<p>My daughter has no idea what she wants to do. I knew what I wanted to be when I was in elementary school and her father did too. She is only a sophomore, but I worry about her finding a career she will find enjoyable, rewarding, and that is lucrative enough to provide a good standard of living. Right now she really enjoys math, but she's not a math genius or anything. Is there anything I can do to help her discover fields that would be good fits for her? We plan on starting to look at colleges next year and without knowing possible majors, I think it is going to be a difficult process. </p>
<p>Did she take the PLAN or something similar? From those assessments, my D1 was pointed at the direction to science and engineering. She was then pretty much decided to be a chemical engineer by the end of sophomore although I still not sure what get her into that decision. We picked schools based on her intended field of study, however, most student will change their mind by the time of college graduation.</p>
<p>Is she a soph in HS or college? Has she tried shadowing people in different fields she thinks she may be interested in? Has she tried part-time jobs, volunteering or interning in fields she thinks might be interesting? Could she do some in-depth interviewing of people in professions she thinks might be attractive about what they love about their field and things they don’t love, what it takes to succeed (including things that might not be apparent).</p>
<p>I worked at summer fun every summer and thought I wanted to be a teacher. I decided after a few summers I could’t teach all day and then come home to my own kids (and I KNEW I wanted my own kids). I decided I liked sociology because the courses were interesting, but then went to law school so I could make a living. We had a speaker come to speak at one of the classes I was taking. She was a female attorney & I thought she was smart and interesting without being nasty and figured I could be the same. Dad is an attorney & I figured I likely had many of the needed skills. For me, working at summer jobs helped convince me about fields I wanted to exclude from my career–retail, food service, clerical, travel industry. That was very useful and saved me time and grief later. Since law school, I’ve been an attorney, head of local PTA, volunteer, special ed hearing officer, part time judge and now running a nonprofit org on health.</p>
<p>My H thought he wanted to be an engineer but washed out and decided to major in accounting so he could graduate. His eyes were on computers and he got hired by the federal government and spent the next 45 years working with computers.</p>
<p>S likes and has always liked math, science and especially computers. He and his HS counselor were casting about for majors and the counselor suggested that he major in engineering because it’s important to choose that major initially if you MAY want to go into it because if you choose it later, it will likely take you longer to graduate IF you can get into the field. He is so far happy with his choice and graduated as an EE but is a project manager.</p>
<p>D is still finding her profession. She has always liked art and can’t help sketching and drawing all the time. She is also good at writing creatively. She graduated in cinema and we are waiting to see how she evolves that love into a career.</p>
<p>Another pair of kids (sibs) we know got bachelor’s degrees and masters in psychology and have become teachers. They are both excellent at this, but had originally thought they would do applied psych research. They have been instrumental at helping their older brother who has Down’s Syndrome exceed all expectations and predictions in his independence and ability to function in society. Their mom is a prof in economics and dad is an attorney. Their training has helped them be better, more effective teachers.</p>
<p>None of my kids knew what they wanted to do in HS. All of them have taken some twists and turns post college, but I can honestly say that now that they are fully launched, love their jobs (at least for now) and are entirely self-supporting, it’s been a fun journey as parents to watch.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with being clueless in HS, and nickels to dimes, even if she knew what she wanted to do, she’d change her mind many times over the next several years.</p>
<p>Frankly, I get more worried with the kid who has decided they’re going to become a physical therapist or real estate developer by the age of 15, and therefore, have decided they need to do a highly specific undergraduate degree in that exact discipline. Those are the kids who end up regretting their college choices in my experience!</p>
<p>So relax. If your D has never shown much interest in “what grown up’s do all day” the best way to fix that is to get her to read a newspaper every day. Preferably one with actual reporting, not just the AP wires. In any given week, there will be 50 different topics discussed which will highlight grown up jobs. People protesting fracking? Voter fraud in Crimea? Missing aircraft over Malaysia? Protests over charter schools- pro or con… are nutritional supplements bogus or not… all these issues from the daily newspapers highlight different things grown ups do every day. A couple of months of reading the newspaper (maybe supplemented with Vanity Fair or the New Yorker or another magazine with high quality “long form” non-fiction) and you’d be surprised how many ideas your D will have over what interests her…</p>
<p>Not everyone knows what they want to do when they are in high school. I was good at art, math and history. I went into college thinking I might major in history and lit, but ended up majoring in Visual and Environmental Studies, a major which included art, design, film, and architectural history. I ended up going to architecture grad school which was a very good fit for my skill sets. My husband knew he’d do some thing with science majored in both Biology and Physics, got a PhD in Biophysics and has drifted into cancer research. Younger son liked history in high school and is majoring in International Relations - he’s also had four years of Arabic, and lived in Jordan for two semesters. He’s still job hunting, but hopefully he’s got some skills. The only one in our family whose known what he wanted to do from an early age was our oldest - he’s a computer programmer. He caught the bug at age seven.</p>
<p>Doing a lot of projects in HS helps. Work with NFP, a small business, etc. Build/design things, work with people, research, and influence. Various projects involving those kinds of experiences really help a kid turn on to something (or turn away from something else, which is just as valuable). Job shadowing with informational interviewing also really helps. </p>
<p>I was just thinking…My kid reported she ran all over a huge public events space tonight looking for a certain room number. She couldn’t figure out where to go, and the signage/interior architecture led her down many dead-ends. Did you know there is a career for that? It’s called “wayfinding” and is a great combo of design, art, urban planning, brain science, etc. If I hadn’t been pooped, I would have told her about that career option. I found out about it by reading. So, yea, reading about interesting careers is a quick way to consider options. </p>
<p>My oldest loves math and since about 5th grade has wanted to become a Math teacher. She graduated with a BA in Mathematics in Dec and is now getting her Masters in Secondary Mathematics education,
My youngest has wanted to be a doctor since about 4th grade. She thinks she will major in Psychology.</p>
<p>I knew I liked Math and Science and my Dad was an engineer…I became an engineer.
My DH wanted to go to law school and his Dad insisted he major in something he could get a job with, so he did Accounting. He is a CPA and never went to law school.</p>
<p>My kid applied undeclared to her colleges. She did not pick colleges based on major. We looked for as good overall academics as she could get into, intellectual and cultural fit, and enough financial aid to work out. She had a general idea that she wanted to be some kind of researcher, though, because she had real research experience in high school. She was also good at math. So at college she tried a few different sciences and the math to support the physics classes. She got involved in research right away in any area that gave her the opportunity. Then she took a core CS sequence and decided she loved it and did a math-CS major. She approached it as a research career, prepared by doing undergrad research, and went to grad school. She has been a software engineer but now may be going in a different direction, and that may be very likely just from happening to have had to be a math-cs major instead of a straight up CS major because she didn’t start CS early enough. Point being to just be prepared in whatever you are doing and to grasp opportunities that arise to see where they might lead (in HS she never did anything with CS.) I haven’t read his books, but Cal Newport, who has an interesting blog, talks about this concept, though I don’t know that I buy everything he has to say. Do make a point to visit his site.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t force decisions on majors or career at this point. DDs classmate who majored in sociology is working at google. I would encourage her involvement in any interesting math projects or ECs, it is complimentary to so many areas and to have competency is a solid part of your toolkit. Don’t worry if she is not a math genius. I too wondered, will she be a contender? If she has any other interests, creative or academic, then look for ways to get involved. Pursue interests at this point.</p>
<p>Finally here is a new article in WSJ discussion panel on using salary to choosing a career–there are a number of points made relative to your inquiry.
<a href=“Should Salary Prospects Guide the Choice of a College Major? - WSJ”>Should Salary Prospects Guide the Choice of a College Major? - WSJ;
<p>Not knowing your intended major shouldn’t make the college search too difficult. In fact, college is often where students find their path. Many colleges and universities have strong programs across the board.
I would encourage your daughter to explore different interests now, while she’s in high school, both through
activities and work experiences. Even if she doesn’t latch on to something she wants to do as a career, she’ll learn a lot about herself which will help her later when she is making decisions. Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about her “career” at this point; focus on finding out where she shines, what engages her, and how she spends her free time. When the time comes to actually having to choose majors, make job decisions and life choices, she’ll be prepared to make good choices for herself.</p>
<p>One thing I would like to point out from our own experience. Even my D has decided to study chemical engineering and was admitted to a schools which is among the top in ChemE, we are hesitate to her go there. As a high school student has very limited knowledge to other career path, they may not really know what they want to be until they learn something in that field. We are leaning towards three other schools that are not as strong in ChemE but have relatively well balance in all fields of engineering (and LSA too). Of course, none of these schools would be bad for anything, we just want to leave better options open to her.</p>
<p>I’m almost 50 and I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up 
D is frustrated as she has changed majors several times and is likely to graduate with a major in something Humanities, and is constantly asked “what is she going to do with that”? I graduated with a degree in Math and Computer Science, and now work in a corporate Marketing Department. I work with folks with degrees in Spanish, History, English, Communications, Business Administration, Music, Fine Arts, and a host of others. When I started college there was no Internet, now I work in Web Marketing. Who knows what will happen down the road? Or what will be the next hot career - or cold career? Help her find her strengths and she’ll figure it out from there.</p>
<p>My middle schooler dissected a frog yesterday in science class . Last night at dinner she told me that, in the past, she didn’t know if she wanted to be a surgeon, but now she thinks she could probably do it. True story. She had me laughing.</p>
<p>Truly, I think it is difficult for many to know in high school what they “want to be.” I changed my major in college, and many people do. I think one of the great things about the college experience is that it opens up your mind to different options, especially if you go somewhere with a lot of programs/offerings. To answer the OP’s question, one thing you may want to do is steer her in the direction of schools that have lots of different options/majors; also, give her opportunities related to her interests, such as extracurriculars activities, camps, summer programs, etc. Also, job shadowing or volunteering somewhere (classroom, hospital, law firm…wherever) is a good way of seeing what someone actually does on a daily basis and makes it easier to say to yourself, “I might like to do that someday” or “No way I would want to study that.”</p>
<p>P.S. InigoMontoya, Same here! Maybe by the time I am retired, I will know what I want to be and can do it for fun. </p>
<p>If you build a strong base, it is surprising how you end up using skills from the various jobs you have over the years. The skills I learned as a summer recreational leader were helpful in many later settings–PTA and even the courtroom. Being an articulate advocate is always a plus in whatever you decide to do later with your talents. </p>
<p>My D and S have enjoyed learning for pursuit of knowledge, even though many of the courses they took didn’t directly related to any career. I think it is a mistake to be too narrow in studies. My niece who went into podiatry majored in history. My other niece who went into law majored in English and minored in business. My nephew who went to med school double-majored in math and biology. </p>
<p>What color is your parachute was a resource that used to be recommended for folks to explore various career options. There are a variety of resources in the YA and adult sections of the library, some of which have in depth candid descriptions of various careers that might be of interest, including courses needed, pros and cons of the careers, etc.</p>
<p>I’d give her more time, she’ll figure it out some day. Look at colleges that are strong across the board.</p>
<p>I had an idea of what i wanted to do in high school, then i looked at how much those jobs paid and said nope, not for me. So i picked a major that i also had an interest in. Long story short, i wound up working in a completely irrelevent different type of jobs for a few years, and 3 years ago transfered in to a position that actually uses my degree. </p>
<p>When D1 was a junior/senior in high school, I gave her my friends’ contact information. She called them to set up meetings to discuss about their careers. She also shadowed some of them if possible. She thought she wanted to be an architect, but after shadowing someone, she didn’t think it was as easy as she thought. She met someone who was head of marketing of a major fashion house. She thought meh. Her secret dream was to become a party planner, but unfortunately I didn’t know anyone in that profession. After she made her rounds, she decided she wanted to be just like me. Of course, now 3 years into it, she thinks maybe she wants to move on. </p>
<p>D2 is considering law. She decided on it by eliminating everything she didn’t want to do. She said she could out talk (debate) and out write anyone…</p>
<p>I was the classic a new major every month college student. I remember going into my dad’s office, ecstatic, announcing I had just declared an art history major. Then I bounced out to get some lunch. My sister was there and later she told me our dad got really agitated, what does an art history major do? My sister calmly reassured our dad by saying “don’t worry, you know she’ll change next semester”</p>
<p>There was no way I knew what I wanted to do as a high school sophomore. </p>
<p>I ended up majoring in math and pre-architecture after going through about seven majors. I was not a math genius and I would say 80% of the math majors were not math geniuses. Math was however a very good major, providing a solid base for many professions including law, public policy, computer programming, something on Wall Street among others.</p>
<p>I wanted to be a film major from about 2nd grade to sophomore year of college, and then I changed my mind. “knowing” your major in HS doesn’t really mean anything, so I wouldn’t worry about her not knowing yet.</p>
<p>I still didn’t know for sure exactly what job I wanted in college, there were a lot of different options I was interested in. What they all had in common was that they used advanced reading, writing, and analytical skills, and I was interested in history and government, so I studied political science to hone those skills. Now I can apply my degree to any career and any field which requires those skills, of which there are many. </p>
<p>When I did change my major, at first I was convinced I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to work with non-profits and fight for people with disabilities. I was very passionate about it, and it’s still something I might like to do. Within 6 months of graduation it occurred to me that I would rather spend my late 20s/early 30s having children and spending time with them than working big hours, and that law school wasn’t really worth the money if I was just going to quit a year later and only pick it up again god knows when. Things change. You never really know what you’ll end up doing. Your D will figure it out. I do find if you don’t want to be something specific like an engineer or a teacher, it helps to think in terms of what skills you want to use your future career, whatever it might be, and pick a major that will help develop those skills.</p>
<p>Choosing a career rarely happens in just a single step or decision. It’s more likely to be iterative, a process of trial and error with programs and courses in college, then with first jobs, second jobs, etc. For this reason alone, I have a strong preference that in undergrad years most students take a broad liberal arts track (math, science, humanities, social sciences, computer coding, etc.), and that they focus as much on skill areas as on majors or concentrations or formal credentials.</p>
<p>In the dozen years since graduating from college, my son has had (arguably) three “careers” and is now a journalist. None of these are ones he “trained for,” but his general aptitudes for research, numbers, and writing, along with his ambition, have allowed him to shift into progressively more interesting, more challenging, and more financially rewarding jobs. He is heading up the career “climbing wall” and didn’t get stuck on a single track or “ladder” to a dead end.</p>
<p>In her ten years since graduating, my daughter has had two “careers,” and earned a second degree (MBA), and is now pursuing a career in sustainable product development. Could not have imagined this particular career for her when she was a high school senior, but her competency in design (and art), math (unusual for an “artist”), and a strong interest in green design and policies have allowed her to move up the career climbing wall by shifting her track and adding to her credentials.</p>
<p>While some young folks really can set themselves early on a particular track and stick to it, most don’t really know their own capabilities and interests. So I think they should lay down a very solid and broad college education and be prepared to be opportunistic in their careers.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen in my own and extended family and the in-laws, most people end up doing something related to a natural interest, but only in a very, very broad sense. I knew from the time he was a toddler that my S would end up doing something that involved working with his hands and figuring stuff out, and he always has. But I could not have predicted a career based on that. A niece always loved “playing store” and being in the limelight, and she’s a marketing event manager. But I know only one person who chose her career in elementary school like the OP claims she did, and stuck with that. And even that person has changed jobs and career tracks within her field, more than once, and she’s not even 30 yet.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t waste 10 minutes worrying that a HS sophomore doesn’t have a grand plan for a major and career. It’s completely normal. There are many ways of at least exploring ideas, as has already been mentioned, so I won’t repeat them. </p>
<p>OP - I get where you are coming from. S is kind of in the same boat - he’s a sophomore, an overall good student and right now, it’s hard to even figure out a list of colleges based on the major he might want. He’s interested in history (has always been) but is finding Chemistry very interesting too this year. Very involved in music and theater but doesn’t want to pursue those as a profession. I have the same problem as you trying to figure out where he’ll end up!</p>
<p>But all the others are also right in saying very few kids actually do know what they want to be when they are in HS. D knew she wanted to be in the sciences, but definitely not be an engineer or a doctor. Fast forward three years - she’s a biomed engg major who’s thinking of applying to med school S is taking a summer course in International Politics to see if this area catches his interest. We are also going to look at schools, more based on location and size and make sure they have a broad range of majors available.</p>