Teens have to decide on the career that they want to pursue and their college major, not necessarily in that order. Deciding upon a college major is a difficult task by itself and takes time. Similarly, deciding upon a career path is a process that should start when the teen is still in high school and continue as that person moves into college. The reason being that career choices are fluid and young people are bound to discover new things about themselves, their likes and dislikes and skills as they go along though studies.
Selecting the right career is never an easy matter. Career planning is a process that involves several steps, particularly when it is for a teen. Both universities and business organizations have designed programs for teenagers to assist them in identifying suitable options and making a right choice of career. Such guidance can be obtained by making a payment from a university, by a student as well as any member of the public. The guide can include a questionnaire and information about several careers. The questionnaire helps the person to narrow the choices based on several criteria. A program that has been designed well could also throw light on several career choices that the person may not have known about, effectively broadening his or her horizon. Also, as young people are not clear about the growth path of different careers, they also gain clarity on this issue.
Career counselors and teenage counselors have always said that young people and college students must select a career based on their own interest and skills, not due to pressure of family or peers or some image that may have of a particular career. Thus the so called ‘best’ careers may not always be the right choice. Career planning for teens is a process that will try to dissuade them from such a career unless it suits the individual for reasons mentioned earlier. So many websites and magazines may list hottest jobs, best jobs for collegiates and those with highest salary and perks. However, this is not the right way to decide upon a career and hot jobs should not become an automatic choice for a teen or a young job seeker.
The process of career planning for teens exists to make sure that they select the career path and college program that is best for them as an individual. A lot of young believe, quite wrongly, that they will be stuck with the career choice that they make now, through out their life. Nothing could be more different. People change their career at several stages during their life. So, a career that is chosen now due to a college major or a training program can be changed later. However, career planning for teens goes a long way in ensuring that there is not much heart burn later.
