Career Exploration
In light of the end of the school year and graduation season, we’re going to look at the important yet daunting topic of choosing a career path. In our industry we have come across hundreds of jobs that the average student would likely not know exist. In many cases, people happen upon jobs rather than consciously deciding how they want to spend their working lives. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have a fulfilling, rewarding and meaningful career if it has been a path that you “fell into” rather than set out for. However, as a student or young adult, the looming question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” is so pervasive that most feel pressure to have an idea or a plan from a young age. Or perhaps you’re in your 30s or 40s and still thinking about this question. If you, or someone in your life, are pondering what career is right for you, we’d like to offer some resources to guide you.
Gallup and Amazon have recently partnered to create a Careers of the Future Index. This public database aims to provide transparent and useful data about the economic prospects of careers in the United States. Although based on US data, it does provide a good overview of some career paths that students might not otherwise know about or consider. One key finding outlined in the report is that students overlook a number of high-opportunity careers. When surveyed, “whether due to indecision, disinterest or lack of information, more than one in five 15-year‑olds (22%) cannot name any job they foresee themselves doing when they turn 30.”
The index helps navigate crucial areas when considering a career path such as, “whether the career pays well enough to sustain a family at a comfortable standard of living, whether jobs are readily available, whether job prospects are shrinking or expanding, and whether the tasks performed in the jobs are susceptible to displacement from automation in the coming years.” They also look at the education requirements of each field of work and the gender and race proportionality. Download the report for a summary of key findings and explore the interactive guide to see what the highest ranked jobs are in a variety of categories.
When considering a career, many factors contribute such as personal interests, a sense of alignment with one’s abilities, what jobs are available and lucrative, and finding a way to contribute to the needs, goals and values of society.
Alongside navigating what industry or specific job you would like to do, consider the broad implications of using your natural talents and motivations to apply to a variety of fields of work. Often times the title of our job is less important than if we feel good at something and receive recognition for it. According to this article on Choosing your Career Path from Gallup, “those who get to do what they do best every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life.” The Clifton Strengths Assessment allows you to better understand what your top areas of talent are and how they can apply to your daily work. “Your CliftonStrengths don't determine or limit your career choices. Here's the bottom line: using your strengths makes work more enjoyable. When you like what you do, you become better at it.”
Gallup has just released a Strengths for Students Report. “This brand new report will enable students to discover their most powerful strengths and provide student-specific insights to help them thrive academically, socially and in their future career.” If you have a student in your life, contact us for more information on accessing this valuable resource. You can also take a look at a sample report here.
If you are a parent of a student, look into your school division's website for resources, as there are some fantastic supports in place to help students get started on a career path or a head start on their education route such as the Registered Apprenticeship Program and Dual Credit Courses through the UofL and Lethbridge College. Many students say they want to get into the trades but they don’t know which one specifically. The Lethbridge College offers Exploratory Days and the local school divisions offer Try a Trade opportunities.
The average tradesperson doesn’t start their apprenticeship until age 26. With early exposure and resources we can give students opportunities and a head start on their career path as well as boost our labour force with motivated and qualified workers. As a business community with experience, we can support these programs by giving students work experience and talking with the students we know about what opportunities are out there that they might not otherwise consider. When raising a child we say it takes a village. For the good of our community and economy, let’s invest in, support and cheer on our students.