Find Your Path
Career Readiness & Exploration
There are so many paths a person can take, it can be hard to find the right one for you and figure out where to start. Next Steps Idaho can help. Explore the resources below to take aptitude quizzes to match your strengths to potential job opportunities, explore career and education options, find scholarships and ways to pay for education or training, and get your materials ready to apply for your next job!
Understanding Your Skills & Strengths
Interest & Value Quizzes
The basis of a fulfilling career starts with understanding what your own personal strengths, needs, values, and interests are. Once you’ve got a clear picture, you can start looking for careers that fit your goals. Explore the tools below to start learning about you!
Plan Smart: It pays to think ahead. find careers that match your financial needs. Get started.
Work Values Inventory: Complete the Work Values quiz to discover the type of work environment & culture that fits your personal values. Get started.
Career Cluster Interest Survey: Start your career search by finding your Career Cluster to discover an array of related jobs reflecting your interests. Get started.
Learning Styles Survey: Take the Learning Styles Survey to find out how you learn best & be more productive in your studies. Get started.
Interest Profiler: Take the interest Profiler quiz to discover your interests and explore how they relate to the world of work. Get started.
Future Finder: Find a career that fits. Future Finder is a quiz that matches your skills & interests with career options you may enjoy. Get started.
Finding the Perfect School For You
Explore Education
Big Future’s Major Search: Check out Big Future’s Major profiles to find the training program that’s right for you. Discover the degree type and helpful high school courses that will get you to the finish line. Get started.
National College Finder: Considering college options outside of Idaho? Use Peterson’s college search to learn about school costs, majors and degrees offered, and campus life before you decide where to apply. Get started.
Big Future’s College Search: Planning for college doesn’t have to be stressful. Take advantage of Big Future’s robust college search and filtering features to consider all of your options for college. Get started.
Idaho Public Schools: Learn more about Idaho’s public colleges and universities. The Next Steps Idaho Schools Directory gives you the quick facts you need to get started on your college search. Get started.
Idaho Private Schools: Aeronautics, midwifery, and more can be found within Idaho’s borders, yet outside of the public school system. Consider a degree from these institutions. Get started.
Idaho Proprietary Schools: Find hands-on experiences, a fast(er) track to financial independence, and legitimate postsecondary certification from these trade-focused businesses. Note: these are NON-degree-granting schools. Get started.
College Test Prep
If your journey is taking you down the college route, there are a lot of resources that can help you prepare. Explore these resources to make sure you're ready to ace your AP tests, score high on ACT and SATs, and prep your materials for any admissions tests that might come your way.
Paying for Your Education
Scholarship & Financing Options
If continued education is in your future, there are a lot of resources you can use to help you figure out how to pay for college. Explore the scholarship and financing resources to help you find the right options for you.
Scholarship Opportunities
- State Board Scholarships: Learn more about the variety of scholarship options managed by the Idaho State Board of Education and available to Idaho students. Learn more.
- Micro Scholarships: Use RaiseMe to earn micro-scholarships from colleges as early as 9th grade. Start by following schools and recording your achievements today. Learn more.
- Targeted Scholarships: Fastweb connects students—ALL students—to targeted scholarships, colleges, financial aid, part-time jobs, and more. Learn more.
- Unique Scholarships: Discover athletic scholarships, college-specific scholarships, merit-based scholarships, minority scholarships, and scholarships by major with Unigo. Learn more.
- National Scholarships: Use Peterson’s scholarship search to find national scholarship and grant opportunities you may be eligible to apply for. Learn more.
- BigFuture: Not just another powerful national scholarship search engine, you can also find many postsecondary planning resources here. Learn more.
- Idaho Scholarships: Find out about scholarships just for Idaho residents. Use the sort feature to find opportunities you can qualify for based on your GPA. Learn more.
Finance Your Education
- Idaho College Savings Program: Tap into IDEAL, Idaho’s state-sponsored tax-advantage savings plan, to help you pay for the cost of college. Learn more.
- Big Future’s Financial Aid Tips: Use the Big Future’s Financial Aid tips to understand college costs and figure out ways you can pay for school. Learn more.
- Financial Literacy Videos & Tips: Looking for some basics on budgeting, credit scores, loans, and investments? Check out CapEd’s Learning Center. Learn more.
- Student Loan Options: Check out Sallie Mae and start learning about the wide variety of private student loan options to help finance your education. Learn more.
- FAFSA Info & Application: Financial aid starts with FAFSA. Discover the documents you’ll need and get started using the online form. Learn more.
- 7 Things You Need Before You Fill Out the FAFSA: Prepare and conquer. Arm yourself with this information and identification. Learn more.
- 11 Common FAFSA Mistakes: Read twice, click once. Heed these cautionary tips to avoid hours of grief and acres of confusion. Learn more.
Explore Careers
Find your perfect job
Use this interactive search tool to research careers. Filter through hundreds of jobs according to industry demand, wages, job descriptions, and training/education requirements. Get started.
Resumes and Cover Letters
Ready to start looking for a new job? Make sure your resume is up-to-date and prepare a strong cover letter to make yourself a strong candidate! Use MyFuture to create the cover letter that will get you in the door. Then, try out MyFuture's user-friendly resume builder to help you turn your experience into a professional & modern-looking resume helping you apply for the jobs you want. For some jobs, you will also want a letter of recommendation. Explore these tools to make sure you have everything you need to get the job!