Free What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles, Carol Christen, Jean M. Blomquist Page B

school, you have to meet certain academic requirements, but you often have some choice as to how you fulfill those requirements—and you usually have the freedom to choose your electives. Making savvy academic choices can help you land your dream job. If you think that you’ll be going to college, check with your college adviser (or a college that interests you) to schedule the high school courses that will be most beneficial to you when you get to college. For example, taking certain AP (advanced placement) or language courses may actually fulfill college requirements and enable you to begin work on your major sooner, and maybe even finish college sooner.
    But what if you’re not that clear about your future? Here are some ideas that will help you no matter what you decide to do after high school:
• Keep your grades up. Strive to get the best grades you can. When you get your report card, ask yourself, “Did I do the best I could in every class?” If not, up your effort.
• Language skills are very valuable. In addition to English, the languages of choice in the business world are Spanish and Chinese. If you’re interested in working in business, seriously consider taking Chinese if your school offers it. Spanish can be useful in many fields—teaching, social service, building and construction, and others. If your school offers Spanish, consider taking it every year.
• If one of your goals in life is to get a well-paying job, take math and science classes. Many challenging careers and high-paying jobs rely heavily on math and science. If your school doesn’t have good teachers in these areas, find a tutor or teach yourself using a self-help math book. A librarian or knowledgeable salesperson at a bookstore can give you suggestions about books that are popular and easy to use.
• Broaden your horizons by learning more about your community, your country, and the world. Through your church or a community service organization (like the Lions Club or Rotary), you may be able to find volunteer projects at home and abroad.
• Talk to adults you know and respect. Ask them how they came to do what they’re doing. Find out what they like and don’t like about their work. Ask if there’s anything they wish they had known or done (in high school or later) that would have affected what they’re doing today.

Developing Job-Search Skills and Creating a Career Portfolio
    By doing the exercises in this book, you’ve already started developing your job-search skills, a process that will continue throughout your years of work. Particular job-search skills—skills for information and job interviews, expanding your contacts, writing cover letters and thank-you notes—build on the groundwork you laid in the Discovery Exercises in part 1 . These concrete skills willhelp you pursue your career goals and find your dream job. (They may even help you land a good part-time or summer job while you’re in high school.) Good job-search skills make the job search easier and more efficient as well as more effective.

Visited an In-and-Out Burger restaurant lately? Every member of the team is fully engaged and treats customers with courtesy. I’m hiring a kid that has those skills. I won’t fret too much about their GPA.
—JIM ASCHWANDEN, Rancher and Executive Director, California Agricultural Teachers’ Association

    If your high school or public library has a career center, check it out—it’s a good place to build your job-search skills. Find out what resources the center offers. Does it have classes on resume writing, preparing for job interviews, using social networking, or writing cover letters and thank-you notes? If so, take advantage of them. Talk with the career center staff about your interests and goals. They know a lot about careers and jobs and can point you to helpful resources and opportunities. If you don’t have access to a career center, use the Internet and the relevant resources and websites listed in this