Career Exploration — Informational Interview with Yourself
The young adult researches and discusses potential career paths using an informational interview framework — not to pick a career, but to develop the research skills, self-knowledge, and realistic planning needed to make informed decisions about work and professional life. Through structured exploration, the young adult reveals career awareness, research skills, the ability to apply self-knowledge to work contexts, and capacity for realistic planning that balances aspiration with pragmatism.
Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.
What you'll need
Phone or laptop for research lookups. Paper for notes. The young adult should come with some genuine interest areas — even vague ones are fine ('something with science,' 'something creative,' 'something that helps people'). If they have absolutely no ideas, the first turn will help generate some. The parent should think about their own career path honestly: the planned parts, the accidental parts, and what they wish they'd known.
How it works
- 1~45s
your child, pick ONE of the careers or fields you named. Now research it like a journalist — not by reading a one-paragraph description on a career website, but by finding real information. What does a typical DAY look like in this career? Not the highlight reel — the actual routine. What does it pay at entry level versus mid-career? What education or training is required, and what does that cost? What's the job market like — growing, shrinking, or transforming? What do people in this field say they love about it? What do they say they hate? Take a few minutes to look this up. Then tell you what you found. you, tell me how your child researches — surface-level or genuinely investigative.
Watch for: Career awareness — depth of understanding about what careers actually involve beyond titles and stereotypes
- 2~40s
your child, now the harder part: fitting what you know about yourself to what you've learned about the career. Not just 'am I interested in it?' but: Does this career use my actual strengths or just my interests? There's a difference — you can love music without being a musician. Does the daily REALITY of this work match my personality? If I'm introverted, a career that's 80% meetings might be torture regardless of how interesting the subject is. Can I handle the downsides? Every career has aspects that are boring, stressful, or unpleasant. Am I willing to tolerate THIS career's specific downsides? How honest can you be about the fit between who you are and what this career actually demands? you, tell me how well your child assesses the fit — and whether their self-knowledge matches what you observe about them.
Watch for: Applied research skills — ability to gather information, synthesize it, and apply it to personal decision-making
- 3~40s
Final question. your child, given everything — the research, the self-assessment, the parent's input — what's your realistic next step? Not your five-year plan. Your NEXT step. The one specific action you could take in the next month to move from career speculation to career exploration. Maybe it's reaching out to someone who does this work and asking them five questions. Maybe it's trying a project or volunteer role that simulates the work. Maybe it's taking a specific class or reading a specific book. Maybe it's honestly admitting this career isn't the right fit and researching a different one. What's the one thing? And you, what career lesson — from your own non-linear path — would you most want your child to carry forward? Tell me both.
Watch for: Self-knowledge applied to work — ability to integrate understanding of oneself with realistic career planning and next steps