Earlier today I was saying that home educators should attempt to offer our kids information about non-traditional jobs. Have you discussed green-collar careers? How about operating their own business? With the forecast recession in the United States and the very real possibility it will trigger what has been called a “global slump,” career planning should include not only backup plans but a look at jobs that are not as likely to be affected by the recession.

ActionCOACH is a business mentoring service whose web site offers a number of resources suitable for career planning education. Check out their news page or sign up for a newsletter. There are also a ton of free e-books that you might find useful for media arts or consumer education, as well as career planning. Learn how professionals make flyers and brochures, for example, or how to design a business card or letterhead. It would be great fun to make a project of setting up an imaginary (or projected) business using what you learn about marketing and promotion.

One of the things I liked best about the site is that coaches’ identities are highlighted. Each article has the photo of the author, and a link to their web page. There is also another link that allows you to contact the coach directly. So many of the articles I’ve been reading lately come from some nameless faceless press service, and don’t even have the byline of the person who wrote them. Despite the fact that internet makes communication easier and we have more training than ever for journalists, it seems a greater proportion of what we read and watch is just a carbon copy or a quick rewrite of text spit out by some anonymous copywriter. (I’m getting images of a desk in some dark dank corner, piled high with file folders!)

I’m not usually a fan of inspirational speakers and their outlines - so many steps to success, so many principles of XYZ business, so many mantras or slogans or catch phrases. As if their way of doing things is the only one….

That being said, I do think that the founder of ActionCOACH has some interesting things to say. He’s pretty to the point, and tends to focus on the positives. Take advantage of the free videos offered at ActionCOACH - they might even inspire a reluctant high schooler. The goal is not success in business alone, but success in life. And in some ways, what is said resonates a good deal with the attitudes of many homeschoolers.

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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