Career Resources For High School Students

High school is the perfect time to explore different areas of interest. But, as your senior year quickly approaches—or you might already be there—you might be thinking: What’s next? What do I really want to be when I grow up? How do I get there? If you are asking yourself these questions, we’ve got you! The following is a guide of career resources for high school students to help you figure out what career is the one for you and the tools to help you get there. This guide includes:

Scholarship websites
Résumé building tools
Career assessment tools
Job-search engines
Internship databases
Interview tips

Pay For College: Scholarship Websites

Chegg.com– Browse over 25,000 scholarships and create a profile to generate better matches for you. Receive notifications when you sign up for scholarship deadline reminders, save scholarships you would like to apply for later, and keep track of your applications.

Fastweb.com– Create a profile to easily access scholarships you’ve already qualified for based on your interests, skills, and strengths. You can also organize scholarships by categories to easily keep track of the ones you would like to focus on, and the ones you don’t want to apply for.

Scholarshippoints.com– Earn points by taking surveys, reading college-related articles, solving puzzles and playing games. With each point you earn, you can enter drawings for a chance to win scholarship money! Easy as that.

Cappex.com– Easily apply for special Cappex scholarships with just one click. Browse for merit scholarships that are organized based on academic, artistic and athletic achievements. Have access to private, foundation, and merit scholarships offered by colleges. This website also offers a college search tool that lets you find out what your chances of getting into a specific college are.

Scholarships.com– Create a profile to get matched with the scholarships you are qualified for or search their scholarship directory by major, the area of interest, ethnicity, first-generation scholarships, GPA, state, or type. Besides scholarships, here you can also find information on colleges, admission stats, athletics, enrollment info, majors, tuition and financial aid.

Unigo– Appy for scholarships in a fun way instead of writing essays. You’ll also notice that the website resembles Instagram with a beautiful and easy to browse interface. This site also gives you the option of matching you with scholarships you qualify for through their scholarship match feature, or you can also browse for scholarships by category.

Write A Solid Résumé: Résumé Builder Tools

For simple & effective résumés:

The Ladders– This résumé builder offers you two options: uploading your résumé to import the content into it and receive suggestions on how to improve it, or creating a résumé from scratch. The result should be an easy to scan and easy to update résumé. The free version offers three clean and professional templates to choose from.

résumé.com– This website is quick and easy to use and offers a variety of template options. Once your résumé is created, you may also share it on résumé.com for employers to see for free. A feature that lets you customize your résumé for specific job postings is also available.

résumé-now– Choose from over 20 design templates, browse writing samples and add them to your résumé, and take advantage of the résumé check to scan for spelling and grammar mistakes.

résuméGenius– Build your résumé in 15 minutes, choose from professional HR-approved templates, and choose from already written job description phrases from different industries.

cvmaker– With a simple interface, you’ll be able to create your résumé quickly and effortlessly. This website also offers you the option of hosting your résumé so it can be visible to companies that are hiring.

Standard résumé– If you want something simple to work with, this is what you’re looking for. All you need to do is enter your text, select a color, and a résumé will be created for you. The purpose of this is to create a modern, simple, and highly-scannable résumé.

Impress with your résumé!

VisualCV– VisualCV is a simple and user-friendly option for résumé building. After choosing your design, you can easily create customized versions for each job application, and track the results to see if your résumé has been viewed or downloaded.

Resumonk– This résumé builder allows you to easily create your résumé with a traditional design. Cover letter templates with the same design as the résumé of your choice are also available. Another convenient feature is that it offers the option of saving your résumé to be edited or updated in the future.

Canva– Create highly appealing and elaborate résumés that will leave your interviewers impressed. This website offers a large variety of free stock photos, icons, fonts and backgrounds to personalize your résumé. Canva makes building a résumé fast, fun, and easy.

Find Yourself. Find Your Future: Career Assessment Tools

Career self-assessment tools allow for early career exploration, which leads to informed decisions when it comes to selecting a career. This helps with graduating on time and entering a career that aligns with your goals, skills, and interests.

Myers-Briggs– This $50, 30-minute assessment helps you identify yourself as one of 16 distinctive personality traits to better understand yourself and appreciate differences in others. After taking this questionnaire, you’ll be able to increase your self-awareness, improve your decision making, get along with others better, develop as a leader, find work you enjoy, and enhance your relationships. It also provides you with a short list of careers people of particular personality types tend to enter and what kinds of tasks they tend to enjoy.

SuperStrong (on VitaNavis) – This user-friendly, 10-minute assessment quickly gives you a detailed analysis of your interests and personality and how they relate to careers that may be suitable for you. This assessment not only provides you with extremely useful information but also with actionable tips so you can work towards your goals. You can take this assessment on your phone, tablet or computer. Ask your advisor for more information on how to take this assessment through your college or university.

Find Your Dream Job: Job Search Tools

Monster– After creating an account and uploading your résumé, potential companies can discover you based on your skills and experience. You can also search for jobs by location or area of interest. Monster also emails alerts when jobs of your interest become available.

CareerBuilder– Browse for jobs by category, city, and company. After uploading your résumé or completing a job application, the website will give you job recommendations of your interest.

Snagajob– If you’re looking for an hourly job, this website is your best bet. Snagajob allows you to find jobs that offer a flexible schedule, and are based on compatibility and personality. There’s also a free career builder app available called Snag.

Indeed– This job-related search engine also allows you to search for jobs by job title, keywords, company, and area. If you create an account, you’ll be able to upload your résumé to easily apply for jobs and get job recommendations.

Job search platforms that have a little more to offer:

Idealist– Idealist is not your typical job search engine. Besides being able to find jobs, you’ll also be able to search for internships, volunteer opportunities, events, and organizations all within one website.

LinkedIn– Although LinkedIn is mostly a platform for professionals, you are never too young to have a LinkedIn profile! This website allows you to connect with potential employers, get discovered, search and apply for jobs, and receive updates from the companies you care about. Most companies now expect applicants to have a LinkedIn profile since it provides recruiters with your background, experience, interests, and skills.

Glassdoor– Glassdoor not only allows you to search for jobs, it also offers personalized salary estimates, salaries for specific positions within a company, and company reviews from past and/or current employees.

Gain Experience: Internship Databases

Internships.com– This website was named one of Forbes’ Top 10 Career websites. Internships.com allows you to search for internships by interest, location, or by newly added internships. They also feature an internship predictor that generates job listings, résumé content and career track analysis based on personality traits, interests, and values.

WayUp– Create a profile to share your interests, experience, and skills, and get discovered by companies. Search to find for paid internships or part-time jobs. Besides the website, WayUp offers an app for on-the-go users.

YouTern– After creating a profile, YouTern matches your skills and aspirations to the needs of a company. They also have a blog for tips on internship success.

Idealist– Find internships, jobs, volunteer opportunities, events and organizations all within one website; all you need to do is search by one of the following fields: keyword, skill, interest, or location.

CoolWorks– CoolWorks is exactly what it sounds like— having a cool job in a great place! This website is not necessarily for internship-seekers, but it’s a great resource for finding seasonal jobs or a good option if you’re trying to figure out what you would like to do for a living.