| October 2009 Issue Focus: High School Students |
Vol 2, Issue 2
|
|
|
|
|
| Greetings! |
Welcome! We are pleased to bring you the second volume of our newsletter which will continue to give you "news you can use" about transitioning from school-to-work and getting a good start in a career. This newsletter will feature articles and information for teens and young adults ages 15 - 29. We will help you navigate from high school through higher education and into a career that you enjoy.
This is our sixth newsletter. The focus is on high school age students. The current economic crisis is causing some parents and high school students to rethink how they approach the college-search process and prepare for rewarding work in the future. Therefore Carol Christen has included an article giving you tips about how you, as a high school student, can engage in career exploration and arrive at some preliminary decisions regarding higher education and worthwhile careers.
While this issue is focused on high school age students, college students can glance through the articles and find information that can help them as they plan their next steps.
|
|
Webinar - High School Parents and Students
|
1 Session - An Overview
Smart College and Career Planning
Tuesday
October 14
Only $25.
Also offering a free Q & A Session see information at the end of the newsletter.
| |
 |
|
|
|
Webinar - "Market Yourself" - For College Students
|
Carol Christen and Robin Roman Wright will share their expertise in this three-session webinar.
Market Yourself: Writing a Resume and Acing the Interview
In this webinar you will learn:
The basics - how hiring works. How your resume can help you get a good job/career.
What you need to think about in order to write a good resume.
What employers look for when they interview. Practice interview techniques. What to do after the interview, especially if you want the job.
Dates: Three Wednesday evenings:
Wednesday, October 28, 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Wednesday, November 4, 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time
|
High School Matters
|
by Carol Christen, Career
Strategist
The
unemployment rate for teens and young adults has blasted to an all time
high. Yet, there are three million jobs
that are vacant. Why? Because employers can't find people with the
skills needed for the jobs that are in demand.
In this economy, postponing career exploration and decision making until
after you graduate from high school is not a strategy for success.
Here
are a few reasons you might want to begin planning earlier than popular wisdom
suggests:
-
Unemployment for 16 to 24 year olds is 52.2% (higher than any year since 1948)
- It takes a salary of $17 an hour to be able to afford to rent your
own place.
-
Just 20% of 2009 college grads have found a full time job.
-
40% of university grads would have chosen very different majors if
they had known more about careers that better matched their interests.
-
Only 50% of college grads are finding work that needs their
education
-
The other 50% have paid big bucks, and often gone into debt, to get
jobs they could have qualified for after high school.
- 55% of students who borrowed money to attend college think it
wasn't worth it.
"Whether
you are work bound or college bound, success after high school depends on
having good grades and a detailed plan for achieving your personal and
professional goals," reports Technical Education professor Kenneth C.
Gray, PhD, author of Getting Real: Helping Teens Find Their Futures (2008),
"When you know your goals and how your studies will help you achieve them, you
get more interested in your classes." You can use the next three or four years
to build a strong foundation for future success.
Don't
panic about grades. Always work hard and
get the best grades you can given the subject and teacher. Who could ask for more? Even if you aren't always a stellar student,
trying hard impresses both teachers and parents,
So,
along with your gym clothes, your excuse for missing second period last Monday,
your locker combination, meningitis vaccination, computer passwords, sports
physical, field trip permission slip...and...oh yes...your homework, add career
exploration activities to your list. You
need to set aside time to figure out your first career path and what classes
you can take in high school that will help you become more employable.
During
high school learn about many different kinds of jobs that match your skills and
interests. This kind of exploration and planning helps you discover jobs you'll
enjoy doing and will enable you to earn a good living as a young adult. You can look for more meaningful and
enjoyable work at any time in your life.
But, when someone else (most often one or more of your parents) is
paying your bills you can focus on creating a start-up plan for yourself. The more time you spend exploring careers,
the more likely you are to find one that can finance the life you want.
True: making a
career plan to help you explore your choices and make good decisions about what
you are going to do after high school means more activities to juggle, more time
commitments to manage. Also true: the payoff is sweet.
It's
up to you to learn what you want and make a plan to get it. (With the help and guidance of family,
teachers, and friends.)
Below
are listed five steps you need to know to create your career action plan. You'll find a sample action plan with a
timeline in the next article block of this e-zine.
1. Acquire
knowledge: What
do you need to know?
Throughout
high school, you'll need to expand your awareness of the kinds of jobs you
might enjoy and make time to explore careers about which you are curious. During
your freshman and sophomore year, you should investigate at least two dozen
jobs. Are there local jobs that interest you? Or, to do work that interests you, will you have to move?
Using career information websites
(such as Eureka.org), books, and other resources, narrow those down to a dozen
about which you are curious. Learn enough about these jobs to be able to make
tentative choices as to which jobs you want to explore further.
To
find occupations you might like, you'll need to get comfortable with setting up
job shadowing and information interviews.
Adults usually know how to make appointments and conduct telephone or
in-person interviews. Ask your mentor,
or another adult, to show you how to do these two very important career
activities.
By
17, you'll want to have picked three jobs that match you well, given your
research. To make those choices, you'll
need to job shadow and talk with many people about their jobs. You want to know at least three types of work
or fields that match you well.
Before
Christmas of your senior year, you'll want to create a detailed plan for
achieving your first career goals.
A
good career plan will help you learn:
-What kind of training or education will you need?
-Where are the studies you need offered?
-How much will it cost?
-Will these studies qualify you for high paying jobs that are in
demand?
-What are the starting salaries for the jobs you want? (Can you
finance the life that you want to live on this salary?)
-Do the jobs you most want happen where you most want to live?
2. Follow
interests: A
job can feel like your worst class or it can feel enjoyable.
An enjoyable job uses 75% of your favorite
transferrable skills, involves fields, industries or subjects that you enjoy
learning about and it aligns with your values. And, you'll have lots of jobs;
people in your generation may average 28 jobs during their work lives. Don't freak out about having to pick just
one.
If being financially successful is
important to you, remember that you are 100 times more likely to be financially
successful if your job interests you. Check out any job that interests you, no
matter what your friends or parents say.
However, investigate the status of that industry and occupation: is it
growing, is it in decline, etc.
Likewise, research emerging jobs that might be in a field that interests
you, or is closely related but is predicted to grow and be in demand. It's your life, invest time now so that you
will be prepared to step into a satisfying future.
3. Find
mentors: While
creating the life you want and finding a good job to finance that life are your
responsibility, you can have lots of help.
First, enlist the aid of several people
to help you create and research your plan. With time, and people to help you,
most teens can create a detailed plan that will have a high likelihood of
success.
Many teens know someone in their
personal network who could help them with their career research. You want this person to be someone with a
positive attitude, someone whom you get along with and trust. This person should also have a fair amount of
work experience. A parent, grandparent or other family member (usually not a
sibling), teacher or youth group leader might make a good career mentor. You may need up to 4 hours of their time each
month. Meeting for an hour once a week
or for longer twice a month should be enough time to keep on track.
Remember, you can have more than one
career mentor and can always change mentors if you begin to feel one of your
mentors isn't right for you.
4. Right
classes: Since
you can study anything, what is it you really want to learn?
On a job, your salary reflects how much
demand there is for what you can do and what you know. Your
high school may offer classes that can add to your employability, help you gain
marketable skills and let you explore certain subjects that you need to know
for different jobs.
Check out the different classes offered
at your high school. Decide which ones most interest you and when you will take
them. Some may be electives and some may
be graduation requirements. If you have
questions about classes that you and your career mentor can't find answers to
on your school's website, make an appointment with your school guidance
counselor.
Other classes to explore your interests
may be offered through community recreation centers, city programs for youth,
night school or your local community college.
5. Get
involved: Schools, your local chamber of commerce,
church, community agencies and local service clubs may offer opportunities and
special programs through which you can get experience or find activities that
will help you explore career options.
Many small and less glamorous charities need volunteers. There may be non-profit agencies or
organizations in your community who focus on issues or provide a service that
can help you explore or achieve your career goals.
By getting involved in programs you
also increase your employability. You gain new skills and get to know people
who may someday write you a letter of recommendation or link you with a job
opportunity.
Don't
put off starting to explore what you'll do after high school for too long. High school may seem like it lasts forever,
but it doesn't. Four years goes by in a
blink. If you wait too long, graduation
will be over and you won't have a clue what you will be doing after your
friends leave home to pursue their futures.
Besides, it's much quicker to do your career planning while you are
still in school and have access to many more resources for career
information. The more time you spend exploring careers,
the more likely you are to find one that can finance the life you want.
If
you'd like a printable copy, please email either Robin or Carol.
© 2009 Carol Christen ~ Reproduce with acknowledgment ~
Contact: www.carolchristen.com
|
My Action Plan for Sophmores, Juniors and Seniors
|
My Action
Plan
A sample dateline for sophomores,
juniors and seniors
Name__________________________________________
Goal: Building
my post high school plans and career path
To achieve this goal, you'll need to schedule
time to:
-
Meet with career mentor at least 2x a month to update and
create strategy
-
Meet with parents 1x a month to update them and discuss
-
Meet with others for help as needed
Timeline:
-
By October 15, 2009 - Identify 4-5 people you trust who have
lots of work experience and you might like to have as career mentors. Talk to each about what the job entails. Make your selection and thank the others for
meeting with you. You can always change
your mentors.
-
By Halloween, create with your career mentor, a plan to
identify three or four subjects you would like to study and the jobs they might
qualify you for.
-
By Christmas, have identified 3-4 jobs that use the subjects
you'd most like to study.
-
By January 15, 2010, have selected 3 jobs you would like to
job shadow.
-
Participate in the national JobShadow.org event on Feb 2,
2010, or a similar local program.
-
Why do you want to job shadow? Consider the information you
read about a job "the book." Job shadowing is the equivalent of "the movie." Being on a job site gives you the "touch and
feel" of the work environment of that kind of job. You get to preview a "day-in-the-life" of a
worker in that position. Everyone has a
range of environments in which they are comfortable and can do their best
work. Job shadowing helps you find jobs
that fit your comfort level and interests.
-
By March 1, 2010 select 3 more jobs you want to know more about,
set up independent job shadow times. Between March and May, job shadow at least two
more times. It is much easier on the
people you want to shadow to set up half day job shadowing. If a job really interests you, you can set up
another half day with that same person or someone with a similar job.
-
By May 15 meet with your guidance counselor to identify what
classes you can take next year that will add to your employability and increase
your knowledge in the areas you most want to study.
Summer time can be fun and used for
career exploration too.
If you want a summer job in a field that interests you, or
a particular volunteer position, begin looking in March or during Spring Break and
continue until you find an opportunity.
Remember, if
you'd like a printable copy of this article, please email either Robin or
Carol.
© 2009 Carol Christen ~ Reproduce with acknowledgment ~
Contact: www.carolchristen.com
|
|
Q & A - Open Forum
|
Carol Christen and Robin Roman Wright will answer your questions in this free one-hour conference call session.
Tuesday, October 20
8:00 - 9:00 p.m. EST
Send Robin an e-mail in order to register. Include your:
Preferred Telephone Contact Number
One or Two Questions (Optional).
E-mail Robin to register |
Event Information - Robin Roman Wright Will Speak at the Following Events
|
- CHADD Annual Conference (Children & Adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder), Cleveland, Ohio. For those attending the conference, note that Robin will be presenting the following topics:
Panelist:
"Managing AD/HD on a Global Economic Crisis," Topics
include - employment transitioning, resume writing and job
interviewing.
Date/ Time
October 8, 2009/ 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Breakout Session Speaker: "Strength-based Assessments in Coaching"Date/ Time
October 10, 2009, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m - Metrowest CHADD,
Goodnow Library, Sudbury,
MA
"Career
Planning: Make Better Decisions, Create a Life"
Date/ Time
Nov. 10, 2009, 7:00 - 8:45 p.m
For registration information Click Here or contact: Robin Roman Wright by e-mail - contact Robin.
|
|
|
Helping teens and young adults plan for success in today's global market
Sincerely,
|
|
Carol Christen, Career Strategist and Co-author, "What Color Is Your Parachute? For Teens"
ABOUT: Robin Roman Wright: Specializes in providing AD/HD & Career
coaching via telephone and in person. She works with teens and young adults to help them identify their talent and skills. She helps her clients articulate where, within the world of work, they can find fulfillment and joy. She also helps her AD/HD clients develop time management, organizational and decision-making skills. To view a video titled, "Why A Career Coach for You?" Click here. Carol Christen:
Is the co-author of What Color Is Your Parachute for Teens. The second edition will be out in Spring, 2010.
Carol is a long time advocate for better career development programs delivered
to teens much earlier than is presently suggested by our school system. Carol is currently taking March and April
bookings for her latest program: Spring Into A Summer
Job. For more
details, contact Carol by e-mail. |
|
|
