Can anyone recommend a book on choosing a career? Something practical with lists of majors/ salaries etc…
Thanks
Veruca. Why not list some things that interest you…and have folks suggest majors that might go with those interests?
It is for my D -16 who has no clue what she wants to do. She likes English literature, mythology, History and Latin.
I know she doesn’t have to choose now -just wanted to give her some things to consider- she is starting her junior year of HS in the fall.
Thanks!
Veruca. Not sure you will find a book. When your daughter gets to college, she will have an academic advisor. Sometimes these folks have career suggestions.
But better…most colleges have career centers. They can really be helpful in terms of giving a student guidance in terms of interests, what they do well, and potential majors.
You should also know that most college students switch majors multiple times before actually landing on the major where they graduate.
I personally think it’s very early to expect a HS junior to have career aspirations. The reality is her interests and what she does well…and likes…could really change over time…more than once.
I will venture that the vast majority of HS juniors have no idea what they want to do for a career, college major or job.
Go to amazon.com and search ‘choosing a career.’…there are 480 books.
I think it can be helpful to have an idea of what your child likes. Unless she is going to a large university, she may end up somewhere that doesn’t even have the major that she would like to get. It is definitely something to take into consideration. For example, we visited schools and realized while we were there that they didn’t even offer business or computer science as a major. It could have been a problem if we hadn’t taken note.
Note that lots of college majors are not strongly tied to career directions (other than for a small percentage of graduates), and many career directions are not strongly tied to college majors. Even if there exists a college major aimed at a given career direction, it may not necessarily be true that such a major is necessary, or even much of an advantage, in seeking jobs in that career direction (e.g. it would not be surprising if most college graduates doing computer game design had degrees in something other than a computer game design major).
Check your local library’s career section.
I know there are books in the library and on Amazon lol -I thought someone might have one they liked in particular. I am not really expecting her to pick a career- right now she has no ideas of what she might even want to study. I thought if she had some kind of career interest it my help her focus her college search.
Thanks for your comments.
http://www.amazon.com/books-COLLEGE-MAJORS-CAREERS-Krasnic/lm/R2OVVGH4KWV5Q7
I generally find that when I read the summaries and reviews carefully (and/or when I peruse Look Inside), I tend to find those books that best fit my needs.
This one in particular would seem to be a good choice for you.
http://www.amazon.com/College-Majors-Handbook-Career-Payoffs/dp/1593570740/ref=cm_lmf_tit_4
OP-I was surprised when people told you to just go to Amazon-I assumed you know how to do that! When my older D started looking at colleges she had no idea what to major in or what to do with her life. She asked for some books to look through and we found a couple that helped her. She got “What Color Is Your Parachute?” for teens and liked that-it has places where you answer questions about yourself and interests. She felt it did help her. I know it’s been updated regularly to reflect new college and career options. My sister made a very successful mid-life change using the adult version.
My younger D has done an online career interest quiz that the college and career counselor found. It’s a paid site some high schools use, though I can’t recall the name. I’m sure there are free ones, though. Even having some random ideas from such a quiz might get your D some suggestions to explore. My D got results that were pretty much in the family of careers she has long been interested in, and that hasn’t changed since she was a kid. But I know that’s not common. I do think it’s helpful to explore some potential directions-so many careers and majors aren’t even known to high school kids unless they know where to look.
FWIW, my three kids and all of their cousins ended up on post-high school paths (or are headed in that direction) that mirror some kind of interest they had even as youngsters. Have your D take stock of what she enjoys doing and explore majors and careers that might be related. My S liked to take things apart and fix them, to work with machines and to make things. He does “Mythbusters” for a job and is about to launch his own company. A niece used to love to “play office” and runs a marketing department. S’s childhood friend’s sister majored in dance with a double major in business and runs a dance studio because she loved dancing. I bet your D will figure something out.