Teen Career Planning - Help Your Teen To Start Early

By Abhishek Agarwal

Teens have to decide on the career that they want to pursue and their college major, not necessarily in that order. Deciding upon a college major is a difficult task by itself and takes time. Similarly, deciding upon a career path is a process that should start when the teen is still in high school and continue as that person moves into college. The reason being that career choices are fluid and young people are bound to discover new things about themselves, their likes and dislikes and skills as they go along though studies.

Selecting the right career is never an easy matter. Career planning is a process that involves several steps, particularly when it is for a teen. Both universities and business organizations have designed programs for teenagers to assist them in identifying suitable options and making a right choice of career. Such guidance can be obtained by making a payment from a university, by a student as well as any member of the public. The guide can include a questionnaire and information about several careers. The questionnaire helps the person to narrow the choices based on several criteria. A program that has been designed well could also throw light on several career choices that the person may not have known about, effectively broadening his or her horizon. Also, as young people are not clear about the growth path of different careers, they also gain clarity on this issue.

Career counselors and teenage counselors have always said that young people and college students must select a career based on their own interest and skills, not due to pressure of family or peers or some image that may have of a particular career. Thus the so called 'best' careers may not always be the right choice. Career planning for teens is a process that will try to dissuade them from such a career unless it suits the individual for reasons mentioned earlier. So many websites and magazines may list hottest jobs, best jobs for collegiates and those with highest salary and perks. However, this is not the right way to decide upon a career and hot jobs should not become an automatic choice for a teen or a young job seeker.

The process of career planning for teens exists to make sure that they select the career path and college program that is best for them as an individual. A lot of young believe, quite wrongly, that they will be stuck with the career choice that they make now, through out their life. Nothing could be more different. People change their career at several stages during their life. So, a career that is chosen now due to a college major or a training program can be changed later. However, career planning for teens goes a long way in ensuring that there is not much heart burn later.

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Teen Business Do's and Don'ts

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.


This article is all about providing great tips and suggestions to help younger teens earn some money and get work experience by starting their own neighborhood businesses.

• Do get the advice of an adult family member before starting your business.
• Don't try to compete directly with any big businesses; the key to finding success with your business is to find a niche -- find something that is lacking and fill it.
• Do consider coming up with a cool name for your business -- it will make you seem more professional.
• Don't get too discouraged if your business starts slowly; it takes time to get your business known.
• Do make detailed plans about how you will run your business, including the types of services you will perform (babysitting, lawn care, errands, tutoring, etc.), prices, cancellation notices, payment options, and the like. And do consider writing a mission statement or philosophy to help guide your actions.
• Don't let any of your customers cheat you out of your money. And do consider enlisting an adult family member to help you handle any customer disagreements.
• Do consider developing agreements for each customer to sign. In fact, do get everything you do or plan to do in writing.
• Don't let a competing teen stop you from opening a similar business. If you don't want to compete, do consider forming a partnership. With multiple partners, you'll have a bigger network of potential customers and perhaps more time flexibility because you'll be sharing the load. But do be aware that having partners can also add lots more hassles and aggravations.
• Do use every available resource to spread the word about your new business, including posting flyers around the neighborhood, in community centers and religious organizations, and local stores. But remember that the best source will be the network of your family, friends, and neighbors -- and current customers, once you get your business established. You can consider going door-to-door to announce your service, but don't do it by yourself -- have an adult go with you.
• Don't let a dissatisfied customer stay dissatisfied. One of the key rules to business success is satisfying the customer. Ask what you can do to make the customer satisfied -- and then do it, if you can.
• Do get organized, including developing a daily/weekly/monthly planner. Try not to ever accidently forget a customer appointment, but if it does happen, try to find a way to make amends (such as a discount on the next appointment).
• Don't fall in the trap thinking that starting your own business will be extremely lucrative and fun; running your own business is a lot of hard work, but it will be great experience for future jobs and college applications.
• Do be prepared to leave your friends behind when you go to work; and don't ever skip a customer appointment to hang out with your friends -- your business has to come first.
• Don't spend all the money you make from your business; do put some money aside to save for the future. 

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