Career Planning
There are many ways to approach career planning. You may have an
interest in a specific career field but don’t know how to find out about
what it takes to train for that career. The information and links on this
page are designed to help you navigate your way through the maze of
discovering the best vocation for you based on how God has made you!
Each person is a unique creation of God with very specific attributes,
gifts, and talents. God has blessed you with everything you need to be
successful in His eyes!
To be honest, His viewpoint is ultimately the only One that matters!
Finding Out About Yourself
Let’s ask a few questions and search for answers that help you to understand what God is doing and has done in your life.
What type of personality has God given you?
God has created each one of us with a distinct blends of personality traits and character qualities. Each of these traits and characteristics has both positive and negative points to consider. The start of understanding how God intends to use your uniqueness is to understand how He has made you. There are several tools available to help us start to consider the wonderful way God made each of us. We must understand and accept ourselves for the people God has made us to be. Here are some excellent resources to aid us in assessing what kind of a person we are.
Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment
What are your interests?
Adventures in Education – Finding a Career
Career Research
How do you find information about a career?
These sites are a good starting point to find out information about a specific career.
CareerShip® is a free online career exploration adventure for middle and high school students provided by Mapping Your Future (a public-service web site providing free career, college, financial aid, and money management information and services).
Job Searches
Looking for actual jobs in the area of your career interest can help you gain excellent information in planning for your future. You do not have to be trying to find a job right now to visit these sites.
Alternatives to starting college immediately after high school
Gap Year
A Gap Year refers to the practice of taking a year off after high school before starting any formal schooling (college, internship, technical school, trade school/apprenticeships, etc.) There are number of organizations that have programs that can offer you the chance to broaden your experiences in life and to make a tangible positive difference in the lives of others in the process.
National Outdoor Leadership School
In addition, there are several Christian mission organizations that offer ministry-related gap year experiences. Look through the ones listed below.
Career Conduct
In this day, many people have not received good advice on how to conduct themselves in the workplace. Whether in a part-time job that is only intended to get you through school or in your first permanent career position, professionalism is still expected. Many young people do not realize how poor work habits and poor attitudes can follow them throughout their adult professional lives. How you behave becomes who you are.
Take a look at this article called 25 Things You Should Never Do at Work by Inc.