Prior to completing this discussion, please see the Careers in Child and Adolescent Development document and visit the relevant career websites.  Review any relevant Instructor Guidance.

In this discussion you will be exploring aspects of your ideal career by answering the following questions:

• What is the stage of development that you most hope to influence and/or work with?

• Name two concrete ways in which you would like to improve a child or adolescent’s life.

• What domain(s) of development do you feel is (are) most important to help children or adolescents develop?

• What type or level of education are you hoping (or willing) to complete?

• What would be your ideal working conditions (e.g. location, hours, pay, etc.)?

Once you have answered these questions about yourself, relate the value of continued learning by looking at the Careers in Child and Adolescent Development document, choosing a career you feel most closely matches the ideal career preferences you listed, and address the following:

• Identify the career and describe how it is related to child or adolescent development in one or two brief sentences.

• In what ways does this career match your interests?

• In what areas might you have to sacrifice one or more of your ideal job preferences in order to pursue this career?

Guided Response: Review your classmates’ posts and respond to at least two of your peers. Please share what you have learned about careers in child development by looking at your classmate’s interests and suggesting at least one alternative career option you feel may also fit their preferences. Include why you believe that career would suit his/her preferences. Find an alternative job posting for your peer that would provide him/her with another option. Describe the similarities between their interests and this optional position. Also, acknowledge any ways in which this job might not match your peer’s preferences.