Some teenagers have known what they wanted to do for a living since they were small children. But for most, choosing a future career is a daunting process. Trying to figure out your career path and prepare for it before you have even graduated from high school can be overwhelming. Many teenagers aren’t even sure how to begin to narrow down their career choices or choose career paths that would suit their personality and strengths. As a result, it is common for college students to change their majors several times. Extra semesters of college tuition can cause a severe financial strain. Fortunately, there are many resources your teenager can use to help choose a career and prepare for it.

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Career Tests

Career tests are an excellent way for teenagers to narrow down their career choices and determine what careers may be a good fit for them.

At My Next Move, students can search for careers by keyword or industry. The website also offers a free Interest Profiler test. The results help students decide what kinds of careers they might want to explore.

Innate offers a free 4-minute assessment. This free assessment provides general information about what type of work environments would be suited to the student’s personality. It costs about $50 to upgrade to the full assessment, which is called Innate Match. Innate Match matches students to careers, majors, and colleges.

Career Direct’s basic career assessment provides a 12-page report, which includes information on the student’s personality, career interests, skills areas, best work environments, and more. This assessment costs $25. Their detailed assessment is 33 pages long and includes much more information than the basic assessment, including more personality information, matches to more careers and skills, summary charts, and a Next Steps guide. This assessment costs $80. They also offer consultations for an additional fee.

Career Research

Your high school student should thoroughly research any career they are considering. Online sources are a great place to start.

Learn How to Become’s free website offers information on numerous careers. The information is well-organized and easy to navigate. Each career’s page includes extensive information, including job description, required education, skills needed, salary information, and job growth & outlook. There are also recommendations for colleges or training programs in each field and a detailed step-by-step guide for getting a job in the field. In addition to all of the career specific information they offer, they have many guides related to the job search including, Resume Tips & Expert Advice, Interview Do’s & Dont’s, Grad’s Guide to Getting Hired, and more.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is another good source of career information. Like Learn How to Become, OOH has current information on job descriptions, required skills and education, salary information, and job outlook &  growth. OOH has information on more jobs than Learn How to Become does, but the information about how to get a job a particular field and the required education isn’t as detailed.

After researching careers that interest them online, I recommend that your teenager talks to actual people in that field. They should find out what people in that field like most and least about their career and why they chose their career. If possible, your teenager should seek part-time employment or an internship related to their future career. The best way to find out if a job is a good fit for you is to try it!

7Sister’s Career Exploration Curriculum Bundle

7Sister’s Career Exploration Curriculum Bundle is a valuable resource for high schoolers who are preparing for and choosing their careers. At only $15.99, this bundle is a bargain. Here’s everything the bundle includes:

Step by Step Through Career Exploration – This guide provides a basic checklist of steps for your teenager to follow.
Career Exploration Questionnaire – This questionnaire will help your student narrow down their career choices.
Career Exploration Workbook – This 31-page workbook was designed to help homeschooled teenagers gain experience with coming to know the will of God, understand what is truly important to them, note their strengths and talents, investigate some careers, look for an apprenticeship, and plan a high school curriculum that will enhance future opportunities.
Successful Experiential Resume Writing – This practical, step-by-step resource will help your high schooler create a resume that will open doors for their first job. Sample resumes are included.
Successful Cover Letters – This step-by-step guide will help your teenager make a great first impression with a well-written cover letter to accompany their job applications and resume. Sample cover letters are included.
Introductory Interview Skills for Teens – This interactive guide gives students the skills they need to successfully complete a job interview with confidence.
Writing Your Personal Mission Statement – This 14-page workbook will guide your teenager through the process of writing a mission statement that captures what is most important to them. Writing a mission statement can be very helpful in the career exploration process.
Career Exploration in the Bible – This study looks at how God did “Career Exploration” with three young people in the Bible: David, Joseph, and Mary. At the end of the study, students take a closer look at themselves.
Collected Posts on Career Exploration – Learn more about career exploration with these posts from 7Sister’s blog archives.
Collected Posts on Financial Literacy – Learn more about financial literacy, which is an essential skill for adult life, with these posts from the 7Sister’s blog archive.

7Sisters Homeschool offers Freedom Homeschooling readers 50% off their entire curriculum selection, including their Career Exploration Curriculum Bundle! Use coupon code 7SistersCousinSarahMay at checkout to get the discount. The coupon code has no expiration date, but customers may only use it once. Also, the coupon code can only be used on carts with a total of $75 or less (before the discount).

Resources for Electives & Life Skills

Free Electives Curriculum – The electives on this page can help your homeschooler explore careers or prepare for their future career. The electives include architecture, engineering, business, marketing, economics, accounting, public speaking, journalism, logic, law enforcement, various skilled trades, and more.

Free Life Skills Curriculum – The resources on this page will help your teenager learn life skills that will be valuable in their adult life regardless of what career they choose. These life skills include financial literacy, cooking, auto repair, driver’s education, entrepreneurship, sewing, first aid, and many more.

Note: This post was originally published on March 9, 2020 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.