Despite the doom and gloom headlines about the tough economy, a new poll shows that teens entering the workforce today are confident they will one day have their ideal job. The findings come from the “Kids and Careers” poll conducted by Junior Achievement and ING.
90 percent of the teens surveyed say they’re confident about landing their ideal job. Additionally, the majority – 84 percent – say they’d pass up getting that perfect job for the opportunity to make a difference in the world. When asked what would motivate them to pass up the “ideal” job, more teens chose, “having decision-making responsibilities,” having a job that was challenging and working at a job that had a “positive impact on society” versus “being well paid.”
The teens’ optimism runs counter to the findings of a recent study conducted by the Conference Board, which found the level of job satisfaction among adults was at 45 percent – a 22-year low.
JA Worldwide president, Jack E. Kosakowski, says, “teens are telling us they want to channel this energy and invest in their future careers.” Rhonda Mims, president of the ING Foundation, adds, “from an employer’s perspective, programs such as JA Job Shadow are key to creating a well-prepared workforce, because they provide a multi-faceted approach to teaching career skills.”
Gabrielle Ruiz, age 17, a senior and a JA participant, thinks that the Job Shadow program is, “awesome” and adds, “job shadowing helped me decide what kind of career I want to pursue. After shadowing someone at AT&T, I found I had the talent to excel at accounting.”
JA also provides virtual Job Shadow job experiences free of charge. More on the new virtual component coming on Monday!
