4 answers
Dakota
Student
Newton Falls, Ohio
2
Questions
Asked
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What careers could I be interested in?
I am a freshmen in high school that isn't too sure of what to do. I would say I am empathetic, quick to learn things, very open to whatever. I would maybe like something that could help people.
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4 answers
Paul Goetzinger MPA
Academic and Career Advisor | Freelance Writer | TRIO Program Director
1114
Answers
Tacoma, Washington
Updated
Paul’s Answer
Hi Dakota:
When it comes to making future decisions, I normally outline a highly structured, passion-driven approach to choosing a career. Basically, emphasizing things that are in alignment between internal values, personal enthusiasm, and real-world experimentation.
My core philosophy and actionable steps for selecting the right professional path include:
1. The "Work for Free" Litmus Test
Your ideal career must be rooted in true enthusiasm, rather than just a casual interest. Many times, with my past students, I frequently pose a core value, which is: "Choose something that you love to do so much that even if they did not pay you to do it, you would still do it anyway." I also note that when you reach a level where you cannot wait to get into the office every morning, you know you have found the right path.
2. Conduct a Self-Assessment
Before researching industries, I advise starting internally. A structured self-assessment should help you clearly define four pillars:
• Your core skills
• Your genuine interests
• Your personal values
• The specific lifestyle you wish to attain
3. Leverage Local Resources
Rather than navigating the career landscape alone, I urge students to utilize their local county, university or college career centers. I always highlight two specific ways to use them:
• Target Recruiting Trips: Attend events where outside employers visit the college so you can speak directly with industry professionals about daily occupational realities.
• Informational Interviews: Conduct structured conversations with local entities, including your regional business organizations, occupational skills centers, and college professors, to dissect market realities and career trajectories.
4. Investigate Job Market Trends
A viable career path must balance passion with stability. I always emphasize the importance of analyzing national and regional job market trends to ensure that your chosen path aligns with long-term economic demand.
5. Gain Practical, Lower-Stakes Experience
To protect yourself from committing to a path you might later regret, I strongly promote testing fields through internships or volunteer work. This low-risk exposure allows you to safely determine if a career is a good daily fit before making a long-term academic or professional commitment.
I hope that these suggestions have been helpful. Best of luck in your future career goals.
When it comes to making future decisions, I normally outline a highly structured, passion-driven approach to choosing a career. Basically, emphasizing things that are in alignment between internal values, personal enthusiasm, and real-world experimentation.
My core philosophy and actionable steps for selecting the right professional path include:
1. The "Work for Free" Litmus Test
Your ideal career must be rooted in true enthusiasm, rather than just a casual interest. Many times, with my past students, I frequently pose a core value, which is: "Choose something that you love to do so much that even if they did not pay you to do it, you would still do it anyway." I also note that when you reach a level where you cannot wait to get into the office every morning, you know you have found the right path.
2. Conduct a Self-Assessment
Before researching industries, I advise starting internally. A structured self-assessment should help you clearly define four pillars:
• Your core skills
• Your genuine interests
• Your personal values
• The specific lifestyle you wish to attain
3. Leverage Local Resources
Rather than navigating the career landscape alone, I urge students to utilize their local county, university or college career centers. I always highlight two specific ways to use them:
• Target Recruiting Trips: Attend events where outside employers visit the college so you can speak directly with industry professionals about daily occupational realities.
• Informational Interviews: Conduct structured conversations with local entities, including your regional business organizations, occupational skills centers, and college professors, to dissect market realities and career trajectories.
4. Investigate Job Market Trends
A viable career path must balance passion with stability. I always emphasize the importance of analyzing national and regional job market trends to ensure that your chosen path aligns with long-term economic demand.
5. Gain Practical, Lower-Stakes Experience
To protect yourself from committing to a path you might later regret, I strongly promote testing fields through internships or volunteer work. This low-risk exposure allows you to safely determine if a career is a good daily fit before making a long-term academic or professional commitment.
I hope that these suggestions have been helpful. Best of luck in your future career goals.
I appreciate your support, Paul
Dakota
Jezlea Ortega
Tech Architecture
102
Answers
New York, New York
Updated
Jezlea’s Answer
The most obvious fit is anything in healthcare. Doctors, nurses, therapists, counselors, social workers, and physician assistants all rely heavily on empathy and the ability to connect with people during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. If you're drawn to the human side of helping, healthcare offers that in a very direct and meaningful way every single day. The field is also incredibly stable and in high demand across almost every specialty.
Mental health and counseling is worth looking at specifically if you find yourself naturally drawn to listening, understanding how people think, and supporting others through emotional challenges. Psychologists, therapists, and school counselors make a profound difference in people's lives in ways that don't always get enough recognition, and the need for mental health professionals is growing significantly right now.
Education is another strong fit. Teachers, school counselors, and youth mentors work directly with people in a way that requires both empathy and the ability to pick things up quickly and adapt on the fly. If you enjoy explaining things, connecting with others, and watching people grow, education can be deeply fulfilling.
If you want to help people on a larger scale, fields like public health, nonprofit work, social work, and community advocacy let you tackle systemic issues that affect entire communities rather than one person at a time. These careers attract people who care deeply about fairness, access, and making the world more equitable for everyone.
Since you're a freshman with an open mind, the best thing you can do right now is not overthink it. Try different clubs, volunteer somewhere that involves helping others directly, and pay attention to what feels meaningful versus what just feels fine. You have plenty of time to let your interests sharpen, and your empathy and openness will serve you well in whatever direction you eventually choose.
Mental health and counseling is worth looking at specifically if you find yourself naturally drawn to listening, understanding how people think, and supporting others through emotional challenges. Psychologists, therapists, and school counselors make a profound difference in people's lives in ways that don't always get enough recognition, and the need for mental health professionals is growing significantly right now.
Education is another strong fit. Teachers, school counselors, and youth mentors work directly with people in a way that requires both empathy and the ability to pick things up quickly and adapt on the fly. If you enjoy explaining things, connecting with others, and watching people grow, education can be deeply fulfilling.
If you want to help people on a larger scale, fields like public health, nonprofit work, social work, and community advocacy let you tackle systemic issues that affect entire communities rather than one person at a time. These careers attract people who care deeply about fairness, access, and making the world more equitable for everyone.
Since you're a freshman with an open mind, the best thing you can do right now is not overthink it. Try different clubs, volunteer somewhere that involves helping others directly, and pay attention to what feels meaningful versus what just feels fine. You have plenty of time to let your interests sharpen, and your empathy and openness will serve you well in whatever direction you eventually choose.
Natalie Anderson - Dawes
Intern Operations Lead - Talent Acquisition / HR
2
Answers
Round Rock, Texas
Updated
Natalie’s Answer
Dakota,
You have plenty of time to figure out what it is that you want to do with your career and honestly, that will most likely end up changing multiple times within the next few years (and that is OK). I do think is great though that you are already trying to plan for the future and think through what classes to be taking, personal projects to work on as those are all ways for you learn more about what you do and potentially don't want to do as well.
I would also say to enjoy your time in high school, you don't get these years back so enjoy every moment if you can. For myself, I studied corporate communication in undergrad which was very broad and started my career in sales but this pivoted to HR / recruiting. I am similar in that I really want to help others, support those around me while still wanting to continue learning so both of these paths have been great. They are roles where you get to connect with people and share your own experiences while helping them create their own.
My biggest piece of advice is just to always be open, have confidence in your abilities but also understand your areas of growth - Be willing to accept feedback from teachers, coaches and those around you and take advantage of all of the opportunities you can.
All the best!
You have plenty of time to figure out what it is that you want to do with your career and honestly, that will most likely end up changing multiple times within the next few years (and that is OK). I do think is great though that you are already trying to plan for the future and think through what classes to be taking, personal projects to work on as those are all ways for you learn more about what you do and potentially don't want to do as well.
I would also say to enjoy your time in high school, you don't get these years back so enjoy every moment if you can. For myself, I studied corporate communication in undergrad which was very broad and started my career in sales but this pivoted to HR / recruiting. I am similar in that I really want to help others, support those around me while still wanting to continue learning so both of these paths have been great. They are roles where you get to connect with people and share your own experiences while helping them create their own.
My biggest piece of advice is just to always be open, have confidence in your abilities but also understand your areas of growth - Be willing to accept feedback from teachers, coaches and those around you and take advantage of all of the opportunities you can.
All the best!
Thank you for taking the time to help.
Dakota
Christina Owens
Senior Technical Writer/Career Identity Architect
34
Answers
Indianapolis, Indiana
Updated
Christina’s Answer
Dakota, being a freshman and not knowing exactly what career you want yet is completely normal. In fact, this is a great time to explore because you don't have to choose—you get to "discover". 🌱
You already gave some important clues about yourself: you’re empathetic, you learn quickly, you’re open to new experiences, and you’re interested in helping people. Those qualities could lead you toward careers in healthcare, psychology or counseling, education, social work, human resources, emergency services, nonprofit work, or even leadership and management.
But I’d encourage you to explore something even deeper than job titles: your skills.
Start noticing the things you genuinely enjoy doing. What are you good at that almost doesn't feel like work? Maybe you're the person friends come to when they need someone to listen. Maybe you love explaining things, solving problems, organizing, creating, caring for animals, working with technology, or helping someone through a difficult situation. Those are clues to your future career identity.
Try different classes, clubs, volunteer opportunities, and activities while you're in high school. Pay attention to three questions:
What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? Who or what do I enjoy helping?
You don't need your entire future figured out at 14 or 15. Your job right now is to collect clues. 🧭 The more you learn about yourself, the easier it becomes to find careers where your natural strengths and interests meet real opportunities.
You may discover that the best career isn't simply one you "can" do—it's one where you get to use skills you love so much that some parts of your work barely feel like work at all. ✨
To your success!
Christina Owens
Career Identity Architect
CoachOwens
You already gave some important clues about yourself: you’re empathetic, you learn quickly, you’re open to new experiences, and you’re interested in helping people. Those qualities could lead you toward careers in healthcare, psychology or counseling, education, social work, human resources, emergency services, nonprofit work, or even leadership and management.
But I’d encourage you to explore something even deeper than job titles: your skills.
Start noticing the things you genuinely enjoy doing. What are you good at that almost doesn't feel like work? Maybe you're the person friends come to when they need someone to listen. Maybe you love explaining things, solving problems, organizing, creating, caring for animals, working with technology, or helping someone through a difficult situation. Those are clues to your future career identity.
Try different classes, clubs, volunteer opportunities, and activities while you're in high school. Pay attention to three questions:
What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? Who or what do I enjoy helping?
You don't need your entire future figured out at 14 or 15. Your job right now is to collect clues. 🧭 The more you learn about yourself, the easier it becomes to find careers where your natural strengths and interests meet real opportunities.
You may discover that the best career isn't simply one you "can" do—it's one where you get to use skills you love so much that some parts of your work barely feel like work at all. ✨
To your success!
Christina Owens
Career Identity Architect
CoachOwens
Thank you for giving me advice.
Dakota