survey:

Browse by career cluster/path or skill.

Maybe you don’t know exactly what you want to do, but you have it narrowed down by industry or particular characteristic. For example, “I want to work in Health Care,” or “I definitely want my career to involve building things.”

Career Clusters

Career Clusters group occupations that require similar knowledge and skills into 16 groups. Read about career clusters, find out which jobs fall into each category, and learn about those jobs here:

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Career Paths (also known as meta-majors)

Many colleges divide their programs into groups that go together called meta-majors or career paths. For example, Nursing, Massage Therapy, and Mental Health Counselor could all fall under the heading of Health Care. Check with your college’s website to see what career paths/meta-majors they offer and explore the different paths available to you in that area.

Pick a skill/characteristic that's important to you from the following list.

I like…

working with animals
protecting the environment
building things
performing for people
being creative
working with people
planning and organizing
teaching people things
working with numbers
making and keeping rules
helping people be healthy
counseling
working with computers
persuading people
caring for people
protecting people
knowing how things work
solving problems
studying the legal system
planes, trains, and automobiles
helping people have fun
working with your hands

Hands on Careers

Video Library

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Information interview

Information Interviews are a great source for gathering information about a job or career field in which you are currently interested. You can request an informational interview with someone who does what you want to do – you ask the questions. The purpose is to obtain information, not to get a job.
Learn how:

Job Shadowing

Job shadowing is usually a one day, unpaid experience where you walk through the day with someone as their “shadow” and you get to watch and see what they do in person.

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Volunteering

A great way to find out about a field of interest is to volunteer at a business that is in the career field you want to learn about.  You get hands on experience in the field and can find out if you are really interested.

Examples:
Think you’d like to be a veterinarian? –> Volunteer at the animal shelter or a vet clinic.
Think you’d like to be a teacher? –> Volunteer in a classroom or at an after-school program for kids

Community service opportunities

Volunteering on a community service project can do more than just make you feel good.  It can also provide opportunities for career exploration, professional networking, and skill building.

Internship

An Internship is a great way to get real world experience in a career in which you are interested. Internships can be paid or unpaid, but both can help you make sure that career field really is where you want be in the future, build your resume, and help you network for future opportunities. In fact, 97.6% of interns recommend internships to others and are more likely to get a full-time job when they are done with their training program.

Helpful Hint:

 58% of people get their jobs from Networking – it really is about who you know and who knows you!
You might not be looking for a job right now, but it’s a great idea to treat any of these experiences
like a job interview and make a good impression should you choose to pursue a career in the field.

What career fits my personal needs?

There are some really good questions that you can ask to help you determine if a career or job is a good fit for you. Here are some questions to get you started:

Is this a growing career field?

You don’t want to spend time and money preparing for a career only to find that there are no jobs available when you graduate from your training.  Sometimes jobs go away because the economy changes, sometimes there are too many people competing for the jobs that are there.  Find out which jobs are in demand or if the one you are looking at will have demand in the future:

AND last but not least…

Don’t forget to visit and take advantage of a career advisor, counselor, or specialist at your school or community service organization to get personalized guidance as you make your career plans.