Although I’m only 12, I still am trying to find my career early. That’s what my careers teacher said. I really think that I might want to be an eye doctor, though I don’t know why. And I don’t know how my parents would react to that. I don’t know much about what an eye doctor does. I tried searching on the internet but instead I came across you so I figured I’d email you. Can you help me find out more about this career and how I should react to the fact of telling my parents?

The Career Doctor responds:

Wow… I think it is great that you are contemplating future careers, but 12 seems pretty young to really know what you want to do with your life… but I am glad to help you with the process.

A lot of people pick careers without knowing why — and that’s okay if they luck into a career that matches their interests and skills. Unfortunately, a lot of people fall into the wrong careers and spend many years in a job they don’t like — or worse. Thus, it is important to regularly do some career planning — at ANY age.

The one thing you want to avoid the most is choosing a career for either the wrong reasons (high salary) or because of outside influences (family).

An eye doctor — an optometrist — is primarily responsible for the health of his or her patients’ eyes. Optometrists prescribe eyeglasses and contact lenses — and refer patients with more serious issues to ophthalmologists (who perform eye surgery). Besides the four years of college, prospective optometrists must attend graduate school and earn a Doctor of Optometry degree, and then pass national and state exams before being given a license to practice.

I think the two most important characteristics for a career in optometry is a high level of skill in science and a desire to help people.

Why would you not want to discuss this career path with your parents? It’s a great profession and something to strive for — even if you find something that interests you even more next year!

There are many great sources of career information available online and in print, and I encourage you to use them. Also, assuming you have an eye doctor, see if you can schedule an appoint to talk with him or her about the pros and cons of the job.

Please use these Career Exploration Tools and Resources to help you learn more about optometry or any other career.

I just read your article, Choosing a College Major: How to Chart Your Ideal Path. I plan to have my daughter read the links you suggested. My daughter is making decisions about AP coursework and is a little lost about what she wants to do. The school she attends just gave them some sort of aptitude test. She scored highly in the working with people and the arts areas. This is a fine way to start thinking about what she wants to do, but she is lost when it comes to finding out what type of real-life jobs exist in these areas. What do you recommend she do to get some real job insights?

The Career Doctor responds:

It’s never too early to be thinking about careers, but please remember that what interests a teen at 15 might not at 20. As I have mentioned before, I am all for having high-school students thinking about possible careers, but I am against high schools putting students in career tracks at such an early age.

Here’s my recommendation for her next steps. First, do some more assessment — take a personal inventory of the classes and activities she likes to do and then take another assessment or two (which you can do online or possibly through the school’s guidance department). The goal should be a solid list of interests and skills, as well as some career direction.

Second, begin exploring careers that match up with her interests by using sources such as the Department of Labor’s Career Guide to Industries (online and in print), which can be found linked from Quintessential Careers. These sources will provide all sorts of information, from expected job growth to working conditions to education required.

Third, talk with people working in those areas of interest. She should conduct informational interviews and ask about job-shadowing opportunities. As she begins to look at colleges, she can also talk with professors in the areas that she has the most interest.

To find specific career exploration tools, go to this section of Quintessential Careers: Career Exploration Tools and Resources.