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I am graduating from high school with an associates in secondary teaching. I wanted to change my career to optometry (specialized in kids), do I have to start a new associates or do I just go straight into a bachelor's in science?

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Ken’s Answer

Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process, especially if you are making a change from one career area to another. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

 

Ken recommends the following next steps:

Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want  to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network  ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
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Muhammad’s Answer

The key here is talking to guidance counselors for the college you will be attending.

Optometrists have to attend a 4 year program, after attaining their bachelors. This program has it's own specific course work, standardized testing, GPA requirements. A guidance counselor for the specific program will be able to advise on this aspect. A lot of these requirements are also listed on the program website (for each specific university).

In general, these professional programs do not require a specific degree but rather require a set of minimum course work (proved through your bachelors transcript). So, in terms of picking a bachelors I would pick something as a back-up career path (incase you don't get into the optometry program right away)....while choosing something that gives you the required minimum course work for the program.

For example, if you are doing medicine it is the same policy. You may either do a pre-med program OR attend another major while fulfilling the minimum medical program requirements. I knew a few students who did bachelors in Chemical Engineering instead of pre-med (which covered all the minimum courses)....but also gave them a potential back-up plan incase medicine did not work-out. Yes, it may take some additional work, but overall it is safer. On the other hand, folks who did just pre-med but did not get into medical schools...have very limited employment opportunities.

Hopefully this helped!
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