High school graduates often experience anxiety and confusion when it comes to choosing a career that is right for them. This occurs because there appears to be a weakness in clarity and direction throughout their high school years.
However, the lack of clarity and direction should be eradicated so that students can make effective career choices before it is too late. Graduating without no direction is too late.
If educators and administrators desire to provide highly effective career choice recommendations for high schoolers, providing them with the knowledge of career building is the way to go. Career building knowledge and skills should be included in the curriculum, starting from 9th to the 12th grade.
I call this the curriculum approach.
In such a program, high schoolers develop a clear understanding of career building so that choosing the appropriate career after high school will be without regrets.
The curriculum approach will introduce students to a comprehensive identification of all careers available to them after high school. Some careers can be immediately entered as soon as a student finished school.
Other career choices will require enrollment in higher education in the pursuit of a baccalaureate or master’s degree, if not higher.
Nevertheless, by their senior year, High school students will have a clear idea of what they want to be after graduation.
The Type of Careers that are available for high school graduates are beyond my ability to do justice in this paper, but below is a list of blue collar, white collar, and creative careers.
Blue Collar Careers
- Police Officers
- Electricians
- Repair Manager
- Plumbers
- Construction Worker
- Boiler Maker
White Collar
- Accountant
- Banker
- Financial Adviser
- Software Engineer
- It Technician
- Academic Researcher
Creative Careers
- Artist
- Photographer
- Dancer
- Actor
- Musician
- Song Artist
- Chess Masters
All during their high school years, the curriculum approach will allow high school students to be exposed to the experts and players in these careers. Constant exposal will generate inspiration and provide purpose for students.
The importance of career choice will become evident to students from 9th to 12th grade and act as an incentive for proper behavior and excellent academic performance.
So, the benefits of the curriculum approach are obvious:
- Reduced anxiety and confusion in choosing the right career
- Increased variety of career choices
- Reduced effort due to the knowledge of what to choose, how to choose and when to choose the appropriate career.
Regardless of what career a student might enter, he or she will have the character to succeed with passion, productivity, and a sense of excellence.
Students will be able to communicate effectively, engage in critical thinking, embrace problem solving, and make responsible choices throughout their post graduate career.
The Uniqueness of the Curriculum Approach
The curriculum approach goes beyond career counseling programs provided for students during their senior year. Instead of waiting for graduation, students begin learning and thinking about career choices during their first year.
This gives them enough time to develop clarity about what they would like to do for the rest of their lives. Having developed a thorough knowledge of career building, graduating students will enter the world with great confidence and know how.
The only obstacle to the curriculum approach is convincing districts across the nation that it is highly worthwhile to prepare students for the future.
It is important that graduates know what the wan to do as soon as they leave elementary.
The bottom line is that educators and administrators must give priority to helping students make the best career choice, not only for themselves, but for the continual growth and substance of the American economy.
