BLOG: How a High School Student Plans for a Future Career

We all remember the time (or many times) when we had to chose what career path we would explore.  Some people just know; it’s like they’re born with a sense of what they want to do and they are able to dedicate their whole life to making that happen. Then there are the others, like myself, who might think they have it all figured out and then realize that is not the case at all.

A couple of years ago I thought that I wanted to be an architect. I had it all going for me, I signed up for classes on architecture that my high school offered and even started my college search geared towards architecture. I was in a Computer Animated Drafting and Design class when we started our unit on architecture. I realized one important thing while we were in this unit ... I really didn’t like architecture all that much. This can happen to any of us, but the important thing is that you keep pushing through until you find something you really enjoy.  

Here at DCR we work with a variety of business professionals in all different types of careers. And one thing I’ve noticed about many of these individuals is that they have a lot of passion for what they do. So we thought it would be worthwhile for me to do some research and blog about what I might want to do for a future career. After all, in order to find a career thats is truly fulfilling you need to start by researching and exploring your options.

First, I looked for the colleges I would like to attend. I am mainly interested in going to a big university. Larger universities are more appealing to me for many reasons, such as the sports teams and volume of people that are constantly around. Specifically, the two colleges I chose to focus on were the Carlson School of Management and the Madison School of Business.  

Once I knew these were the schools I was interested in I started looking into what majors they offered that fit my interests and skills. I have always thought marketing sounds appealing so that was my first choice and luckily both schools offer it. Also, I have always had this little dream in the back of my mind where I own my own Amway Global business, so I looked into an entrepreneurial major.  The University of Minnesota offers a major in entrepreneurial management.  Great, I have my two majors!

The next step is to pick a couple careers that interest you from the many that your possible majors support. I chose two marketing careers: Media Coordinator and Public Relations Specialist. There’s really only one career that you can have with Entrepreneurial Management: starting your own business. The business I would start would be , like I said before, my own Amway Global business.

Once you have chosen a few possible future careers you can research what sorts of skills are required for those jobs. For example to be a media coordinator you need to have strong communication skills, the ability to organize and plan work effectively, and the ability to accomplish goals within a deadline, just to name a few. Public relation specialists need to be social, good at problem solving, creative, and good at working in groups. Any job has a specific set of skills required to succeed in that career.

DCR Chamber has always been involved in education and giving young adults the tools required to thrive in their future career paths. My goal as an intern here at DCR Chamber is to seek out my list of required skills, identify the ones that need some tuning up and work on improving them through projects, research and council with the staff here at DCR. For example I worked with Megan, another intern here, to create DCR’s latest music video “Chamber Style”. This project helped me develop numerous skills: the ability to plan and organize work effectively, the ability to explain thoughts clearly and simply, creativity, decision making, problem solving skills, and the ability to be assertive yet cooperative while working in a group. All of these skills are essential for at least one of my possible career choices.

I hope to continue to improve my skills every day that I mentor here. DCR is a great place to learn and develop my skills as a businessman. One day I will get my degree and go on to different things but I will always be able to look back on my experience here as a positive one that helped me to grow into the world of business.