High School

Student Career
Planning
Orientation
College, Career & Life Planning 1
 Questions for Students

1. How many hours have you invested in school

between grades 1-12?
2. Why do you go to school?
3. Is it smart to select a HS extracurricular activity
at random? A career?
4. What is the best career in the world?
5. When are you required to decide on your
career?
College, Career & Life Planning 2
 Think About It

People Often Invest More Time

Planning Their Vacation Than
Planning Their Career.

College, Career & Life Planning 3

 Career Decision
Determines
1. How you spend most of your "awake" hours for the
next 40 years?
2. Your opportunities for personal satisfaction and
growth?
3. Your ability to meet your family's needs
(e.g. housing, medical, college)?
4. Your ability to eventually retire with the financial
resources to enjoy it?

College, Career & Life Planning 4

 Career Planning
Dilemma

The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

The Tools are Available
The Challenge is to Inform & Motivate

College, Career & Life Planning 5

 Lifetime Value
of Education

$3,000,000

$2,500,000

$2,000,000

$1,500,000

$1,000,000

$500,000

$0
Less than High School Some College Associates Bachelors Masters Prof essional Doctoral
High School Diploma w /o Degree 2 yrs. 4 yrs. 6 yrs. 7+ yrs. 8 yrs.
Diploma

College, Career & Life Planning 6

 Hours Invested

90000

80000

70000

60000

50000

40000

30000

20000

10000

0
Grades 1-12 College Working

College, Career & Life Planning 7

 How Much Income
Do I Need?
Annual Income Required
(Given Various Interest Rates)

House Price 6.0% 6.5% 7.0% 7.5% 8.0%

$100,000 $32,857 $34,229 $35,643 $37,143 $38,600
$150,000 $49,286 $51,343 $53,464 $55,714 $57,900
$200,000 $65,714 $68,457 $71,286 $74,286 $77,200
$250,000 $82,143 $85,571 $89,107 $92,857 $96,500
$300,000 $98,571 $102,686 $106,929 $111,429 $115,800
$400,000 $131,429 $136,914 $142,571 $148,571 $154,400

Assumptions
o 30 yr. fixed rate mortgage. Property tax & Insurance is 2% of market value.
o No downpayment. 100% of house price is financed to simplify analysis.
o Principal, Interest, Prop Tax & Insurance will be 28% of Gross Income
o House is a family's biggest expense and a reasonable indication of lifestyle.

College, Career & Life Planning 8

 How Much Will A
House Cost?
Median Price of Existing Single Family Homes
(Select U.S. Cities) 2004

$700,000

$600,000

$500,000

$400,000

$300,000

$200,000

$100,000

$0

College, Career & Life Planning 9

 Why Motivating Youth
is Difficult
• Easy to procrastinate.
• Parents “fell into their jobs”.
• Too scary to think about.
• Too busy. No more homework!
• Don’t know where to begin.
• Don’t see the value.
College, Career & Life Planning 10
 Result: Poor Choices,
Waste and Frustration
• “My son just graduated from college. He doesn’t have a clue what he
wants to do. Maybe forensics. Maybe art.”
• “My daughter is a sophomore in college and she hates her major
(accounting). She is changing majors, but doesn’t know what to
choose. That means at least one more year of college that we cannot
afford.
• “Now that I have a college degree, I need to think about a career. I
majored in Marketing, but I’m not sure that’s what I want to do.”
• “I hate my major, but switching involves two more years of college.
My parents would kill me. I’ll gut it out. Maybe I’ll learn to like it.”
• “I wish I had known four years ago what I know now. I would have
taken career and college planning more seriously. My major was easy
and fun, but now I cannot get a decent job.”
College, Career & Life Planning 11
 “Typical” Resources
Used to Pick a Career

1. TV => There is a big difference between TV drama and “real life”. 

2. Friends => They’ll know what sounds “cool”, but unless they have
proactively used the career /college tools available, they are
probably not a knowledgeable source of information.
3. Life’s Interactions => OK, you have used the services of Dentists,
Pharmacists, Teachers, etc. but… Do you really know what it is like
to do their job?
4. Parent => A great source, if your parent’s career happens to be
“the right one” out of several hundred possibilities for you.

College, Career & Life Planning 12

 Better Resources to
Pick a Career
“Free” on-line resources
1. To clarify your interest/fit with various careers
2. To compare your personal skills/strengths against
those required by various careers
3. To determine which careers offer the most
opportunity
4. To develop your list of careers for consideration
5. To learn about the nature of work, education
requirements, job outlook, earnings, etc.
College, Career & Life Planning 13
 Better Resources to
Pick a Career

Talk to People in Careers of Interest

1. Parent’s Friends
2. Friend’s Parents
3. Acquaintances from “Life’s Interactions” (e.g.
teachers, dentists, store managers)
4. Career Day Presenters
5. Volunteering, Internships, Job Shadowing

College, Career & Life Planning 14

 Suggestions Before
Starting
1. Don't select a career based solely on $$$.
2. Do pick a career for which jobs are available with income
levels adequate to meet your family's financial needs.
3. Don't expect a quick, easy answer.  The career planning
process requires time and effort.  Invest the time to
identify/evaluate careers that "fit" your needs, interests and
abilities.
4. Do use a variety of tools and talk to several people in each
career of interest.
5. Don't get discouraged or discredit the process when some
“obviously” unacceptable careers appear on a list generated by
an interest assessment tool (they will).  Career planning is not
a precise science.  Reason and judgment must be applied.
College, Career & Life Planning 15
 Suggestions Before
Starting
• Do think about the process as a way to significantly improve
your odds (with no guarantee) of selecting a great career.  The
following table is my rough estimate of how your odds for
choosing a great or "perfect" career improve by making an
  informed decision.
                                        Random            Gut               Informed
                                     Decision          Feel                Decision  
        Perfect Career           1%                   5%                    20%
        Great Career             4%                 20%                    50%
        Acceptable Career    60%               50%                    20%
        Terrible
  Career         35%              25%                    10%
    For example, I estimate that your probability of selecting a "perfect career“ is about
1% if you make a random decision vs. 20% if you make an informed decision.
College, Career & Life Planning 16
 Career Planning Process

Your Strengths Your Needs

Your Interests
(e.g., creativity, (e.g., income, growth,
leadership, writing) (e.g., people, math, science) personal fulfillment)

Identify Career
Possibilities

Occupational Networking, Internships, Job CareerOneStop Job

Outlook Summaries Shadowing, Volunteering Summaries & Videos

Evaluate/Select a
Career
College, Career & Life Planning 17
 Career Planning Process

1. Get motivated
2. Self Analysis
3. Develop a list of jobs to consider
4. Get on-line information for evaluation
5. Evaluate job options
6. Prepare a job comparison summary
7. Talk to people in occupations of strong interest.
8. Choose the “right” industry and company.
College, Career & Life Planning 18
 Web Site Tool Demo

www.collegecareerlifeplanning.com
Tools
• College Planning Tools (Selecting, Applying &
Financing)
• Career Planning Tools (Self-assessment, Identify
Careers Prospects, Retrieve Required Information,
Evaluate Careers, Company/Industry Information,
Evaluate Companies/Industries, Job Basics)

College, Career & Life Planning 19

 The Door is Open.
Will You Enter?
• Invest time to review/use the tools
to make informed decisions.
• Tell others who might benefit (friends,
cousins, neighbors, siblings)

Your Future Depends On It

College, Career & Life Planning 20