A friend of mine has been a headhunter and career counseling for more than 2 decades, and she has come to a realization and conclusion that if appropriate career counseling is done or attained successfully in high school, career change or job loss in the near future will not be as traumatic as it has been for either experienced executives or teenagers.
Networking is just a natural part of life– for instance, when you go to a movie and tell your buddy how good it was, your friend will go to see it based on your recommendation. Now, after your friend sees the movie and likes it too, your friend tells another pal and so on.
In a sense, they have spread the word about such a great movie and have gotten lots of their buddies to go and see it too. You actually have lots of people who have networked with one another. That is a very easy explanation and description of what networking is all about.
When you attempt to look for your first job, your initial source to call on or consider is career networking. A good high school career counseling program must provide hands on training where it is mandatory for a student to make a cover letter or resume from scratch and learn the value of building and developing a networking file.
So if you have a high school program that is dedicated to offering you with career counseling for teens then you clearly have the edge or one step ahead of everyone else who doesn’t. They should also be trained or taught how to dress appropriately for success and more importantly, how to respond in an interview.
All of these things are considerable, yet the most noteworthy factor or key to one’s success is the network they build while they are still in high school. The art of networking could simply start as writing down the name and contact details of the first person that you interviewed with when you are trying to apply for a job.
Fortunately, if you do get the job, you now have a precious source who might be able to lead and guide you to other individuals or to certain positions that may prove to be a great advantage or will be beneficial to you in the future. However, if you do not get the job, that’s okay, you still have the person’s name as character reference or point of contact in the near future should the need arises.
Therefore, when giving career counseling for teens it is highly crucial that you help and support the high school student develop or enhance this essential skill.
