Career Exploration for High Schoolers

Some teenagers have known what they wanted to do for a living since they were small children. But for most, choosing a future career is a daunting process. Trying to figure out your career path and prepare for it before you have even graduated from high school can be overwhelming. Many teenagers aren’t even sure how to begin to narrow down their career choices or choose career paths that would suit their personality and strengths. As a result, it is common for college students to change their majors several times. Extra semesters of college tuition can cause severe financial strain. Fortunately, there are many resources your teenager can use to help choose a career and prepare for it.

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Career Tests

Career tests are an excellent way for teenagers to narrow down their career choices and determine what careers may be a good fit for them.

At My Next Move, students can search for careers by keyword or industry. The website also offers a free Interest Profiler test. The results help students decide which careers they might want to explore.

Innate offers a free 4-minute assessment. This free assessment provides general information about the types of work environments that would suit the student’s personality. It costs about $50 to upgrade to the full assessment, which is called Innate Match. Innate Match matches students to careers, majors, and colleges.

Career Direct’s detailed assessment provides a 33-page report that includes information on the student’s personality, career interests, skill areas, best work environments, a Next Steps guide, and more. The assessment costs $100. They also offer consultations for an additional fee.

Career Research

Your high school student should thoroughly research any career they are considering. Online sources are a great place to start.

Learn How to Become’s free website offers information on numerous careers. The information is well-organized and easy to navigate. Each career page includes extensive information, including job description, required education, skills needed, salary information, and job growth & outlook. There are also recommendations for colleges or training programs in each field and a detailed step-by-step guide for getting a job in the field. In addition to all of the career-specific information they offer, they have many guides related to the job search, including Resume Tips & Expert Advice, Interview Do’s & Don’ts, Grad’s Guide to Getting Hired, and more.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is another good source of career information. Like Learn How to Become, OOH has current information on job descriptions, required skills and education, salary information, and job outlook &  growth. OOH has information on more jobs than Learn How to Become does, but the information about how to get a job a particular field and the required education isn’t as detailed.

After researching careers that interest them online, I recommend that your teenager talks to actual people in that field. They should find out what people in that field like most and least about their career and why they chose their career. If possible, your teenager should seek part-time employment or an internship related to their future career. The best way to find out if a job is a good fit for you is to try it!

7Sisters Career Exploration Textbook

The 7Sisters Career Exploration Textbook is a valuable resource for high school students preparing for and choosing their careers. The PDF textbook helps teens explore various career options while focusing on their interests, strengths, talents, and values. It also covers resumes, cover letters, interview skills, writing a personal mission statement, and more.

7Sisters Homeschool offers Freedom Homeschooling readers 50% off their entire curriculum selection, including their Career Exploration Textbook! Use coupon code 7SistersCousinSarahMay at checkout to get the discount. The coupon code has no expiration date, but customers may only use it once. Also, the coupon code can only be used on carts with a total of $75 or less (before the discount).

Resources for Electives & Life Skills

Free Electives Curriculum– The electives on this page can help your homeschooler explore careers or prepare for their future career. The electives include architecture, engineering, business, marketing, economics, accounting, public speaking, journalism, logic, law enforcement, various skilled trades, and more.

Free Life Skills Curriculum– The resources on this page will help your teenager learn life skills that will be valuable in their adult life, regardless of what career they choose. These life skills include financial literacy, cooking, auto repair, driver’s education, entrepreneurship, sewing, first aid, and many more.

Note: This post was originally published on March 9, 2020 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.