Choosing a future career can feel overwhelming, but high school is a great time to start exploring possibilities. You don’t need to have it all figured out right now – the key is learning how to research and evaluate careers so you can make informed decisions​

In this guide, we’ll cover the important factors to consider (skills, education, job outlook, work-life balance, etc.), give you a step-by-step checklist, and even demonstrate the process with a sample career (becoming a chef).

By the end, you’ll have a clear method to explore any career and a list of resources to help you dive deeper.

Step 1: Start with Self-Reflection (Know Yourself)

The first step in career research is understanding yourself – what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and what matters to you​

• Interests and Passions: What subjects or activities do you love? What hobbies or topics make you lose track of time? Your interests can point toward career fields. For example, a love of science might lead you to consider careers in research or healthcare​
• Skills and Strengths: What are you good at (e.g. writing, math, fixing things, helping others)? Identifying your skills can help you find careers that suit you . Have questions and answers related to choosing a specific career, try you luch at : ​careervillage.org. Sometimes your strengths overlap with your interests – those areas are great places to explore.
• Personality: Are you more of a people-person or do you prefer working independently? Do you enjoy fast-paced environments or something more predictable? Knowing your personality type can help you see which work environments might fit you best. ref: ​indeed.com for more information. You might consider taking a personality or career aptitude test for insight (for example, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or a Holland Code quiz can suggest careers based on your profile​. Ref. https://aglastep.com/the-importance-of-self-assessment-in-choosing-a-career/ to see the different types of personality tests available.
• Values and Goals: Think about what you want from a career. Is a high salary most important, or is a solid work-life balance your top priority? Would you prefer a job where you make a difference in society, or one with lots of travel and excitement? There are no wrong answers – what matters is what’s important to you​. Make note of your ideal lifestyle (e.g. location, work hours, level of flexibility, family time) and core values (e.g. helping others, creativity, job security).

Jot down your interests, skills, personality traits, values, and goals. This self-profile will guide your career exploration. As one career counselor put it: “Understanding what you enjoy—and what you’re good at—is the first step in exploring careers”​

Step 2: List Possible Careers to Explore

Next, use what you learned about yourself to brainstorm possible careers that align with your interests and strengths. It’s okay if your list is broad or if you’re not sure about some options – this is just a starting point for research.

How to find career ideas:

• Career Interest Surveys: Try a career interest inventory or quiz. These tools ask about your likes/dislikes and suggest careers or “career clusters” (groups of related jobs) that might suit you. Many high schools offer these surveys, and there are free ones online. For example, the O*NET Interest Profiler (available on My Next Move) can match your interests with careers​
• Explore by Themes: Think of broad fields you enjoy (like healthcare, technology, arts, education, law, hospitality, etc.). Within each field, there are dozens of roles. If you love music but not performing, you might explore careers in audio engineering or music production​. Love sports? Possible careers range from coach to sports medicine to sports marketing​. Don’t limit yourself to the most obvious job in a field; many careers combine multiple interests.
• Ask and Discuss: Talk to teachers, counselors, family, or mentors about your interests. They might suggest careers you haven’t thought of​. For example, if you say “I enjoy helping people and I like science,” a teacher might suggest healthcare careers like nursing or physical therapy.
• Use Career Databases: Online career exploration websites let you search by keywords or industries. Websites like My Next Move (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor) let you search careers by interest area or browse industries You can also browse the “Occupational Outlook Handbook” or similar databases for lists of jobs in different categories​. Unfortunately , there are many career database resources for working professionals looking to change / upgrade their careers but not so many for students – however you may have to research and find the ones that would be relevant. Use perplexity.ai ‘s research tool for this.

Your aim should be to come up with a shortlist of maybe 5-10 careers that sound interesting. Don’t worry if they’re very different from each other – the point is to have a variety of options to research. And remember the advice from one student: keep an open mind – a job that sounds unappealing at first could turn out to be fascinating once you learn more about it​.

Step 3: Research the Key Details of Each Career

Now for the deep dive – researching each potential career in detail. For each career on your list, you’ll want to gather some key information. Here are the key parameters to consider when evaluating a career option:

• Job Description & Daily Tasks: What does a person in this career actually do every day? Research the typical responsibilities and work activities. Make sure the daily tasks sound interesting to you. (If you can’t stand the sight of blood, you might cross “surgeon” off your list once you learn what they do!)
• Skills Required: What skills and abilities do you need to succeed? Some careers require technical skills (like coding for a software developer, or cooking techniques for a chef), while others emphasize soft skills (like communication, teamwork, problem-solving). It’s important to know what you’d need to be good at or willing to learn.
• Education and Training Pathways: Find out the typical education, certifications, or training needed. Do you need a college degree? A specialized trade school or apprenticeship? Perhaps just on-the-job training? Consider how long you’d have to be in school or training for each career​. For example, becoming a pharmacist requires years of university study, whereas becoming a web developer might be possible with a shorter coding bootcamp or self-study. Make note of multiple pathways if they exist (some careers offer more than one route).
• Licenses or Qualifications: Check if the career needs any special licenses or exams (common in fields like medicine, law, teaching, etc.)​
• Work Environment: Research where and how the work is done. Is it in an office, outdoors, in a hospital, in a kitchen, on the road? Is it typically a team setting or solo work? Also consider the work conditions – for instance, some jobs might be physically demanding or involve travel or working in a noisy environment. Understanding the work setting will help you imagine yourself in the role​. For example, so people would like to work in an airconditioned environment, having a desk job – a career in the mining industry may not appeal to them ,while that of a software coder might.
• Work-Life Balance & Hours: This is very important. What are the typical working hours or schedule? Some careers involve regular 9-to-5 weekdays, while others require night shifts, weekends, or being on-call. Consider how that might impact your personal life and whether you’re okay with it. Also think about flexibility (can people work remotely or have flexible hours?) and general stress levels. For example, careers in hospitality or medicine often have less traditional hours and can be high-stress, whereas some office jobs might have more regular hours. There’s no right or wrong preference – just consider what fits your desired lifestyle​.
• Salary Range: Research the typical salary or income range for the career. Look for entry-level salaries as well as the median or average salary for experienced professionals​. A good source to compare salaries is salary.com .Keep in mind salaries can vary by country or region, so focus on a general range. If you have a target lifestyle or financial goal, see if the career’s earning potential aligns with that. (However, remember that money isn’t everything – a high-paying job that you hate will not make you happy in the long run!) Many career databases list median pay; for instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics might show that software developers earn a median of X, or nurses Y, etc.
• Job Outlook: This tells you how the employment for that career is projected to grow (or shrink) in the future. A field with a strong job outlook (faster than average growth) means new opportunities are likely to be available when you graduate, whereas a declining field might be more competitive or unstable. Check resources like government labor websites and also popular job search portals + Linkedin to understand which jobs are in demand. For example, a career might have an outlook of “Projected to grow 10% in the next 10 years (faster than average)” or “Little to no growth.” This data helps you gauge the future stability of the field.
• Advancement Opportunities: Research how one can grow in the career. Is there a clear ladder (e.g. starting as a junior engineer and rising to senior engineer, then manager)? Are there specialization options? Knowing this can be motivating – it shows you the long-term potential.
• Personal Fit (Interests & Values): Finally, after gathering the facts, reflect on how the career aligns with your interests, values, and goals. Does it match many of the things you enjoy and value? For instance, if one of your core values is helping others, does this career provide a chance to do that? If work-life balance is crucial to you, does this career’s typical lifestyle allow for it? This subjective evaluation is important – a job might look great on paper, but you need to consider if it feels like a good fit for you personally.

To organize your research, you might create a simple table or document for each career and note these details. Use reliable, up-to-date sources for your information. Many governments or educational organizations maintain career databases with this info. For example, one high school career guide suggests looking up wages, required education, daily activities, required skills, and job outlook for each career on your list​. By comparing these factors side by side, you can clearly see differences between careers.

Step 4: Get Firsthand Insights (Interact and Experience)

Paper research is wonderful, but nothing beats real-world insight. Once you have some basic facts, try to experience or at least observe the career in action. This will give you a clearer picture of what the job is really like and whether you’d enjoy it.

Here are some ways to get firsthand exposure:

• Informational Interviews: This is a fancy term for talking to someone who is working in the career you’re interested in. You can ask them what a typical day is like, what they enjoy or find challenging, and what advice they would give someone considering the field. You might reach out through family, friends, or even LinkedIn to find professionals willing to chat. Don’t be shy – many people enjoy talking about their work and helping students. A short conversation can give you insights you’d never find online.
• Job Shadowing: See if you can spend a few hours or a day observing a professional on the job​. For example, if you’re curious about nursing, you might be able to shadow a nurse at a hospital (some hospitals have programs for this). Watching someone’s day-to-day work can confirm if it matches what you imagined. One resource describes job shadowing as a great way to “get a sense of the day-to-day work and skills required for the job”​
• Internships or Part-Time Work: Some fields allow high school students to intern or volunteer. Even a short summer internship or a part-time job in a related environment can be incredibly valuable. Want to be a teacher? Try volunteering at a summer camp or tutoring younger students. Interested in business? Perhaps a part-time job in a store can teach customer service and operations. Internships give hands-on experience and also strengthen future college or job applications​
• Extracurriculars and Projects: Join clubs or competitions related to your field of interest. Robotics club for future engineers, debate club for aspiring lawyers, school newspaper for journalists, cooking classes for chefs, etc. These activities let you try out skills and see if you enjoy the work.
• Mentorship Programs: See if your school or community has mentorship opportunities. Pairing up with a mentor in your field of interest can guide you and open doors to experiences.
• Career Fairs / Career Days: Attend events where professionals talk about their careers. You can ask questions and make connections.

Getting these experiences not only helps you learn about the career, but also helps you develop useful skills. It’s also a reality check – you might discover that the job is quite different from what you thought. Better to find that out now than after investing years into a path! If a career still excites you after you’ve seen its reality up close, that’s a great sign you’re on the right track.

And remember, even negative discoveries are valuable. If you shadow a job and realize “No, I wouldn’t want to do this every day,” you can cross it off your list and focus on others. Career exploration is a trial-and-error process – each step narrows down your options and brings you closer to something that truly fits. As one guide noted, you can repeat these exploration steps as your interests grow and change​

Step 5: Evaluate and Compare Your Options

By now, you’ve gathered a lot of information and maybe even some firsthand experience for several careers. The next step is to evaluate each option and compare them against each other and against your personal criteria.

Here’s how to evaluate your researched career options effectively:

• Review the Data: Look back at the key parameters you gathered (skills, education, outlook, salary, etc.). Does the career require things you are willing to pursue (e.g. 8 years of study, relocation, working weekends)? How does its salary and outlook align with your expectations? You might rank each career on various factors (for example, give a score 1-5 for how well it fits your interests, how excited you feel about the daily tasks, the education needed, etc.).
• Pros and Cons: Make a simple pros/cons list for each career. Include tangible things (Good salary, but requires long schooling, etc.) and your gut feelings (Interesting work, or “sounds boring to me”). Seeing the pros and cons laid out can make differences clearer.
• Personal Priorities Check: Revisit what you wrote in Step 1 about your goals and values. Which career option seems to fulfill most of your top priorities? For instance, if work-life balance and family time is a top priority, you might lean towards a career with more regular hours rather than one known for 60-hour weeks. If creativity is your passion, you’d favor a career that involves creative thinking. Essentially, check each option against the question: “Would this career let me live the kind of life I want?”
• Seek Advice: Sometimes an outside perspective helps. Discuss your findings with a school counselor, a teacher, or family members. They might point out things you missed or help you weigh factors. A counselor can also provide guidance if you’re torn between two paths, or suggest additional resources for further research​cfnc.org.
• Consider Future You: Try to imagine yourself 5 or 10 years in the future in each career. What might your day look like? Are you happy in that vision? This thought exercise can reveal a lot about your true feelings toward each option.

After this evaluation, you’ll likely find that a few careers stand out as more appealing and feasible, while others drop off the list. You might end up with one clear favorite, or a couple of finalists. That’s progress!

Finally, remember that your career choice is not irrevocable. Many people change careers or paths as they grow. So the goal isn’t to lock in one path forever, but to choose a direction to start with. If you’ve done your homework, you can be confident in taking the next step toward that career – knowing you can always adjust course if needed. “Be open to change,” as one career article advises – you might pursue a path and later find it’s not right, and that’s okay​

Career Research Checklist (Step-by-Step)

Here’s a handy checklist summarizing the steps to research and evaluate a career. You can use this as you work through your own career exploration:

1. Know Yourself: List your interests, favorite subjects, hobbies, skills, strengths, personality traits, values, and life goals. (What matters to you in a career? What do you love to do?​Here’s 1-0 crucial things to consider – click here -> cfnc.org)
2. Identify Possible Careers: Based on your self-reflection, write down careers or fields that excite you. Use interest surveys or career quizzes to find ideas​. Ask counselors/teachers for suggestions and keep an open mind​.
3. Gather Basic Info: For each career on your list, research a basic overview: job description and main duties. Eliminate any that clearly don’t match your interests (if any).
4. Research Key Details: For each remaining career, find the following:
   • Required skills and qualities​
   • Education pathways (degrees, certifications, training)​.
   • Typical work environment (office, outdoors, etc.) and conditions
   • Typical work hours and lifestyle (shift work? flexible? high stress?)
   • Salary range (starting salary and average salary)​.
   • Job outlook (expected demand/growth in the future.
   • Advancement opportunities or career trajectory
   • Anything else important to you (e.g. does it align with your values or desired location?)
5. Use Multiple Sources: Cross-check information on at least two reputable sources (e.g. government career websites, professional associations, interviews). This ensures accuracy.
6. Take Notes: Document your findings in an organized way. Create a career profile for each option with all the key points.
7. Talk to Someone (Optional but Highly Recommended): If possible, interview or shadow a professional in that field​. Ask what they like/dislike about their job and for any advice.
8. Try it Out: Engage in an activity related to the career. This could be a part-time job, internship, volunteer work, or a personal project. Experience is the best teacher.
9. Evaluate Fit: For each career, ask yourself: Does this excite me? Can I see myself doing this? Does it meet my needs for income, work-life balance, and personal fulfillment? Write down pros and cons.
10. Compare Options: If you have multiple options, compare them side by side. Consider everything you’ve learned and how each aligns with the vision you have for your future.
11. Make a Decision (for now): Pick the career (or a couple of top choices) that feel like the best fit as a direction. Remember, this isn’t set in stone – but you have to start somewhere.
12. Plan Next Steps: Outline what you need to do to pursue the chosen path. This might include selecting relevant courses in high school, researching colleges or training programs​, or seeking further mentorship. Essentially, turn your research into an action plan.

Feel free to revisit and repeat these steps as you discover more about yourself or new career ideas. Career exploration is an ongoing journey.

Now, to make this process even clearer, let’s walk through an example of researching a specific career.

Example: Researching a Career as a Chef

Imagine you’re a high school student who loves cooking and creativity. You’ve always enjoyed making meals for your family and experimenting with recipes. Someone suggests, “Have you thought about becoming a chef?” It sounds interesting – you can picture yourself wearing a white chef’s coat and running a kitchen – but you need to find out if it’s truly the right career for you. Let’s apply the research steps to the career of a chef (specifically, a professional chef or head cook in the culinary industry).

1. Self-Reflection: You identify that you’re passionate about food and cooking. You enjoy creative activities and don’t mind working on your feet. You also value doing work that makes people happy (and a good meal usually does!). However, you’re someone who also values having time with family in the evenings and on weekends. You note these points – love cooking, creative, okay with physical work, but prefer not to have a crazy schedule if possible.

2. List it as an Option: “Chef” goes on your career list (perhaps alongside other options like “food scientist” or “restaurant manager” or even non-food careers, but we’ll focus on chef).

3. Basic Overview: You read an overview of chefs and head cooks. You learn that chefs direct food preparation in restaurants and other places. They create menus, manage kitchen staff, and of course cook meals. This sounds aligned with your interests so far – creative cooking and leadership in a kitchen.

4. Key Details Research:

• Skills Required: Chefs need excellent cooking skills (knife skills, knowledge of ingredients and techniques), creativity (for inventing dishes or menus), leadership and teamwork (to manage and coordinate a kitchen staff), and time-management (to get meals out on time). They also need stamina, since they spend long hours on their feet and must handle stress during busy meal services.
• Education/Training: Is a college degree required? Not necessarily. You find that many chefs attend culinary school or complete culinary arts programs (which might be 1-2 year programs or associate degrees), but some chefs work their way up through experience. A typical pathway is to start as a line cook or assistant in a kitchen and learn on the job, maybe while taking some classes or a certificate in culinary arts. Formal education isn’t always required, but it can help, especially if you aim to become a head chef at a fine restaurant. So, you might not need a bachelor’s degree, but culinary training and lots of experience are important. This is good to know for your plan – perhaps you’ll consider culinary school after high school or a hospitality management degree.
• Work Environment: Where do chefs work? Mostly in restaurant kitchens, which are fast-paced, hot, and sometimes cramped environments. It’s a very hands-on, physical job. You read that chefs are on their feet for hours at a time in a bustling kitchen​. There’s pressure to prepare food quickly and consistently. The environment can be exciting if you enjoy that energy, but it can also be stressful. Chefs also have some administrative environment when planning menus or ordering supplies, but much of the work is in the kitchen itself.
• Work-Life Balance: This one is crucial. You discover that chefs often have challenging schedules. In fact, “most chefs and head cooks work full time, including early mornings, late evenings, weekends, and holidays” It’s common for chefs to work 50+ hours a week, and the hours are when other people go out to eat – meaning nights and weekends. This rings an alarm bell for you, since you noted you value evening family time. But you also realize this is part of the chef lifestyle. You might ask: Are there chef jobs with better hours? Perhaps working at a corporate cafeteria or a school (where chefs/cooks work daytime hours on weekdays) could be an option, but the typical image of a restaurant chef does involve late nights. You make a note: Chef – long, irregular hours (work when others play).
• Salary: You look up the salary range for chefs. You find data that in the U.S., the median annual salary for chefs and head cooks is around $58,000​. Entry-level cooks make much less, maybe around $30,000, but top chefs in high-end restaurants can make quite a lot more, especially if they become executive chefs or owners. Chefs can also earn more in certain locations (big cities) or in upscale hotels, etc. So, salary has a wide range. The pay isn’t extremely high at the start, but with experience, it can become comfortable. You compare this to your expectations: it’s not as high as some other professions (like doctors or engineers), but it’s a decent living. If money is not your number one priority and you really love cooking, this could be acceptable. You also learn that some chefs eventually open their own restaurants or businesses, which could potentially increase earnings but also come with risk.
• Job Outlook: Is this career growing? You find that employment of chefs is projected to grow about 8% in the next decade, which is faster than average​ ( myfuture.com ) . According to one source, the number of jobs for chefs and head cooks is expected to rise, thanks in part to a growing population and more people dining out​ . That’s a positive sign – it means opportunities should be out there. However, it’s also noted that competition can be tough for the top jobs (like being head chef at a famous restaurant)​ Still, overall the field isn’t shrinking, which is good news.
• Advancement: You find that typically one might start as a prep cook or line cook, then move up to a station chef, then sous chef (the second-in-command), and finally head chef or executive chef. Some chefs also go into restaurant management or catering businesses. There’s a career ladder, but it’s very much based on skill and reputation. You’ll need to prove yourself at each stage.
• Personal Fit Check: Now you reflect. Does being a chef match your interests and values? Interest-wise, absolutely – it’s all about cooking and food, which you love. It’s creative and hands-on, which is great for you. Skills-wise, you’re willing to train and practice to develop the needed culinary skills. The main concern you have is the work-life balance aspect: those long and irregular hours. You ask yourself if you’d be willing to work evenings and weekends regularly. Some soul-searching tells you that if you really love the work, it might be worth it, but you also really cherish spending holidays with family. You might need to consider what type of chef job could give more balance (maybe a personal chef or working in a setting like a school cafeteria or a test kitchen which might have more regular hours). It’s something to keep in mind.

5. Firsthand Insight: You decide to get a taste of the chef’s life. You arrange to interview a local restaurant chef – a friend of your family works as a chef and allows you to come by one afternoon. During the chat, you ask what his day is like. He confirms a lot of what you found: “It’s hard work – I’m on my feet from noon to midnight most days,” he says. “It’s hot, it’s hectic during dinner rush, and you have to be quick.” He also says he finds it very rewarding to create dishes that customers enjoy, and that the camaraderie in the kitchen is like a family. He advises that passion is key: “If you don’t truly love cooking, the stress and hours will burn you out. But if you do love it, it’s one of the most gratifying jobs.” You also hear about the different paths – he went to culinary school, but many of his colleagues learned on the job. He encourages you to get a part-time job in a restaurant kitchen to see how you like it.

Following his advice, you get a weekend job as a prep cook at a local cafe (just hypothetically). After a few weeks, you’ve experienced the reality: the kitchen environment excites you, but you do feel the fatigue of working late and missing some weekend hangouts with friends. This firsthand trial is invaluable – it gives you a clear sense of what life might be like if you become a full-time chef.

6. Evaluation: You sit down to weigh the pros and cons of the chef career for you:

• Pros: Doing what you love (cooking), creative expression, tangible results (a great meal), making people happy, vibrant work environment, clear progression path (cook → chef), decent demand (job outlook is good).
• Cons: Demanding hours and physically tough work, lower starting pay, high stress during peak times, competitive to reach top positions, and potential impact on social/family time due to schedule.

You compare this with another career on your list (say, graphic designer, which also is creative but has more regular hours). You realize that both careers appeal to your creative side, but one might offer a bit more routine (graphic design typically 9-5 in an office setting) while the other is more physically active and social (kitchen chaos!). It comes down to what trade-offs you are willing to accept.

7. Decision: After careful thought, you might decide: “Yes, I want to pursue becoming a chef. I’m okay with the challenges because I feel alive in the kitchen and I’m deeply passionate about it.” Or, you might conclude: “I love cooking as a hobby, but I don’t want it to be my full-time job under those conditions. Maybe I’ll keep cooking as a serious hobby and choose a career with better hours.” There is no wrong answer – the point is that you informed yourself thoroughly and made a conscious decision.

If you choose to go for it, you’d then plan next steps: perhaps apply to a culinary arts program after high school or find a higher-level apprenticeship, and continue working your way up. If you decide against it, you now have other options to explore (and you’ve gained cooking skills for life, which is a bonus!).

As you can see, researching a career in depth – like we did for “chef” – gives you clarity on whether it truly fits you. By looking at skills, education, daily life, salary, work-life balance, and getting real-world exposure, you can make an educated decision about your future.

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