Helping Students Translate Academic Strengths into Career Interests

There’s a lot for high school students to think about when they begin researching colleges: geographic location and setting, size, desired competitiveness, and of course, academic majors. For some students, selecting a major is a difficult and overwhelming decision. Because students’ experience in life to date has revolved mainly around school, many high school students struggle with choosing a career path (and major that will lead them there).  

No matter what subject you teach, you can facilitate career exploration for your high school students. Here are a few tips to share with students that will help them translate their academic strengths into career interests:  

Start with their interests and personality traits. Too often, students approach choosing a career path and college major with a very narrow understanding of job possibilities. Encourage students who are approaching junior year to start thinking broadly about what types of activities give them the most satisfaction and joy. Some students might love analyzing and doing research and thrive when working independently. Others might like taking care of people, tutoring/mentoring classmates or working in teams. Some students might be skilled at speaking in front of a room or performing. Encourage your students to think about these things, as these insights are just as important as their understanding of their academic strengths.  

Take a career aptitude test for high school students. There are many inventory assessments on the internet for high school students researching careers and college majors. In fact, your school guidance counseling/career planning office might even offer this to students as they begin their college planning process. These types of assessments are helpful in showing students how a natural interest and skill in a particular subject might parlay into different types of majors. Students should check out the College Board’s BigFuture Career Quiz too, which provides personalized career suggestions based on a student’s likes, dislikes and skills.  

Reach out to local employers, family friends or other professionals. Understandably, students are typically most familiar with the careers of their parents or other close family members, but there are many industries, jobs and career pathways that students might not know about (but could fit them well if they did). Students should explore part-time jobs or volunteer opportunities to expose them to new ideas and people. Job shadowing is an effective way to see a business or organization in action and get a sense of what different jobs look like.  Inform students that many businesses in the community are happy to talk with young people who are trying to figure out their futures.  

Although career planning is outside the scope of your job as a teacher, your advice and insight are valuable and can help students as they try to navigate choosing a career path for themselves. It can be quite daunting for many students to think about what they want to study in college and do for a career when they are still in high school.  

The best thing you can do is teach students to put in the effort that school requires, develop strong study habits and organizational skills, and focus on learning. Not every student has their career path figured out before college, but putting in the work during high school will put them in a good position as they go forward.  

Huntington helps high school students lay the groundwork to succeed in college and beyond. If you have students who would benefit from individualized tutoring and SAT/ACT prep, refer them to Huntington at 1-800 CAN LEARN.