Students should start thinking about their future career plans as early as freshman year! Take a career interest assessment, consider your skills, and keep your interests in mind as you make decisions about which classes to take and which post-high school pathway to follow.
There are many free resources available to help with the career planning process. You can find in depth information on different types of jobs and careers, and search for programs and colleges that offer training in your areas of interest. Research colleges and/or training programs, and narrow down your list based on your own personal requirements.
Links:
Free Career Aptitude Quiz - This 25 question quiz will give you scores in 10 different pathways, which can help point you in a general direction for a career path.
College & Career Planning for High School Students - This site includes grade-by-grade college and career planning timelines, assessments, and guidance on exploring and incorporating career interests into post-high school planning.
Get Schooled - Article with ideas and ways to explore career options.
Major & Career Search - Discover majors, in-demand careers, and education based on your interests
Career Coach - Discover majors, in-demand careers, and education based on your interests through this tool from Las Positas College. You can even create a resume with the resume tool.
California Career Zone - Assessment tools, interest profiler, skills profiler, and work value profiler. Explore job families.
California Career Center - The California Career Center (CalCC) is your career planning website with tools to help you map your future, whether looking ahead to college, apprenticeship, the military, or other options. CalCC is focused on resources for students, but also contains resources for counselors, parents, teachers, and anyone interested in developing the career self-management skills necessary in today's world of work.
Career Quiz - The Career Quiz can help you find out what your interests are and how they relate to the world of work. You can find out what you like to do. This Career Quiz helps you decide what kinds of careers you might want to explore. The Career Quiz has 60 questions about work activities that some people do on their jobs.
Career One Stop Career Videos - Career videos are organized into 16 clusters, or related types of work. Select a category to view a list of videos related to that cluster. Videos include career details such as tasks, work settings, education needed, and more.
K-12 Student Resources - This government site takes all its labor information and presents it in an easy to use website. The career information is organized by academic studies such as math, reading, science, music, etc.
Occupational Outlook Handbook - Hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor, the OOH can help you find career information on duties, education and training, pay, and outlook for hundreds of occupations.
O*NET Online - Tool for career exploration and job analysis. O*NET Online has detailed descriptions of the world of work for use by job seekers, workforce development and HR professionals, students, researchers, and more (a Career Center favorite!).
PracticalNursing - Career information, testing guides, career advancement guides, education information, and anything else you can think of regarding nursing