Without a career plan you wander through college but when things get tough you drop out to take a menial $9 per hour job that you can never be proud of.

You spend your life flipping burgers.

Your friends graduate from a name brand university in a field they seem to love. Their first job pays $70,000 per year and they are driving a brand new BMW while you are punching the clock in a dead end job.

Let's say you do well in college but part way through you change majors because you were never sure what you wanted to study. You spend an additional two years in school and another $30 to $40K of your parents money to make up for the lost credits.

You make it through college and land a job. After a few years in that career you find you hate it but it's too late to go back and get into another field. You're trapped.

Perhaps, you get your education. You find work that you enjoy. But then your entire industry is obsoleted by a new technology. Lay off time. Could you have seen this coming if you had been doing career planning?

It Doesn't Have To Be That Way

What might your future look like if you do a bit of career planning now?

Lets say that after taking our Career Interest Test and our Personality Test you've selected a first and second career choice.

Knowing what you want to study you are now able to identify a university which has a top reputation in that field. Because you are so focused and committed to the field, you have no problem getting into that school.

Further more, because you are focused and you know what you want to do, you find yourself meeting people in your chosen career and they help you land the best possible job. Perhaps you land a summer internship working in the field of your choice.

When studies get tough, and your classmates are thinking of quitting and moving into an easier major, you stay on track. You know what you want to do. You have a road map to the future. You have confidence and direction, something most other students will not have. You have a competitive advantage.

When you graduate, even if times are tough and there aren't many job openings, you've made connections. You've made an impression on people in your chosen field. Your biggest problem will be deciding which job offer to take.

You've scored your first job. Since you targeted this career through the career planning process, you are in a job you can do well. Opportunities and promotions come your way. You enjoy what you do. The rewards start flowing in. You are able to buy that dream car, and the dream house. Your dreams have become reality.

Sound too good to be true? Not really. If you consider that most of your peer group won't have access to any career planning, you can have a competitive advantage.

Years ago, many middle schools and high schools used to provide considerable career planning in the 8th and 9th grades. Today, budget cuts have made it difficult for schools to provide this valuable service.

Most students in high school aren't sure what they want to do for a living. Fortunately, there is something you can do about it, but you should start early. We recommend starting career planning in the 8th or 9th grade. However, it's never too late since you will be using the career planning methods through out the rest of your working life.

Most students don't get the opportunity to figure out what they want to do. In most cases it's because no one shows them how. That's where CareerPlanner.com can help.

Planning Your College Major and Your First Career

Step 1) Take the Career Interest Test (CiT)

The CiT will take you about 15 minutes to complete and another 10 minutes to read the report. It will cost you about $32. When your report is ready you can find it by logging in and going to the Members Menu.

The report is in PDF format. You can save it to your hard disk or print it out. You can then read and discuss with your parents, friends, mentors and counselors.

This report will give you your Holland Code which is a 2 or 3 letter code that identifies the type of work and careers that are a good match for you. The report also shows you which careers you should avoid.

These results are based on the concept that if you are truly interested in a field, or a type of work, you will naturally become good at it. The more passionate you are about your work, the greater the chance that you will be successful and happy with it.

Picture the opposite. Take your worst subject in school and imagine spending every day of your life working in that field.

To purchase the Career Interest Test click here

To learn more about the Career Interest Test, click here

Step 2) Take the Personality Type Test

In step 1 we base your career direction on what your true interests are. Now in step 2 we will base your career direction on something totally different, and that is your Personality Type.

I know this sounds a bit weird. After all what does your personality have to do with your career direction?

There is an entire field of science behind Personality Types. The technology we use in our free personality test was originally developed by noted Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung in his 1922 break- through book, Psychological Types. Later, Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs adapted it to help people identify the types of careers they would enjoy the most.

In short, you have the same 4 Letter Personality Type from birth to death. It describes many things about you, such as what type of people you get along with and those who you will never get along with. It covers what types of activities you enjoy and are good at, and which activities you probably won't like.

You can take the Free Personality Test by clicking here.

However, to learn what your 4 Letter Personality Type means and which careers are a good match, you will have to buy the Advanced Personality Type Career Report. It costs less than going to the movies. Sorry, we would give it away, but we do have to earn a living. Plus it took over 5 years of research and product development to create this tool.

Five Things You Should Know About Your Future Career

1) You will most likely live to be over 120 years old

If you are in high school or college right now, medical technology will progress enough in your lifetime that you can expect to live past 120 years of age.

This means you might want to take a few hours now to plan your career. What's a few hours and a few dollars when you have another 100 years to spend?

2) Without a plan, you are like a ship without a rudder

Without a career plan you will be blown off course by the slightest breeze.

College students are well known for changing majors, losing credits, dropping out, or taking too long to graduate.

Without a clear career direction, or at least a few selected career options in place, they wander from major to major. When times get tough, and the classes become hard, self doubt begins to creep in.

Having a firm career direction will help keep you on track during tough times.

3) You will have more than one career in your lifetime

In the United States and the rest of the developed world, it is becoming common for a person to have more than one career in a lifetime.

Doctors and attorneys tend to stay in the same field of work, but engineers, computer scientists, actors and entrepreneurs may change the type of work they do as many as five times or more.

4) When in doubt aim high

If you are torn between becoming a doctor or an engineer, aim for the highest paid career that also has the most demanding educational requirements.

If you try the hardest first, and decide it's too tough, or you just don't like it, at least you will have tried it. It's easy to move to a field with lower educational requirements. It's almost impossible to move up once you've started.

5) Do what you like and the money will follow

If you work at something you like, you will be good at it, and the best people usually rise to the top. However, don't do something just for the money unless you do not have any better options.

It's almost impossible to be successful doing work you do not enjoy. Actually you can do it, but you will hate it and life won't be much fun.

So pick the right career now. You will be glad you did.