I am writing to ask for your help with regards to my son who is 19 years old and currently struggling to find what he would like to do as a career. After high school he took a semester at a local college, in their trades overview program, to determine which if any of the trades he might like. He came away not feeling as though any of what he experienced was a great fit, even though he enjoyed learning what he learned.

Additionally, he has some eye sight challenges, which he has had since elementary school, when he went from perfect eyesight to being nearly blind in about 18 months. He has had 3 operations on his right eye, so far, and requires one more before they proceed to work on the left eye. That said, he does have enough vision now in his right eye to drive during the day, work and attend school. There are some limitations though.

I remember when I was his age having very similar struggles in deciding what to do with the rest of my life. I was directed to a company as I remember, and it took about 2 full days of aptitude tests. This led me to being involved in real estate sales and later on to other entrepreneurial ventures.

I am hoping that you can help me, help him find the right fit; the person, company or agency that he can talk with about his options, and potentially take some aptitude tests or figure out what he should take in school. Of course the problem at this age and at all ages is that we often don’t even know what is out there or what might interest us because of that.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

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Mary Joan's Response to this Question

Hi Richard,
I can see your son, is struggling to find what it is that he'd love to do. As you say "we often don't even know what is out there". And that's the key to it - finding out what's out there.

At least he now knows that the Trades, that he explored in that Trades Overview Program, are not where he wants to be. So he's that much further ahead having that knowledge. That was a first step, now he needs to continue on the journey at his own pace.

When he is ready, you might direct him to this website which is designed to be a self-help program. It takes visitors through a process that puts them in touch with who they are, as they go through 5 Career Tests. As they do these tests, they find out:
- what kind of work environment they prefer
- what is important to them in terms of work values on the job
- what their personality type is
- what their natural motivations are, and
- what kinds of intelligences they have come to prefer using.

After getting these results, they are ready to enter the next phase - the Field Research.

The Research Phase is 4-Pronged:
Paper Research, PC or Online Research, People Research, and then Participation Research
For an explanation of these see Researching Your Dream Job

The first thing your son needs to do is to pin point the General Field of Interest that he has a passion for.

Examples of Fields of Interest are: Health Care, Business, Sales & Service, Science, Arts etc.

Follow this link on my site that lists Major Fields of Interest, along with the data base search tool links to do that research.

Once he identifies His Field, he will then begin the Occupational Research and target several Occupations within his Field of Choice, that he thinks he might be interested in pursuing.

Looking at one possible approach, as an example, here is one way to research a potential occupation

Since your son has had a lot of involvement with eye problems, he might have an interest in checking out Occupations in Vision Care: Optometry, ophthalmology, opticians, alternative vision therapies, health and nutrition for best vision, and so on.

It would require some research, reading about the occupations, thinking about what it is that really appeals to him about the work, and applying what he's learned about himself, his own unique character traits (as revealed in the testing).

He will find Career Centers open to students his age at local colleges and universities, libraries. These places are where he'll find the books and other resources to do this research. The staff there should also be helpful.

If he can find a program called Career Cruising at one of the Career Centers, he will be able to sit down and listen to hundreds of interviews in many different fields. He can call around and ask who has it.

The research part of it, takes time. There is no quick track to doing the research. And he has to do it himself. No one else can do it for him.

He would begin with the Reading Research - reading books, and visiting libraries, Career Centers, and doing Online Research.
As he reads questions will come to mind, he writes these down, and when he feels ready, he begins the next phase of Research: Information Interviewing of Key People. This can be done by phone.

After interviewing people working in the jobs he likes, that he's been reading about - they could be doctors, opticians, therapists, experts in the field, and so on, he is likely to find certain aspects that appeal to him: perhaps the sales aspect, or the clinical aspect, or maybe he'd like to check out related Non-profit Organizations like the Institute for the Blind - which is an Organization that services all kinds of people with Vision Problems, not just Blind people.

He might find himself interested in helping people with poor vision to find work that is suitable for them. In fact places that offer services for Vision Impaired Persons may be an excellent resource for information on possible careers for people with Vision Problems.

There are many possibilities which would only be revealed by this kind of in-depth research. And of course, as he is researching, he may find an area that he is interested in, that he never noticed before, that is totally unrelated, that will take him off in a whole new direction. The main thing is to keep open to anything, and to follow the leads that come in the form of what tweaks his curiosity, and excites his interest.

Then comes the Participation Research:
After he picks a job that he thinks might be the right one, he needs to check it out, to see if it really is, what he thought it was.

Jobs can look very different from the outside, compared to what is involved when you get into them. You have to see them from the inside.

He can do this by arranging for job shadows, or volunteering, or visiting a school where he can talk to students in the program, that is preparing them to enter that Field-Occupation-Job.

Sometimes instructors will also have suggestions, and will give people, who are out doing their research, a lot of information. He can only find the answers by getting out and talking to people in the jobs or training programs.

As you can see, it's a process. Somewhere along the line, during this process, the light comes on, and something clicks. Doors open and he goes through.

He will eventually discover what it is that makes his heart sing. It is usually something that is hiding in plain view. The main thing is not to give up. Everything he tries is one step closer to the goal.

I hope this helps. Of course, this all might be a bit premature at this point, since he doesn't really know what the outcome of the eye operations is going to be or how much vision he will have to work with.

I know you have his best interests at heart. But perhaps it might be best to wait awhile to see how things turn out, in regard to his vision problems. This will play a big part as to which direction he may choose to move. He has a lot on his plate right now, with the operations coming up. However, with your encouragement and support things are bound to improve.

Best regards,
Mary Joan