A: The first step in career planning is self-understanding. Your child needs to have a realistic view of who she is, her interests, her strengths, her skills, and her personality before she begins to narrow down the many opportunities that are available. I would advise her to take several different career interest inventories to begin the process. (This website offers one called Career Check and also provides links to others that are available. They are listed in the section What Is the Career Development Process?) Most of these career assessments will link your child to a cluster of careers, not just one career. Once she has narrowed down her choices to a career cluster in which she has an interest, she needs to start exploring various careers within the cluster by talking to professionals, visiting the workplace, and researching careers in the library or on the Internet.

Back to the questions