The Lowe Down

What will I do with my Life after High School Graduation?

The days are slipping away and you are still trying to make a decision about what you are going to do with your life after your high school graduation. Your parents are breathing down your neck and many of your friends are making plans to go to university or trade school or maybe head to Alberta in search of fame and fortune. What are you going to do? You are now eighteen and it is time for you to make up your mind about your career path and follow it. Time is ticking away. Make a decision! Tick, tock, tick, tock!

Of course I am being overly dramatic but I am sure there is a some semblance of truth to those statements. Now that you are at the halfway point of your final year in high school, you are probably giving serious consideration to what you want to do with your life now that the real world is beckoning. Your parents have been warning you for years that you will have to grow up someday and now it is nearly that time.

Making a decision about what you wish to do with the rest of your life while you are still being pampered by your mother and burning all the gas in the family car can be a scary proposition. Some of you may have always known that you want to be a teacher or a firefighter or even an interior decorator. You will apply to the appropriate schools and wait for your acceptance letters and go off to find your destiny.

You are very fortunate indeed if you are among these lucky few. Many students still have no idea about what they want to do after the summer ends. Will they go to school, look for work or hang around home and drive their parents crazy. Many of you are feeling the need to make a decision. If you are facing the career decision dilemma, here are a few tips to ease your burden and get you started on making a wise decision.

1. Talk to your school Guidance Counsellor. They are trained to assist you with making career decision and have tons of information related to training institutes, student loans, etc. Their primary goal is to ensure that you have the necessary information to make an informed decision. They may also have computer software such as CAREER CRUISING  that will enable you to explore your interests and suggest related occupations.

2. Do your homework!  If you are having difficulty making a decision or have no particular idea about what career path you would like to follow, take the time to research occupations and decide which you are best suited to your interests. Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) has an excellent website (www.jobfutures.ca) that contains information about every possible occupation that exists in the known world. It will also give you information about training opportunities and if you are interested in looking for a job in your area, it will also give you that type of information. There are even quizzes that will help you with finding your interests and values as they relate to an occupation. If you take the time to go to a HRDC office, you can also get an appointment with a person who can assist you with career decision making.

3. Make your work your play. When you are making a career decision pick something that you really love and feel passionate about. There may be pressure to choose a career that your parents are involved in or one that will make you Alots of money@. While that may be of interest to you, it is important to make a choice that suits you. If you are in a career by the time you are twenty-five, it is likely that you will work until you are at least sixty. That will be at least thirty-five years of work. It will be important to do something you love because thirty-five years is a long time to be punching the clock and being unhappy each day you go to work. Just imagine being married for thirty-five years to someone that you are not really fond of. You will spend more time at your job than you will ever spend with a life partner and it is very important to make wise decisions on both fronts. I tell students go after their dream job, no matter if it is meat cutter or brain surgeon. Be able to look back on your life in thirty-five years and say that you were happy in your work.

4. Borrow money to educate yourself. I once asked a group of grade twelve student how many of them were going to post secondary schools. About half said that they were. I then asked the rest of them why they were not. At least six said that it was too expensive and they did not want to come out after years of educating themselves and owe a lot of money. I told them that it would be a huge mistake to stay out of school for that reason. Here is why I think that. Student Loans are the greatest investment in the history of mankind. I asked each student what they would like to make each year in their dream job. Most said that $50,000 would be a good salary. I then asked them how much it would cost them in loans to get the education to get such great paying job. We all agreed that it would probably cost between $30,000 - $50,000. Some of the students said there was no way they were paying that kind of money to go to school. I told them to multiple the $50,000 they were going to make each year by the number of years they planned to work. We weren’t=t even factoring in raises. Fifty thousand multiplied by thirty-five years equals $1,750,000.
That is nearly two million dollars that these students plan to make in their lifetime and only have to spend between $30,000 and $50,000 to make that happen. You would have to be a fool to pass up getting a student loan because you had to pay it back. I guess there are lots of McJobs available out there if you do not want to borrow for your education..

5. Take a year off to work if you are unsure about what you want to do after graduation. It would be a great waste of money to go to some school because you feel pressure to do something with your life. Working for a year would be a great way to learn about the real world of responsibility, budgeting, and you might decide that a minimum wage is far below what you want for your future salary. Parent may disagree with me on this one but I have experienced it first hand from my own daughter and found it to be a great learning experience for her. If there is little work in your area, be creative and do odd jobs or volunteer somewhere to get necessary work experience.

There are a lot of great opportunities awaiting you in the coming years. Be sure to take the time to make a decision that you will make you happy. Ultimately it is your decision.

Here are some website to assist you with your career decision making.


HRDC - www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca
Job Futures - www.jobfutures.ca
Education Newfoundland - http://www.educationnewfoundland.net/siteengine/navigation/index.asp

If you have any comments related to this column or have suggestions for future columns, feel free to e-mail me at gerard.lowe@wnlsd.ca