The sooner you begin making plans for your future in career, the better off you will be. Consider how competitive the job market has become, it is never very early to start to think about your career. "What are you going to do while you grow up?" is an ordinary question, even for elementary school children, but today, high schoolers are reportedly planning to the lead and looking for internships to help them get into college and land job opportunities down road.

The world's largest internship marketplace, announced a new study, "High School Careers," that surveyed 4,769 students (172 high school students and 4,597 college students) 326 employers from crossways the country. The study found high schoolers are in fact more entrepreneurial than college students. A lot of high school students surveyed are interested in internships to get new skills, work experience and to network.

The sponsors of the study, Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of "Promote Yourself", suggest the following reasons why it is important for you to start to think about your future career at the same time as you are still in high school-

You will grow your network early- If you are thinking about your career, you will make a point to start to network. Schawbel notes: "By going to school sponsored events, local meetups and connecting with your teachers, you can grow an influential network that would support you in college admissions and beyond. Few high school students take the time to meet professional contacts, leverage them to create opportunities and then keep in touch with them when they graduate."

There is no question that having a professional network is helpful for career success. High school students who focus on career early are more expected to be motivated to focus on their personal brand. It encourages teenagers to create profiles on their professional network and young people who are interested in their future are more probable to take advantage of this and other online and in-person tools to enlarge their network.

You will be more competitive for college applications-

If you are applying to colleges, your part-time job or internship experience can put up a case for you as a strong applicant. "Since many students apply to college after high school without having completed an internship, your experience over the summer can help you show up from the crowd of students," Richards explains. "The admissions committee will be able to see that you are aggravated, inquisitive and serious about success from the information that you used your break to work and increase professional experience."

You will have a head start figuring out what you want to do after high school- When you increase work experience, it will be easier to exclude the majors you won't be interested in if you go to college, so you don't do any career mistakes. Or, you might learn that you want to practice a career that does not require a college degree, and you can save numerous money, time and effort. "The sooner you understand what you do and do not want to do for a career, the easier it would be to make the right career decisions," Schawbel says. "In high school there is no pressure to pick a major or a career so it is the best time to research."

You will learn a lot- Just applying for internships is a vast learning experience. Richards explains that "Going throughout the internship application process and completing a summer internships program offers valuable supervisory lessons that can come in handy when applying to colleges and future summer internships." She adds that "additionally to learning important skills that will make you a very valuable employee, a summer job or internship in high school can help you expand confidence and a better understanding of the real world."