Career Exploration

Career Exploration

Your time in high school is a great time to be thinking about your further career. As a young adult, you're beginning to discover what's important to you - what classes you like, how you like to spend your free time, and (maybe) what topics interest you most. High school is a great time to explore what you might want to pick as a career. Ideally, you will be able to find work that is fun, challenging, and satisfying.

As you begin to explore different careers, you may find the following links helpful (all links can also be found in the book What Color is Your Parachute? For Teens by Richard Nelson Bolles). The staff in the Morse Career Center are also a great resource if you are looking for job or internship opportunities. Your School Counselor can also help get you started in the right direction if you need help.


Identifying Your Skills and Planning Your Career


Exploring the Work Environment

  • The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a useful place to look for information on working conditions or environments for specific jobs: www.bls.gov/oco/home/htm

  • An excellent site for investigating places you'd like to live: www.bestplaces.net

  • Check out this website for job listings from locations around the world: www.craigslist.org


Finding Dream Jobs, Apprenticeships, Internships, Study Abroad, and Other Opportunities

  • The Maine Apprenticeship Program can help connect students to apprenticeship opportunities after high school.

  • Completing a profile on the Maine Job Link site can help connect students to current job opportunities in Maine, helping them explore career options and see training and education requirements.

  • For full descriptions of hundreds of occupations, check out the Occupational Information Network (O*Net Online): online.onetcenter.org/

  • Check out this website for an alphabetical list of jobs with comprehensive information including salary and training requirements: stats.bls.gov/oco

  • The Department of Labor offers over 29,000 different apprenticeship programs. Check out the opportunities here: careervoyages.gov

  • The website provides a listing of internships, apprenticeships, volunteer, and study abroad opportunities: rileyguide.com/intern.html

  • Advanced Technology Education Television: This website connects students and educators with prospective employers in technical fields. Advanced Technological Education (ATE) programs are based at two-year community colleges and four-year colleges across the country, providing a host of unique educational opportunities.

  • For general information about jobs and career planning, check out this Canadian site: nextsteps.org

  • A group of college students interviewed people about their job and how they have/haven't used their college majors. Find out what they learned: www.roadtripnation.com

  • This website has some additional creative ideas on how to help you with your job search: www.martynemko.com Click on "Columns & Articles" (upper left). Type "job search" or "job hunt" in the search box.


Taking a Gap Year

Over 70% of students graduating from Morse consistently report their plans include attending a 2 or 4-year college after high school. However, some students apply to college and defer for a year to be able to design a "gap year" where they can choose what they want to do with their time. Here is a list of online resources that may help you decide if a gap year is right for you.

  • City Year in New York City: serve as paid, full-time tutors and role models in systemically under-resourced schools. During the year of service, participants receive 60+ days of transformational Professional Development, 1:1 support planning their next steps, and a $6,500 grant for further education. This short video on what our members do provides more information as well as the benefits page on the website.

  • The Center for INTERIM Programs (based in Cambridge, MA): Morse Alumni have reported good results from the services they offer Their specialty is helping students and families craft a plan that suits the student.

  • Inside College is a great resource for college searches, but they also have a complete listing of Gap Year Resources to help you explore, dream, and plan.

  • Travel abroad service and educational opportunities are outlined in this site for United Planet.

  • For more stories (organized by continent) check out the Year Out Group.

  • Want to travel while also working on an organic farm? WWOOF may be right for you.

  • Do you have Norwegian Heritage or a curiosity about dog sledding? A Norwegian Folkskole may be the plan for you!