John G Bendt

I believe we should do more to help teens prepare for their work life. Most schools spend little effort teaching teens how to use career discovery tools to identify occupations they will find interesting and fulfilling, or the strategies and tactics they can use to nurture their readiness to compete when they begin their careers. For example, we should be teaching teens what determines who wins the competition for a job, and the key skills employers value. Studies show many college grads are lacking in key skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving.

I wrote A Roadmap To Career Success to fill this void. I've also written career planning articles for education publications, and conducted career planning seminars for middle and high school students. To demonstrate the need for doing more, here is some feedback from two high school freshman who attended one of my seminars:

"Thank you so much for opening my eyes to see that in order to succeed in life, we need to have a lot of qualities that I never would have guessed. I now have a better understanding of how to succeed and ways to get there."

"Thank you so much for coming and speaking to us, and teaching us about work and skills, and what we can do right now to be successful in life, and how to prepare for the future. You taught me so much, and I found all of it so helpful. I will take it with me for the rest of my life."