Teens and Careers

 I have people in the community approach me all the time and say “Hey, my industry has a huge need for people who do this niche thing. They can make a zillion dollars. So, tell your students.” The problem here is that that niche thing probably isn’t very exciting and if it’s not very exciting, it’s really hard to get a 17-year-old to buy into that for a career. However the truth is that few of us adults end up in the “glory” careers so many teens covet. Instead we end up as school counselors, or airport gate agents, or vinyl window salesmen, or claims adjusters, or whatever. Most of us end up in some job that’s probably not all that exciting but it pays the bills.


It's really hard for an adult with a little wisdom and who might not work a lot with teens to accept that a young person doesn’t want to follow the jobs in demand and just make a lot of money. But, It’s really hard for a young person to toss away their dreams and accept the reality that most of our jobs kinda aren’t all that cool.


Therefore, I think it might be a little futile to ask a young person “what do you want to be when you grow up. Likewise, It is my belief that trying to convince a 16-year-old that some inane (aren’t they all), but well paying job is the way to go is a waste of time. That 16-year-old probably needs to get out in the real world and realize that we can’t all be doctors and screenwriters, and that bussing tables might pay your high school bills, but it doesn’t pay your grown up bills.


I think we need to think differently about how we talk to young people about careers. In this sense, a high school student is still a kid. They don’t know what they want to do (most of them). So, we just need to tell them that they need more education and skills training in something that interests them. The job they land can vary greatly in its daily tasks and it doesn’t have to be the same job forever. For example, a person with a business degree can do so many jobs and a person who trains in plumbing might just sell pipes and toilets at a home improvement store or work to support a municipal water supply.



Ultimately, I think we’re often missing the mark when we push careers too hard on teens. Instead, as a society I believe we need to do a better job of counseling 20-year-olds. Don’t just tell your local school counselor about good career leads. Grab someone a little way out of high school and tell them. Write it on the back of a receipt at a restaurant. Tell your nephew, the girl at the car wash, the neighbor’s kid who still lives at home, someone who has had a chance to get out into the real world and get a little hungry, because honestly, most teens just aren’t there yet.