Exploring Options After High School
With only two years of high school remaining, having a career goal in mind will help your student know what preparations need to be made to enter the appropriate training or education program after high school. The upcoming summer months provide an ideal time for research and reflection to help define the course of action.
Why It Matters
- Different types of careers require different types of preparation.
If your student is interested in a career that doesn’t require a four-year college degree, preparing for a traditional college path may not be a good strategy. Likewise, taking engineering dual enrollment courses in high school will not be extremely beneficial to a budding veterinary technician. While no education is completely wasted, a target career can inform your student’s choices. - Finances are an important consideration.
The various options after high school could cost your family and your student more than $100,000, as little as $100 or somewhere in between. The career options after completing a program also provide a range of expected salaries. Your student will need to make an informed decision about how much it makes sense to spend to earn the credentials for a specific career and its associated earnings.
What Your Student Can Do Now
- Consider STEM careers.
There is an increasing focus on careers in science, technology, engineering and math, including computer science, (STEM) fields to keep up with predicted demand for future workers. Currently, students who graduate with STEM majors often have a potential for the highest incomes over their lifetimes. This means your student will likely see a higher return on an investment in education or training after high school. ISL Education Lending’s Return on College Investment Tool uses Bureau of Labor Statistics data to provide realistic starting salary figures for certain majors. - Consider careers in shortage areas and high-demand fields.
Increased technology needs, aging populations, and cyclical economies mean that certain fields are predicted to have a shortage of workers by the time your student enters the workforce. Your student can start researching trends to target fields that are likely to have higher starting salaries due to increased demand. - Plan for change.
It’s important for your student to realize that few people stay in the same career over time. Changing technologies, economies, interests, finances and geography all impact career moves. Your student may wish to plan for an entry career that will allow a transition to a more advanced path later, such as earning a two-year degree and working for a while before pursuing a four-year or more advanced degree.
What Your Student Can Do Later
- Continue to consider all the options.
As your student’s interests evolve, he or she should re-evaluate career plans and associated training and education paths accordingly. If hands-on robotic work is appealing, does an engineering or an engineering technologies degree make the most sense in regard to potential future income, actual job duties and financial investment in education? If your student is interested in health care, is it possible to earn an entry-level designation during high school to allow an early entry into the field? - Find out what actual jobs are like.
Many professionals are willing to have students shadow them or to answer questions about what they do every day and the good and not-so-great aspects of their jobs. As your student learns about different careers, talking to those working in the field will help refine their interests. - Communicate with the school counselor.
Your student should work closely with the counseling office to understand the high school track that will lead to jobs of interest. Your student may need to ask about and pursue options to take dual enrollment courses, career and technical classes on or off site, and Advanced Placement classes and tests.
What You Can Do
- Be open to different options.
Encourage your student to explore different education and training options while carefully considering financial constraints. While a four-year degree may be the ultimate goal, a less direct path after high school can be wise. Apprenticeships and certificate programs without additional training or education can also be a great option. - Point out examples worth emulating.
You likely know some successful, happy adults who didn’t take a direct path to their current career. Encourage your student to hear their stories and experiences. It might be beneficial for you to connect your student with professionals in different career fields of interest. - Discuss considerations.
Be clear about your family’s ability to contribute toward the costs of education or training after high school so your student has a clear understanding of possibilities. Encourage your student to take or retake career assessments and investigate education and training options for the career results. Use the result of your student’s career planning tool from school as a conversation starter.
Next Steps
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Additional references, handouts and talking points are available in the right sidebar to use at your leisure. They may prove beneficial to reference now or after receiving future emails — we’ll leave it completely up to you. Use our emails like a recipe for a successful outcome — assemble the recommended ingredients and then follow accompanying directions to add flavor and depth.