We all ask this sometime in our lives, and many of us are still asking ourselves this question well into our adult lives. It is fair to assume that the majority of high school students aren’t 100% sure what they want to study in college. How can young people learn more about the world of work before they have to narrow in on a field of study?
STEP I: Explore! Explore!
“I have no special talents,” said Albert Einstein. “I am only passionately curious.”
Start asking questions early, ask them often and never stop. Practical field of study and career exploration can begin as early as elementary school:
- “Interview” people, both formally and informally, about their daily work. Ask them how their days are spent, what skills they had to learn and practice and what they enjoy most about their jobs.
- Job shadow each summer. Visit and tour work spaces (hospitals, construction sites, offices, farms and factories.)
- If you participate in scouts or similar community organizations, work on badges or projects related to career exploration.
- Attend college and university open houses where individual colleges host exploratory programs related to specific fields of study. Many have annual weekend festivals geared toward young people and their families.
- Get to know your school counselors. They can provide valuable information regarding summer programs and high school preparation information, especially course pre-requisite information.
As you move into high school:
- Ask for more structured, frequent job shadowing opportunities. If your school offers a mentorship program, do it! If it does not, ask people you know in careers you are interested in for an opportunity to ask them some questions and possibly spend a few hours in their working environments. Keep notes about your experiences and build a contact sheet with information about those you meet. Write about what you enjoyed and what concerns you had.
- Enroll in extracurricular activities related to your current interests. For example, HOSA for health-related careers or robotics if interested in engineering. Organizations like these not only provide excellent learning opportunities, they also offer national and international projects, leadership opportunities and competitions.
- Enroll in summer immersive programs. These can be expensive, but universities often have scholarship opportunities for their programs.
IMPORTANT: Beginning in high school, take extensive notes and detail any projects you work on during these programs to add to your high school resume. And journal all trips and exploratory experiences, telling the stories about the interesting people you meet and detailing what you learn from them.
Please read my blog From Career Exploration to Major Choice Selection for additional information about the factors that are important in making major choice decisions.