everY dollar
In manufacTured goods generaTes an
addITIonal $1.43 In economIc acTIvITY for
Texas—more THan anY oTHer secTor.
research Your Career Options You should set up a TAP that takes you through
Once you’ve learned about yourself, learn more career preparation after high school, revising your
about your career options. There are thousands of blueprint as needed as you go along. If your career
occupations out there of which you may never have plans include college study, ask your counselor
heard, including some that do not exist because the about tests required for admission to college,
technologies have not yet been developed. Fortunately, such as the PSAT, SAT, or ACT.
there are plenty of resources (see inside back cover) for
you, and they are as close as the nearest computer. seek Out special Programs
Manufacturing
One of the most helpful is the Occupation and Many Texas schools offer innovative programs to
Skill Computer-Assisted Researcher (or OSCAR, prepare students for specific career areas. These
ctsOs
for short) from the Texas Workforce Commission. include career and technical education (CTE)
one of the best ways to acquire
It is a vast database of information about hundreds programs, academies, and magnet schools. Once
experience in your chosen
of professions. You can find OSCAR at www. you’ve decided on a career direction, ask your
career is by joining a career and
ioscar.org/tx. Another good place to start is counselor about special programs in your area that
technical student organization
O*NET (online.onetcenter.org). may provide related experiences in your chosen career.
(cTso). In manufacturing, the
Gather information about what you can earn in the Samuel Odamah, an undergraduate student in
most helpful cTsos are:
careers in which you are interested. Find out whether architecture enrolled at the University of Texas at
the careers you are considering have a promising Arlington, found his career calling at Dallas’s Skyline • Business Professionals
future—are they adding or losing jobs? Check out the Career Development Center, a high school with career
of America (BPA)
education you’ll need to enter those careers. programs in a number of different fields.
www.texasbpa.com
The chart on pages 10–11 presents data on 25 “Skyline is one of the few schools in the country
• Future Business Leaders
possible professions. Remember, though, that these that offer programs in architecture,” Odamah says.
of America (FBLA)
are just a sampling of careers available in the cluster. “In some careers, Skyline students could even get www.txfbla.org
Go to OSCAR, O*NET, or another resource to professional certifications or licenses right in high
investigate other careers. school. It was a great place because you could find out
• SkillsUSA
www.txskillsusa.org
whether you really wanted to enter a career.”
Create Your TAP Odamah says that the career cluster system at
• Texas Technology
Once you have a better idea of your interests and Skyline taught him the value of planning for his career Students Association (TSA)
abilities, you are ready to plan for high school and and his life. “We learned about planning ahead,” he
www.texastsa.org
beyond. The Texas Achievement Plan, or TAP, is your says. “Those who plan things ahead of time don’t have
plan for preparing for the career of your choice. to catch up. It’s just a matter of what a person wants
“Students first choose a cluster,” says Terry Brock, out of life. Planning gives you a better platform
“not a particular occupational goal. In the eighth grade for success.”
a student might choose Health Science and then later
become interested in a narrower field such as surgery
or radiology technology.”
The program of study you choose—and plan—
does not stop with graduation from high school,
Brock emphasizes. “A student could then pursue a
two-year degree as an x-ray technician or a four-year
degree as a radiologist.”
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