On the internet search www.salary.com to get average salaries for just about any job. For example, put “meteorologist” in the search box. Enter your zip code and choose the salary data for “you” for “free”. This will give you the average salary range that people make in that job for people living in that zip code. You’ll find out that in zip code 33433, 50% of people working in that job make about $100,000 a year.

Another informative site is www.bls.gov providing average salaries for a wide variety of jobs. This site contains other fascinating official statistics on just about any career you can think of.

Also try reading free job postings on the internet or in magazines and newspapers that publish rates of pay. This will give you the most specific and current data for a job.

One word of caution: don’t feel pressured to register or give personal information about yourself to get this information on the internet. There are plenty of locations where you can get the data for free. Also, be careful about clicking on advertisements that pop up unexpectedly.

High school students can qualify for summer jobs as well as internships (paid or unpaid). This enables them to explore what it is like to work in a field and be better prepared to make a career choice. Connections with company programs are best made through the high school guidance counselor or specific subject or academy teachers. Another way to get practical experience at this level in school is at universities which often advertise research programs and special learning opportunities in winter or early spring for summer attendance for a rising Junior or Senior in high school. This is an excellent addition to the high school resume giving you an edge for admissions to the best colleges. Often when applying for scholarships, there will be questions regarding experience in university level programs. The competition is fierce for scholarship money and experience in companies or universities can make the difference between being selected and being passed over.

College students can expand their experience by participating in cooperative education programs coordinated through their academic advisors at the university level. Some universities have a special department dedicated to making connections for students and companies for this purpose. Coops enable students to learn and get practical experience at the same time by alternating a semester of work with one at school. This gets repeated three times, typically working with the same company. The real-world experience often makes the classroom learning much easier because school and work is so closely linked. Coop programs are also flexible. I have had college students tell me that after one coop term working with a company, they decided the work was not for them. This was a valuable lesson that saved them from choosing the wrong field and even the wrong major. They were able to work with their advisor to redirect their coop work and place them in another assignment that better suited their interest.

Whatever you choose to do, I strongly recommend exploring career possibilities by getting practical work experience. This is truly the best way to find out if the work and environment suit your talents and passions. A few weeks or months of exploration this way can direct you to what you will spend a lifetime doing.

A lot of companies want Liberal Arts grads, especially in sales and management trainee positions. One way to find out who those companies are and what career choices they offer would be to contact the placement office at your local university, or to regularly visit the placement office to review the listing of companies scheduled to visit the campus. They will list the degrees they are looking for. A placement advisor can also provide historical information and statistics on the types of degrees sought by companies and the number of companies seeking those degrees. Some placement offices will provide answers by email for students considering their university after high school.

Whereas few companies will actually advertise positions for Liberal Arts graduates, when companies advertise entry level openings and simply state "degree required", without listing specific degrees, it is a very good indicator that they will consider liberal arts grads. As I mentioned earlier, many of those are in sales and management trainee positions, often in the service or retail sectors.