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What steps should I take to broaden my opprotunities for a possible career?

Should I think about enrolling in college classes? Should I also think about doing trade school, or is it all based on what i want to do for a career? What should i do if i dont exactly know what to do?

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Drew’s Answer

I'm 74, and I'm still unsure what I want to do when I grow up. If you are considering engineering, take some mathematics and physics classes in high school. If you like them, whether you are an A or B student, it is important information for you. If you like to work with your hands, trade school may be a good choice. If you like to explain to others how to do things, perhaps teaching may be a better path. After high school, I joined the Navy and went to Navy school for 16 weeks to learn basic electronics, gunfire control, and two years of active duty. I joined the Navy Reserve after that. In the ten years after high school, I accumulated two years of credits in Political Science. At 27 years old, I went to engineering school. When I completed my Master of Engineering degree, I was commissioned a Lieutenant Junior Grade Engineering Duty Officer and joined the US EPA as a Project Engineer. After six years with EPA, I transferred to be an Enforcement Officer. While at EPA, I earned my Master of Business Administration Degree, Licensed Professional Engineer, and Board Certified Environmental Engineer. After 12 years at EPA, I felt I had learned 80% of what I could learn from a career with EPA and went into private practice as Peake Engineering. I was Board Certified in Forensic Engineer, and subsequently a Fellow of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, and a Certified Industrial Hygienist and Board Certified Safety Engineer. In 1980, the Navy promoted me to Captain, and in 2008, I retired from the Navy. Last May, I graduated again with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and am currently enrolled in a program leading to a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering. Early in my career, I was a store detective in a department store, a licensed life and health insurance agent, both for more than a year. I have also worked as a day laborer. One constant is that I have thoroughly enjoyed every job I have had and enjoyed success in each.
Finally, back to your question. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you enjoy life. You are young enough that you can do it all. Study engineering, study education or go to trade school. You can do each if you just pick something and move forward. Talking with people who are doing those professions may help you make up your mind.

Drew recommends the following next steps:

Talk to your guidance counselor
Look up all the different occupations in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, it's on line.
Thank you comment icon I appreciate this, thank you for the advice. Holden
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Noah’s Answer

Seems like you got lots of good advice from the community Holden. Imma just give you this link in hopes that you might learn about what careers are out there and who you care as it relates to education & industry.

www.careerexplorer.com/
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Margie’s Answer

A career can turn into something you never imaged. I am not saying my path is one to take, but I went to school to be an elementary school teacher (I guess I knew what I wanted to do when I was younger) and then after graduating I did teach for seven years. However, I discovered that I also really liked technology at that time and found an opportunity related to education at a tech company. I don't have a degree in business/marketing/tech, but I was able to position my strengths as an educator as applicable values to the role I was seeking outside of education. I never thought I would leave teaching, but I did hold onto things that mattered to me in the work I did. I understand my strengths and can apply how those can be used in any role. Being a life-long learner has also helped me a ton! All this to say, is just because you may pick an area doesn't mean you are stuck there forever. College can really be about trying out different subject areas and learning more about them. It happens all of the time that students in college are interested in one thing and then after a class or two realize they want to go another direction. And what I am saying is that can happen multiple times throughout your career, but if you are grounded in your strengths and what you enjoy it can be easier to make transitions as needed.

Margie recommends the following next steps:

Try a career apitude test or two--you can find free ones online
Write down things you enjoy now
Brainstorm what type of work "day" you would want to have
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Jennifer’s Answer

*Answer written by a group of HPE colleagues*

We would say enrolling in college classes would be helpful, but not the only way to go. So we would advise you try as many things that might interest you as possible. A few ways to do this are internships: don't be afraid to look for these type of opportunities, even if they are unpaid, they will give you a great insight of a company/type of work. Volunteering into activities is another action you can take to learn what may interest you with actual on-site action, this will also allow you to network and connect with people that may open opportunities, and even just conversations that may be of help to understand more of what you would like to do.
Make use of any type of assessments done in school about your preferences or strengths and start with those. If you have not taken any, look for some free, online one, this will give you a good starting point. Then match those characteristics to a few career options and look for opportunities that may give you a real life experience.

Good luck!
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Noopur’s Answer

You should decide college and course based on what you are most interested and good at. Seek advice from teachers who know you well. Doing internships is a very good idea. You can do internships at different places and this might give you an idea if you really like working in certain places. Networking is another good idea. Try to make contacts with people doing jobs that you are aspiring for. Make a LinkedIn profile.
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Decker’s Answer

1. find your passion

- does what your passionate about about require college cores? trade school? specialized certificate? depending on those you can look at different options
- try a few things, if you have a multiple passions try them all out and see what you enjoy now

2. you don't have to decide now, while there are some (social) benefits about going to college right after high school. you can always go to college at any age. If you need to take a break, work, find what your passionate about first before hopping into school then go do that instead.

3. Don't feel stuck in career path, always know that at any point you are able to leave that position at any time to do something else.
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Lisa’s Answer

Again, take your time and don’t go into a ton of debt! Be patient!

Lisa recommends the following next steps:

What do you LOVE to do?
What do you want to TRY to do in the world?
Maybe take a few college classes or observe what happens at a trade school.
Don’t spend a lot of $ until you are more sure what you want to pursue. Talk to people who do what you might want to do!
Don’t rush!!!
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Baljit’s Answer

Hi Holden,
To broaden you horizons for a career try volunteering in an area that might interest you. This may limit the types of jobs that interest you. Also take some classes that appeal to your educational background. There is so much to learn at college, you could double major in two subjects. These two subjects could be opposites or similar dependent on which area you want to work in.

Ask you career counselor for advice on what is available for those that are unsure where they want to work. Summer jobs could also be an option for you. Research college job boards too as they cater to students.

Also look into career personality tests that are available online.
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Kelly’s Answer

I completely share Drew's thoughts as well! I just started taking classes, doing internships in the areas where I was interested. I quickly found out what I was not interested in doing for an extended period of time and then moved on. For example, I wanted to go into something finance and quickly found that I didn't like the deep financial classes, however, I did enjoy related classes with computer software. I also leaned heavily on the Career Center in college and also advice from local business owners. In college, I looked for internship opportunities to learn more about the different types of jobs that are out there. Good luck! My best advice is to stay curious, always enjoy what you do and do not get discouraged at all. Lean on your family, friends and mentors! You got this!
Thank you comment icon Kelly, thank you! Holden
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Ida’s Answer

You can start by leveraging your network whether that's speaking with guidance counselors, adults in your life in different jobs and industries (parent of friends), etc. Get a sense for what their day to day jobs look like and how they got there. If you trust them, ask them the hard questions like "What do you like in your job?" or "How do you think it could be improved?" Before enrolling in potentially expensive college courses, perhaps leverage free online resources like Youtube, Google, and Coursera to learn about topics that you might want to dig deeper into in further coursework. This will help you to explore lots of topics. And know that your career doesn't have to be a straight line, it can and sometimes should have twists and turns as you learn and grow.
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