5 answers
Austin
Student
Locust Grove, Georgia
3
Questions
Asked
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when do i need to have a job
I am in the 10th grade and I don't know what I want to do when I get older #help
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5 answers
Christopher Pisciotta
Accountant
1
Answer
Franklin, Massachusetts
Updated
Christopher’s Answer
Hi Austin,
First, don't stress! You are off to a great start thinking about your future at this age. I also remember being worried late in my high school days of not knowing what I wanted to do when I graduated. What I found worked for me was reflecting on what subjects interested me the most as those were the areas I enjoyed learning about. You certainly want to find a career where you are continuously learning or you may find yourself bored/unmotivated at some point. In addition to the subjects that interest you, I would encourage you to think about the type of work that might interest you. Do you want to work on teams? Do you prefer to do independent research? Do you want to work directly with customers? Do you want to work in an office setting or outside of an office setting (e.g., a store, outside, etc.)? These are just a few examples of questions you may want to think through that might help you narrow down the specific field of a subject you are interested in. Once you have narrowed down the subjects that interest you and the type of work you might like you can research or talk to your guidance counselor about what careers match the subjects and type of work you are interested in. There are also career aptitude tests that you can take to help you find careers based on your interests, and personality. Again, check with your guidance counselor on this test and be careful of what you find online as they may want personal information, a fee, or may not be reputable.
In my experience, I enjoyed math and business, working with computers, and working and playing on teams. In my junior and senior years of high school I enrolled in some business classes to get a sense of the different fields/subjects. This helped confirm my interests and helped narrow down the colleges and universities I applied to because I knew I wanted a school with a good business program. However, I still didn't know exactly what I wanted to do as I thought about a few different fields in business. In fact it wasn't until my sophomore year of college that I found the career I wanted to pursue and actually changed my declared major at that point in time as I thought I was interested in something else. I highlight this because you are in good shape thinking about this now and have plenty of time to decide and change your mind if you want. Good luck!
Take a step back, think about your interests and write them down.
Connect with your guidance counselor for resources to help research careers including a career aptitude test.
First, don't stress! You are off to a great start thinking about your future at this age. I also remember being worried late in my high school days of not knowing what I wanted to do when I graduated. What I found worked for me was reflecting on what subjects interested me the most as those were the areas I enjoyed learning about. You certainly want to find a career where you are continuously learning or you may find yourself bored/unmotivated at some point. In addition to the subjects that interest you, I would encourage you to think about the type of work that might interest you. Do you want to work on teams? Do you prefer to do independent research? Do you want to work directly with customers? Do you want to work in an office setting or outside of an office setting (e.g., a store, outside, etc.)? These are just a few examples of questions you may want to think through that might help you narrow down the specific field of a subject you are interested in. Once you have narrowed down the subjects that interest you and the type of work you might like you can research or talk to your guidance counselor about what careers match the subjects and type of work you are interested in. There are also career aptitude tests that you can take to help you find careers based on your interests, and personality. Again, check with your guidance counselor on this test and be careful of what you find online as they may want personal information, a fee, or may not be reputable.
In my experience, I enjoyed math and business, working with computers, and working and playing on teams. In my junior and senior years of high school I enrolled in some business classes to get a sense of the different fields/subjects. This helped confirm my interests and helped narrow down the colleges and universities I applied to because I knew I wanted a school with a good business program. However, I still didn't know exactly what I wanted to do as I thought about a few different fields in business. In fact it wasn't until my sophomore year of college that I found the career I wanted to pursue and actually changed my declared major at that point in time as I thought I was interested in something else. I highlight this because you are in good shape thinking about this now and have plenty of time to decide and change your mind if you want. Good luck!
Christopher recommends the following next steps:
Sabrina Bouhadji
Life Coach - Specialist in ADHD, optimization, Positive Behavior Reengineering
4
Answers
Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands
Updated
Sabrina’s Answer
Hey Austin,
Whenever you feel ready for it!
And if you wonder what to do as you grow-up, here are some tools for you:
1- I'd say this doesn't have to be hard for you, 😉
2- Know that you don't HAVE to choose only one career, it's ok to switch whenever you feel a "calling,"
3- What do you do in your life that feels so good, that you do with such ease? These could be hints to help you find out what would make you put "work" in the "this is so much fun and easy" category,
4- Listen to your intuition rather than your head,
5- That being said, the thing that I do with my coachees that works wonder is to visualize in a calm, peaceful, meditative state of mind, it goes a little like this:
- Take a few deep breaths, inhale with your nose and exhale through your mouth,
- When you feel less in your head and more into the moment: acknowledging the feeling of your body through all your senses,
- Start to picture yourself three to ten years from now (pick whichever time-lapse works best for you).
- In this picture, you are in the future, so pretend it's your actual now.
- Choose the feeling that you'd like to feel at this point in time,
- Imagine the situation, which choices did you make that brought you there?
- In this exercise, there is no limit but your imagination,
--- The only rules are:
• Forget about the future,
• Forget about the conditional,
• You can only use the present tense,
• Anything you can wish for already happened.
If you want, you can take notes of what comes out of it, so you can see if there is anything you feel you want to pursue.
6- Another way of finding out your calling(s) is "meditative writing". It is simple and efficient.
- Start the exercise with a few breaths (same as mentioned on point 5)
- Grab a piece of paper and a pen(cil),
- Ask, loud and clear, the question that you need to be answered,
- Set a timer to give you a sense of time, five minutes is good, you can just keep on going if you feel inspired,
- Start writing, keep on writing, don't stop, whatever pops into your mind, even if it's silly,
- Don't try to control your thoughts,
- Instead just set yourself as an observer of the thoughts,
- Your hand and pen(cil) being the tools that transfer the thoughts on the paper, much like a printer would do,
- When you're done reflect on the outcome!
7- Last but not least:
Is there anything that you feel is missing in this world? What do you feel could help you, therefore could help lots of people?
If there is/are such thing(s), how could you "create" that missing piece? How can you contribute to this world?
.
Whenever you feel ready for it!
And if you wonder what to do as you grow-up, here are some tools for you:
1- I'd say this doesn't have to be hard for you, 😉
2- Know that you don't HAVE to choose only one career, it's ok to switch whenever you feel a "calling,"
3- What do you do in your life that feels so good, that you do with such ease? These could be hints to help you find out what would make you put "work" in the "this is so much fun and easy" category,
4- Listen to your intuition rather than your head,
5- That being said, the thing that I do with my coachees that works wonder is to visualize in a calm, peaceful, meditative state of mind, it goes a little like this:
- Take a few deep breaths, inhale with your nose and exhale through your mouth,
- When you feel less in your head and more into the moment: acknowledging the feeling of your body through all your senses,
- Start to picture yourself three to ten years from now (pick whichever time-lapse works best for you).
- In this picture, you are in the future, so pretend it's your actual now.
- Choose the feeling that you'd like to feel at this point in time,
- Imagine the situation, which choices did you make that brought you there?
- In this exercise, there is no limit but your imagination,
--- The only rules are:
• Forget about the future,
• Forget about the conditional,
• You can only use the present tense,
• Anything you can wish for already happened.
If you want, you can take notes of what comes out of it, so you can see if there is anything you feel you want to pursue.
6- Another way of finding out your calling(s) is "meditative writing". It is simple and efficient.
- Start the exercise with a few breaths (same as mentioned on point 5)
- Grab a piece of paper and a pen(cil),
- Ask, loud and clear, the question that you need to be answered,
- Set a timer to give you a sense of time, five minutes is good, you can just keep on going if you feel inspired,
- Start writing, keep on writing, don't stop, whatever pops into your mind, even if it's silly,
- Don't try to control your thoughts,
- Instead just set yourself as an observer of the thoughts,
- Your hand and pen(cil) being the tools that transfer the thoughts on the paper, much like a printer would do,
- When you're done reflect on the outcome!
7- Last but not least:
Is there anything that you feel is missing in this world? What do you feel could help you, therefore could help lots of people?
If there is/are such thing(s), how could you "create" that missing piece? How can you contribute to this world?
Sabrina recommends the following next steps:
Kiirsten Suomu
Sales Representative at Universal Orlando Resort
96
Answers
Orlando, Florida
Updated
Kiirsten’s Answer
Hello Austin!
It's great that you're thinking about jobs and such at a pretty young age. What I recommend is you find something that interests you, and learn more about it-- do you like cooking? Maybe you can look into running a restaurant, or even cooking for a restaurant! Since you are only in 10th grade, I would work on building a resume-- start out with an easy part time job so you can still focus on school but also gain work experience-- this will show future employers that you have dedication and discipline. Also I suggest you meet with a guidance counselor, guidance counselors specialize in assisting students with all kinds of questions and could point you in the right direction.
Way to go, and have fun!
It's great that you're thinking about jobs and such at a pretty young age. What I recommend is you find something that interests you, and learn more about it-- do you like cooking? Maybe you can look into running a restaurant, or even cooking for a restaurant! Since you are only in 10th grade, I would work on building a resume-- start out with an easy part time job so you can still focus on school but also gain work experience-- this will show future employers that you have dedication and discipline. Also I suggest you meet with a guidance counselor, guidance counselors specialize in assisting students with all kinds of questions and could point you in the right direction.
Way to go, and have fun!
Rebecca Tang
Banking
1560
Answers
Hong Kong
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Hi Austin, you still have plenty of time for your career planning.
Firstly, you could explore what areas or industries you have interested on. You can shortlist a few of them. Then, you can explore more on those areas and choose relevant subjects in your high school.
After that, you may also narrow down your interest to a few of them. You can explore any opportunities to speak to someone who works in the industries and choose the most interested ones for your major and minors in undergraduate course.
In the tertiary education, you can explore any intern , part time or even working holidays in overseas opportunities on the subject you are interested on.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Firstly, you could explore what areas or industries you have interested on. You can shortlist a few of them. Then, you can explore more on those areas and choose relevant subjects in your high school.
After that, you may also narrow down your interest to a few of them. You can explore any opportunities to speak to someone who works in the industries and choose the most interested ones for your major and minors in undergraduate course.
In the tertiary education, you can explore any intern , part time or even working holidays in overseas opportunities on the subject you are interested on.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Courtney Stone
PwC Intern
1
Answer
Fort Collins, Colorado
Updated
Courtney’s Answer
I would recommend applying for different jobs in fields that interest you. You may be young, but it is never to early to start your career and start learning about what you like to do. It is common to be concerned about your lack of experience when you begin applying for jobs but many people have been in your position before. Everyone has to start somewhere. Beginning your career is also a great way to teach yourself financial responsibility while you don't have a lot of bills to pay.
Create a professional resume (Follow a resume template in word)
Include volunteer experience or school club involvement
Apply to internships or entry-level positions
Stay positive and follow up with your potential employer after 5 days
Research the company before you go for an interview and have good questions to ask about the position or company
Courtney recommends the following next steps: