Navigating Career options after High School – what’s next? A guide to informal Career Planning

Written by: Mike Audfroid, Employment Counsellor

What happens when you have no idea what type of career to pursue after High School? How do you make this huge decision when you have never worked or have limited employment experience? What are you interested in? What are your skills and abilities? When none of the traditional professions such as nursing or teaching appeal to you it can be incredibly overwhelming trying to figure out your next steps. Luckily, there are several strategies you can utilize to help you make these difficult decisions.


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Let’s take a minute to unpack healthcare careers as an example; most of us have heard of the more common career options such as Physician, Nurse, LPN and Paramedic but there are so many other options to explore! Healthcare is such a large industry that offers many career paths such as Porter, Therapy Aide, Radiation Technician, Medical Transcriptionist, Occupational Therapist or Diagnostic Sonographer. The educational requirements vary widely for these professions from High School Diploma all the way to PhD’s!

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With so many choices available how do you begin to narrow down your search before making a decision? Here are a few tips and tools you can try to help guide your decision making:

1. Exploring any employment or volunteer experience you may have is a great starting point. You can identify what you enjoyed the most in your roles and what you didn’t care for. Think about things like the type of hours you worked, working in a team or individually, fast/slow pace, labour intensive vs sitting at a desk, work/life balance, working with the public etc. Once you have completed this exercise, you will have a better idea of what you value as you move forward in your career decision process.

2. If you have a general interest in large occupational sectors such as healthcare or trades, try to find work in entry level jobs so that you can gain a better understanding of all the various occupations you could choose from. Working as a general labourer on a construction site would give you an idea of all the trades that are required for a construction project. Similarly, working as a Service Worker portering patience from one unit to the next would give you a great working visual of the many healthcare professionals that work within a hospital setting.

3. Use your personal and professional networks to gain information on potential career options. If you work in a business with many different professions, take the time to chat with your co-workers about their occupations. What do they enjoy the most? Least?

4. If you think you may have an interest in a certain occupation or industry try cold calling a professional or company and ask if they would be willing to host you for a job shadow or information interview. Talking to or shadowing a professional who works in a job that interests you will give you a knowledge of whether or not the job is for you.

Career exploration can be daunting, but you don’t have to do it alone. If you are between the ages of 15-24, a Youth Employment Counsellor at the Youth Employment Centre can help you for free! www.YouthEmploymentCentre.ca