So, what’s next?
In addition to the parties and the school activities, senior year is also a critical time for your senior to be looking beyond high school. If your senior hasn’t started planning for life after high school, now is the time to start.

Seniors have many options to choose from. While more and more students are going on to college after graduation, it is not for everyone. There are other excellent opportunities to consider – the working world, the military, etc. Once a senior decides what their next step is, there are many practical, real-life decisions to follow.

This section will help your family gain a perspective on life after high school. A variety of links and sections will give your family resources, advice and practical steps to taking the next step – whether it’s college, a job, or the military.

Start planning now
Talking to the high school guidance counselor is the first. A wide variety of resources are typically available at the high school career center. In addition, many schools offer training and work opportunities for developing skills and experience in a variety of fields, including culinary arts, automotive, electronics, graphic arts, computers and landscaping.

A little research goes a long way
No matter what your next step is, it’s a good idea to do a little research on what fields are expanding. Many states offer a career guide at the high school level that includes statistical job outlooks and wage ranges. These same career guides include the education and work experience information that will help you determine whether or not you need to get additional education or training before entering the field.

To better focus your research, career counselors suggest taking surveys that help a senior determine their interests, skills, values, and personality when searching for a career. The career counselor's office at your school is an excellent resource for such surveys. As your senior works through these surveys, keep a copy of the results. Use these results to explore careers. Keep in mind that the results from surveys vary greatly and are meant to be rough guidelines.

Thinking about college? Click here to discover a variety of resources and information about applying, financial aid and what comes after you get accepted.

Ready to enter the job world? Click here for Jostens resources and guides to this monumental decision.

Interested in joining the military? Click here to for an introduction to your options and next steps.

More career planning resources
The following resources are a great place to start researching your future …

• Occupational Outlook Handbook is issued by the Department of Labor every other year. It covers almost every career imaginable. It starts out with an easy-to-use index that has different careers clustered into an assortment of categories. The bulk of the book, however, contains multi-page entries of more than 200 careers. Each entry lists the job description, skills required for the job, required training or education and where to obtain it, job statistics (such as how many people are currently involved in that career), and a job outlook.
• Richard Bolles wrote What Color is Your Parachute in 1970. This "Cadillac” of job-search books has been the best-selling book of its kind. Updated and revised annually, "Parachute" is one of now hundreds of books written on the subject of career planning.
• Review.com is a great site to explore career ideas. If you take the easy-to-follow Career Quiz it will help you learn more about your personal interest and style and identify potential careers.

Additional education options.
If college is not your thing, community colleges and trade schools provide excellent education opportunities that usually take much less time than the traditional college degree. Two-year degrees can be a good first step toward a four-year bachelors degree or offer a great boost up in the working world.

There are several areas of trade that need highly trained employees. Sometimes they are willing to pay for your senior to go to school and guarantee them a job after they are trained, for example: printing or electronics.

Informational interviews
Informational interviews are a great way for students to find out about potential careers and employment. Seniors, find a person in your field of interest that you could meet with. It’s a great way to gain an in-depth perspective on the field.

Most people love to help young people get started and may in fact be looking for assistants. Some good questions to ask:

• What are the duties and responsibilities of your job?
• What is the average day like?
• Do you like your job?
• What are some of the things that you like and dislike?
• What experience did you need to get your job?
• Did you have to go to college to get your job?