The career planning and exploration of youth living with HIV (YLH) is explored. A total of 115 YLH completed the Career Decision Scale and the Career Planning subscale of the Career Development Inventory indexes of emotional distress physical health coping techniques used and demographic information. YLH reported significantly lower scores for career planning than did the normative group. YLH who scored higher on career planning reported less emotional distress were more likely to use positive coping and were less likely to use self-destructive or depressed coping. YLH who were more certain of their occupational choice had less emotional distress and used more positive coping. None of the career development scores related to time since HIV diagnosis or T-cell count. As one of the first studies exploring the career development of YLH the findings suggest the viability of further investigation of the career development of YLH and of interventions for promoting career development. (authors)