Tips for Teens: Learning About Careers

High school is a time for fun with friends, but it’s also time to start thinking about the future. The career you choose will help determine if you need to go to college and how much money you’ll make. It’s important to learn as much as you can now so you’re ready when it’s time to start making choices.

Check out our answers to common questions below about selecting the right career.

How do I learn about careers?

There are so many jobs out there, it can be hard to decide which one you’d like. Luckily, there are a lot of resources that can help you learn more.

The Bureau of Labor Services has a website with all kinds of information about careers. Not sure what career you want to learn more about? That’s okay! You can search the site based on what types of things you enjoy, like food, helping your community, sports, and more. The site will help you find a career that you might like by learning more about what interests you. There are also career-specific videos that you can watch, too.

Your school may have information on careers, as well. Ask your school counselor to help you learn more about what careers may be a good fit for you.

Is there a way to make this fun?

If you’re more of a hands-on learner, check out the ideas below.

• Go to your school or community library. They likely have several books on careers, and the librarian can help you find the ones you’re interested in.
• Interview someone who has the job you want. If you know exactly what job you want to do, find someone with that job and ask them if you can interview them. You can ask all the questions you have about what they do every day, what’s fun about their job, and what the hardest part is. Just make sure to send a thank you note afterward.

Can I try out a job?

There are ways that you can test out a job before you commit to doing it every day. Try out some of our ideas below.

• Ask your school about job shadowing. Your school counselor may be able to help you spend time with someone who has the job you want. This is called job shadowing. It’s when you spend a day at work with a professional to learn about and get a better understanding of what they do.
• Try a mini-internship. Your school counselor may also be able to help you set up a mini-internship. This entails spending a few days or weeks during summer vacation working somewhere that interests you.
• Volunteer. If you know what career or field you want to work in, you can volunteer your time to help a company and learn more about a job. For example, if you want to be a veterinarian, you might volunteer at your local animal shelter to learn more about taking care of animals.