CD - Career Opportunities Lesson

First-hand experience is also a critical part of choosing your vocation. Arrange for job shadowing experiences that allow you to see in person what someone in a specific career field does on a daily basis. Use this activity as a means for interviewing people already working in the career field about the pros and cons of the job and share their suggestions for the best path to follow if you are truly interested in working in that profession.

Career Opportunities

One of the first things to consider is career aptitude and skills. Identifying subject areas you enjoy in school, and in which you do well, is a   good place to begin your career exploration. For example, if you are good at math and problem solving, then perhaps a career focused on numbers, such as actuarial science, finance or accounting, would be worth considering. In addition, you must consider employability. Suppose you enjoy activities such as sports or acting. Building your career aspirations around these fields can be risky because jobs in these areas can be difficult to obtain and short-lived, and they require a high degree of skill in certain areas in order to succeed. Through studying career clusters, you can identify a number of potential occupations that utilize your career aptitudes and require varying levels of additional training and education.

There is a direct connection between lifetime earnings and the amount of education you receive. However, since additional education after high school can be expensive, examining the return on investment  for obtaining higher education or additional schooling is an important step to take in the career planning process. Seeing the possible earning potential you can gain from investing in education is an important step in navigating the path to employment.

 

Return on Investment (ROI) Self-Assessment

Learn more in the activity below.

 

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