Career Planning  

1. Explore your skills and interests. Know your strengths and best characteristics. This gives you direction in your education and job search and shows employers that you have done your research and are a good fit for their organization.
   1. Complete the Career Interest Surveys on pacareerzone.org and learn about job availability in Pennsylvania.
   2. As to chat with or career shadow some professionals in fields that seem interesting to you. Ask them questions about their day-to-day responsibilities and work environment.
2. Determine the education requirements for careers of interest. Many jobs require specific skills or education including a certificate, associate degree, bachelor degree, masters, etc. Additional years of education often lead to more opportunities to advance within a career and some training programs can be completed at relatively low cost. Some jobs including teaching, nursing, and social work also require special licentry through the state.
3. Create a resume. A resume should be a summary of your education, work experience, volunteer and community involvement, skills, special honors or awards, and accomplishments. Your resume is what gets you in the door for an interview and is a good thing to always have on hand for when you want to apply for a job!
   1. Use tools like resume.com to format your resume. Employers are expecting resumes to look a particular way.
   2. Ask a teacher or the career counselor to help you edit your resume to be the strongest it can be.
4. Practice interview skills.
   1. Google yourself and monitor your social media. What does your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. say about you?
   2. Gather professional attire to wear to interviews. It is better to be overdressed than underdressed!
   3. Create a list of possible questions and scenarios the employer may use and think about how you might answer them if they were asked in an interview.
   4. Gather materials such as transcripts, resume, cover letter, certifications, etc. that an employer might ask to see in an interview.
5. Identify jobs and internships.
   1. Explore job search websites including linkedin and indeed where employers often post jobs.
   2. Make a list of some companies/organizations that you might be interested in working for. Check their websites for job openings and reach out to their hiring office to let them know you are interested if positions become available.
   3. Talk with friends, family, coworkers, teachers, etc. about your job search and ask if they have any suggestions or if they know of job openings which might fit your interests.