US needs mechanics and nurses, but kids want to be influencers

Young people with realistic goals are likely to succeed. But few students get useful career guidance,

writes Anne Kim, senior fellow at FutureEd, on The 74.

Counselors are in short supply, and high schools are still pushing “college for all,” writes Kim. "Despite increasing interest in alternative pathways," many students -- and high school counselors -- are "unaware of the careers they could pursue, the availability of jobs locally, and the skills required." In a 2024 survey, two-thirds of young adults ages 16 to 24 said they “do not know exactly what career they want to pursue.”

Career exploration starts early in Cajon Valley, California schools.

The dream career for nearly half of Gen Z respondents in a 2025 Morning Consult survey is "content creator," notes Kim's Future Shock report. Working in "media and entertainment" is also a popular goal. They think it's an easy path to riches. Only a third want a "traditional job."

Students want jobs they see in daily life or jobs that seem glamorous, says Diane Tavenner, who runs the career navigation startup Futre.me. They start career research by looking at "professional athletes, lawyers, actors, singers, hairdressers, cosmetologists, fashion designers and pilots."

Her platform's database "features more than 800 careers that offer a living wage, half of which don’t require a four-year degree," writes Kim. Students can research what's involved in various jobs, what training and credentials are required and what they'd earn.

It's one of several tools on the market to provide more information than a human counselor may have -- if there is a counselor with time to help.

Some schools are integrating career plannings into curriculum, writes Kim. California’s Cajon Valley Union School District has developed a “World of Work” curriculum that starts in elementary school.

Other schools bring in nonprofits, such as Jobs for the Future’s Britebound Center and grantees of Strada Education’s Quality Coaching initiative, to provide "coaching, advising and access to work-based learning."

I'd like to see career advice coupled with honesty about the academic demands of various jobs.

Years ago, a high school teacher shared her student's career goals with me. "I want to be a peedatrisn," one girl wrote. Another girl said she wanted to be a pediatrician (with somewhat better spelling) or a supermarket checker. A third said she wanted to work with children so maybe she'd be a pediatrician. (The high achievers all wanted to be geneticists that year.)

Kids who are just barely passing math and science aren't going to succeed in engineering or nursing. They're not going to be able to qualify as electricians or mechanics. You don't like to read because you can't focus for more than a paragraph? You're not going to be a lawyer. And we all hope you're not going to be a pilot.

Less than 10% of young workers with only a high school diploma are in "launchpad jobs, which have a clear trajectory for career growth," writes Kim. "Meanwhile, nearly 42% of recent college graduates are stuck in jobs that underutilize their credentials." Even worse, "as many as 4.3 million young people ages 16 to 24 — more than 1 in 10 — are 'disconnected' from both work and school." 

"The bottom rung of the career ladder is disappearing," writes Bruno V. Manno on The 74. Only 15 percent of teenagers in the recent American Teenagers Survey reported having a part-time job, and even among 16- and 17-year-olds it was only 28 percent. "A generation ago, a summer job or an afterschool shift was a routine rite of passage. . . . Teenagers learned to show up on time, take direction from someone who wasn’t a parent or teacher and get paid for reliability rather than talent."