National Career Development Month

Are you already thinking about a career? Are you thinking about how you will prepare for that career? If so, you are on your way to a successful future!

November is National Career Development Month. This is a time to recognize the importance of educational and career planning. By mapping out your plans now, you are taking control of your future.

Middle school is the perfect time for career exploration. Begin with learning about yourself. What are your interests? What subjects do you like the most? In which subjects do you excel? What special skills do you have? The answers to these questions will help you select a career path in which you will be happy and successful.

Options for the future are often determined by how well you perform in middle school and high school. The work you do in middle school determines the courses you will be prepared for in high school. The courses you take in high school improve your access to college.

Students in middle school are not expected to make a final decision about a career. However, now is the time to begin making plans and setting goals. It will not be very long before you will graduate from high school and walk along your “Pathway to Success”.

Career Spotlight

Career Tips

Be a person people like to have around Getting along is a job skill. In fact, it could be the most important one! How can you be sure people will want to work with you? Check off each item you’re sure is true about yourself. And, if you’re not sure a statement is true, what should you do differently?
____1.	I do my part and more. I always finish my part on time because I don’t want to be seen as someone who dumps last-minute details on others.
____2.	I never complain about people without telling them first what’s bothering me. I don’t like when someone complains to others about something I did without telling me, and I’m not going to be guilty of doing the same thing.
____3.	I have enough to do taking care of myself, so I don’t point out flaws of other people. When asked, I give advice, but that’s different.
____4.	My personal problems stay at home or in my head. I don’t want to make people uncomfortable by sharing too much or grumbling about a personal problem.
____5.	I try not to let other people know when I feel defensive about what someone has done or said. I know some people see insults when they aren’t there, and I don’t want to think that way.
Adapted from a U. S. News article by Alison Green, author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader’s Guide to Getting Results

Military

The U. S. Armed Forces is the country’s largest single employer with more than 2 million people serving, of which 1.4 million are on active duty. Maintaining a strong defense requires many activities, such as running hospitals, repairing helicopters, programming computers, and operating nuclear reactors. Military jobs range from clerical work to professional positions to construction work. People in the military must serve for a specified time and can be moved from one base to another. Enlisted personnel, who make up about 85 percent of the Armed Forces, carry out the fundamental operations of the military in areas such as combat, administration, construction, engineering, health care, and human services. Officers, who make up the remaining 15 percent of the Armed Forces, are the leaders of the military, supervising and managing all activities.

Education and Training: Moderate-term on-the-job training to related work experience

Starting Salaries: $13, 700 (for new recruits)

Average Earnings: $28, 500 (varies tremendously by pay grade; officers can make considerably more than enlisted personnel)

Source: EZ Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2007

Career Planning Internet Links