Career Planning Tips for Teens

Career planning is extremely important for you if you are a teenager. You need to engage in career planning in order to ensure that you get where you ultimately want to go. Here are a few tips for teenagers who are trying to plan their careers.

Decide Your Ultimate Destination
The first thing that you need to do is decide where you would ultimately like to be someday. Most people will not be able to get into their dream jobs right after college. It takes some work and planning to eventually get there. However, if you decide ahead of time where you would like to end up, this will make the process that much easier. Sit down and write out a specific mission statement for your career. Get in the habit of reading your mission statement regularly, and it will keep you on track throughout the process.


Job Shadow
When you are a teenager, it is important that you get involved with a job shadowing program. By job shadowing, you can see exactly what people do in their jobs. If you are interested in a particular career, this can be a very valuable learning experience for you. This will help you decide if you really want to pursue a career in that field. If you shadow someone and do not like what you experience of the job, you can avoid wasting years of your life training for a job that you will not enjoy.

Networking
You should always focus on networking as a way to help get you where you want to be. At every stop along the way, you need to try to meet as many people as possible who could eventually help you. Exchange contact information with others, and it could come in handy someday. You never know when someone whose kids you babysat for or someone you met during college will be able to get you a job.

Career-Oriented Education

Whenever you have the opportunity, you should take career-oriented courses. If your school offers a course that has to do with the profession that you would like to get into, be sure to take that class. The information that you learn in these courses can be very valuable when you move on to your career later.

Experience
Whenever you have the opportunity, you should try to get as much experience as possible in your chosen field. For example, if you can get involved with an internship or a volunteer position, do not hesitate to do so. Many teens have opportunities in front of them to take an internship in a particular career. However, because of other commitments, they do not make the time to get involved. When you are looking for a job later, being able to tell your prospective employer about the experience that you gained during an internship will be extremely valuable. It might be able to separate you from the rest of the competition for the job.