Skipping the Career Decision Making Process

"America is lending money it doesn't have to kids who can’t pay it back to train them for jobs that no longer exist. That’s nuts.” Mike Rowe 



I have admired Mike Rowe for a long time. He makes people really think about the decisions they are making about post-high school education and the careers they pursue. 

I am a former school counselor. One of my students went to a four-year college and majored in business with the idea that major would make him a lot of money. He got a job in a business where he sat at a desk all day and every day. After three years he quit because he could not take sitting at a desk. Then he got involved in an electrician apprenticeship. He loves it! Why? He is active in his learning and working. He gets paid to learn each day as he works with a skilled, experienced, and licensed skilled worker. He also goes to class and is paid for night class two nights per week. What if he would have done a more thorough career decision-making process before he went to college?

As a school counselor, I was always frustrated with students who would not take seriously the career exploration and decision making process in eighth grade and in high school. Many bought into the falsehood that a four-year college degree will make you rich. The thought was college is fun, so I want to go. But given the example of my former student above, if you don’t like what you do your will either not be good at it or you will or you will dislike what you do. 

What it comes down to is finding your likes and dislikes, your abilities, and your values. Those are the factors that determine your compatibility with a career. You also need to think about two things from a pure practical point of view. 1) Will there be jobs in the career path you are taking? You don’t create a job; the economy does. 2) What will be the earnings you will receive in this career path? 

Mike Rowe makes the point that the Coronavirus is helping us to think through what is an essential job. I have two nephews who deliver packages. One works for FedEx and the other works for UPS. Are those essential jobs? They deliver food items, pharmaceuticals, and other essentials to people so they don’t risk getting the virus. Grocery store workers are constantly stocking shelves. Truck drivers are delivering food items and necessities like toilet paper. Are those jobs important? What is an essential job? It is whatever jobs someone cannot do for him/herself. 

Think seriously about yourself, your chosen career path, and the path of training for that career path. Don’t skip the career exploration step. If you do, you may find yourself wasting a lot of time and money. Think about the amount of training and the cost of that training (Return on College Investment). Familiarize yourself with all the paths to training for a career like: career and technical education (Associate of Applied Science, Diplomas, Certificates), training in the military. Also check into apprenticeship training, which will make you money as you learn. Below are great resources to tap into. Good luck! 


Steve - ICAN Council Bluffs Center










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