Career Exploration

Learning Objectives:
• Students can give at least two examples
of how individual skills and interests
relate to a variety of career pathways.
• Students understand what training and
education is required to find success in a
variety of careers.
Career Reality Check video from CAREERwide Education:
https://vimeo.com/iseek/realitycheck.
Exploration Meet Dave, a 22 year old, about to graduate college. His ‘big’ dreams
Kick-off Activity: consist of making $150k a year, own a big house and multiple nice cars, and
take lots of vacations with friends.
After watching the video, answer the following questions:
• What were Dave’s big dreams upon graduating from college?
• How much did Dave think he would make as a Software Developer?
• Why aren’t Dave’s plans very realistic?
• How does that impact his big dreams?
Career Use an online Reality Check tool , Jump$tart:

Exploration http://www.jumpstart.org/reality-check.html

Classroom • Imagine you just graduated from high school and are about to embark on the
Activity: adventure of adulthood.
• As a group, answer the following Reality Check tool questions for your own

“Dave” character.
• Decide answer to each question and click on answer.

• How much salary will your character need to meet their lifestyle choice?

• What are some jobs that can support such a lifestyle?

• What education level provides that hourly wage?

• Is your character’s lifestyle dreams realistic?

Activity: • Explore the relationship between how much education or training

Education Goals
Career Practice your research skills associated with career exploration.
1. Choose a career from your interest list.
Exploration :
2. Gather information from job descriptions, Career Central, O*NET, and other
websites to learn more about job duties, responsibilities, required
Career Research education/training, minimum experience, earnings, and advancement
opportunities.
Activity
3. Consider geographic locations, benefits, and other information related to
the Labor Market.
4. Use the Big 6 Getting Started or Research Project Organizer handouts to
organize your project
5. Choose the best mode of representation and expression for capturing and
sharing research information. Suggestions include: PowerPoint or Prezi
presentation, short video, story board, multi-media format, or lecture.
Map It Online • How can you use what you know about your identity and
personality to make a good job match?
Activity:
Next Steps
Map It Online Career Clusters are groups of jobs that require similar knowledge and skills.
Ready, set, explore!
Activity:
Career Clusters
Career
Exploration:
Community Based
Job Shadows
Map It Online
Activity:
Career Goals
Career • Create a list of local occupations to invite to an Occupation Interview.

Exploration: • Ask the employer to share what their business is about and discuss career
goals related to their occupation.
• Prepare by researching the company beforehand to build background
Occupation knowledge and develop meaningful questions.
Interview • Questions may include:
• How did you get this job?
• What kind of training/certification is needed?
• Describe your typical work day.
• What 3 hard skills do you use most often? 3 soft skills?
• What are entry level jobs in your field?
• What are examples of career goals related to your field?
• Here are my strengths. How do they fit in this field?
• Follow up with a thank you note for each interviewee.
Career Watch Biz Kid$ It’s A Job Getting a Job on DCMP:
https://www.dcmp.org/media/7094-biz-kid-it-s-a-job-getting-a-job/stream?
Exploration: digest=34716
(watch the first 4:20 seconds for this activity)
Meet Ray, the owner of Fabulous, a motor coach company. Students are
It’s a Job Getting a introduced to Ray (owner), Larry (driver), and Hilary (Human Resource
Job Activity Representative). Discuss these various job within a single company
(occupation).
• What are the roles and responsibilities of each person?
• What are the skills needed for each job?
• What does Hilary look for in a potential employee?
• What advice does Ray offer?
• Which role would be best for you based on your Learning Style Inventory
and Multiple Intelligence Assessment from Section One?
Career • Independently complete a Jump$tart online reality Check:
http://www.jumpstart.org/reality-check.html (or use your state’s CIS Reality
Exploration: Check program).
• Answer the questions to the best of your abilities by clicking on the answer.
Reality Check • In pairs or small groups, discuss the following questions:
• Are your results what you expected?
• Do the jobs align with your job zone or career cluster?
• What level of education do you need to reach your needed salary?
• Are your lifestyle goals realistic?
Career • Start your Career Portfolio for both employment and post-secondary
education/training programs.
Exploration: • Gather material in a binder, or accordion file, or students upload materials to a
free online ePortfolios, such as Pathbrite (https://pathbrite.com/#maker).
Career Portfolio • Portfolio materials may include the following items: achievements, best course
work, special projects, and extracurricular activities.
• Within a Career Portfolio, show what you know and who you are through a
visual collection of meaningful material.
• (Teacher’s Note: If using ePortfolio- choose resources that may help students get
started):
• Ohio Department of Administrative Services:
http://das.ohio.gov/Portals/0/DASDivisions/HumanResources/LPD/pdf/LPD_Car
eerPortfolio.pdf
• Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology:
https://www.okcareertech.org/educators/career-and-academic-connections/1175
6CarActFile.pdf
• Heritage High School 21st Century Digital Portfolio:
http://heritage.nn.k12.va.us/career_portfolios.html
• Maine Career Advantage: http://
Career • Start your resume, a tool that summarizes your qualifications:
• Contact information
Exploration: • Education
• Work/Volunteer experiences
• Skills
Resume • Abilities
• Resumes are included in your Career Portfolio and required by most Human
Resources departments for applicants.
• Access resume builder programs through your state’s Career Information
Systems (CIS), templates in computer software, and a variety of other online
programs.
• Save 3 file types of your resume by graduation: original (word doc or other
compatible format), a pdf, and plain text (for online submission).
Career • A Visual Resume is similar to a traditional resume, but offers employers a visual
representation of who you are and what you can do.
Exploration: • Access the Visual Resume Template and Allison’s Visual Resume Example handouts to
help create a visual resume.
• Highlight your individual skills and connect your interest to the career field.
Visual Resume • Include your interests/passion, previous volunteer, work, or intern experience, and
soft and hard skills.
• Keep your Visual Resume short, specific, and show the job seeker images of you
actively performing job tasks.
• At the end, you may choose to include personal references, work samples, and links
to relevant online portfolios.
• Helpful guidelines for creating a visual resume:
• Profile picture should be of student and look professional (not with family members,
pets, etc)
• Highlight positive hard and soft skills and relate to skills to the work setting.
• Share examples of high quality work or other helpful resources related to career field.
• Beside profile picture, all other pictures should relate to job tasks or show skills related
to position.
Career • Pick one of the careers you chose to further explore and answer the following
questions:
Exploration: • Name of occupation
• List two skills and/or interests you have that support this occupation.
• What level of education or training is needed?
Exit Ticket