Career Exploration Project
Essential Question: What requirements (educational and personal) do I need to succeed at reaching my career goal?
Getting Started
Access Career Connections at http://www.careerconnections-ct.com
Choices:
- Click on the link to "What Career is Right for Me?" in the left hand column to take the Career Aptitude Test to indicate your career personality.
- Click the "What's your Dream Career?" and take the quiz.
- Or skip to the bottom of the page and click on career profiles to read career descriptions.
Explore careers you are interested in pursuing in the future. After a general search, narrow your focus to three possible career choices. Document the three choices in a Google Doc titled My Career Options and explain what attracts you to these three careers. Make a final decision on one career to pursue researching for this project. Document your final choice for further exploration.
Take notes carefully and thoroughly in a Google Drive document. Use your own words when taking notes. Do Not Plagiarize! Keep track of every source used for research
Organize note taking under seven separate headings. The categories are:
- Career Description:
- This includes a description of the career itself, skills or tasks that one performs in this career, and any additional information that you feel is relevent to this area.
- Education/Training Requirements:
- What level of schooling is necessary? Are there any special tests or exams required?
- Are there any physical or personal requirements? (Examples: What level of schooling is necessary? Are there any special tests or exams required?
- Opportunities for Advancement. (Examples: Nurse to nurse trainer; pet store cashier to pet store manager)
- Salary/Earnings/Benefits. (Include vacation time, medical benefits, retirement plans, flexible hours, annual pay increases)
- Technology Use (what types of technology are utilized in this career, if applicable)
- Description of �A Typical day in the life of a person in my career choice�
- Bibliography: A listing of all sources must be submitted in proper M.L.A. format.
Research Recommendation: When descriptions differ, go with the one that comes from the most reliable resource. For example, if you choose mechanic as your career, and you are able to interview a mechanic in person, use his/her description of his/her typical day instead of one you read on the internet.
Expectations:
| Week 1 |
Three possible career choices with explanations, final career research choice and Career description notes in Google Drive, shared with Mrs. Ness |
| Week 2 |
Finalized career description, Notes on Education/Training Requirements, Opportunities for Advancement and Salary/Earnings/Benefits |
| Week 3 |
Notes on Description of �A Typical day in the life of a person in my career choice� and technology use |
| Week 4 |
Organize and refine notes for presentation |
| Week 5 |
Rough Draft Sketch |
| Week 6 |
Bibliography |
| Week 7 |
Create Presentation |
| Week 8 |
Presentations |
| Week 9 |
Presentations |
Planning your Presentation: Sketch a �rough draft� of your poster indicating where you will place the title, information sheets and photos. Begin writing your information under six headings using the facts from your notes. You may prefer to use bullet points for your notes and phrases rather than writing in paragraph form.
Organizing your Presentation Information: Choose a presentation tool such as Glog, Google presentation, Wallwisher, Prezi or paper poster. Additional presentation tools can be found on the library website under Web tools and Apps. Create a title. Each text box should contain clear, concise logically organized information regarding a category of your research. Include pictures, graphs or diagrams that illustrate your career and make it look appealing to others.
Career Project Online Resources
Use the following online resources to research your chosen career:
Career Connections- http://www.careerconnections-ct.com
Choices:
- Click on the link to �What Career is Right for Me?� in the left hand column to take the Career Aptitude Test to indicate your career personality
- Click the �What�s your Dream Career?� and take the quiz,
- or skip to the bottom of the page and click on career profiles to read career descriptions
Explore careers you are interested in pursuing in the future. After a general search, narrow your focus to three possible career choices. Document the three choices in a Google Doc titled My Career Options and explain what attracts you to these three careers. Make a final decision on one career to pursue researching for this project. Document your final choice for further exploration.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics- http://www.bls.gov/
In the left hand column, choose �Resources for Students & Teachers.�
In the middle of the page, choose �Career Information for Students� which provides descriptive information on various jobs, OR, choose �Occupational Outlook Handbook� and type in the career you would wish to research, eg. �mechanic� or �pastry chef� or �veterinarian� or other in the Search OOH box. Your results list will be links to careers described within the Bureau of Labor Statistics database. Choose any of these links to view this information: Nature of the Work (job description),Training, Employment, Job Outlook, Projections Data, Earnings, OES Data (Occupational Employment Statistics), Related Occupations, Sources of Additional Information
Illinois Career Information System from the Illinois Department of Employment Security-
- Select Chicago from the drop down menu
- Enter zip code
Kids.gov- http://kids.usa.gov/teens-home/jobs/index.shtml
ONet- http://www.onetonline.org/
Junior Achievement- http://studentcenter.ja.org/Careers/Research/Pages/default.aspx
New York State Career Research- https://www.careerzone.ny.gov/views/careerzone/index.jsf
MyPlan.com- http://www.myplan.com/
From the home page, you can choose to search the �Career Database� for a career of your choice. You may either SEARCH by entering the search term, such as �police officer� or �dental hygienist� or �pediatrician�, or you may BROWSE the list of 902 careers. Once you have chosen your career to research, myplan.com gives you a job description, job requirements, significant points and salary information.
You may enjoy using the �Video Library� to watch a 1-2 minute video of your career choice.
Career Database- http://www.careerdatabase.net/
This web resource links you to five or six related resources once you have chosen your career from the alphabetical listing of 650 careers. For the careers that are included here, you may link to sites such as XAP, Career Planner, or the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which lists the important abilities and skills needed in your career. This will not be your primary site for information, but will give you fun facts to make your career presentation more insightful.
Career One Stop- http://www.careeronestop.org/
