Content

Content: Decision Making: Career Investigation Level: 9th Grade

Career Exploration Log and Matrix

Thomas Marten Thomas Villagomez

High School Guidance Counselor MSUM Intern 1998-99

St. Peter High School St. Peter High School

St. Peter, Minnesota St. Peter, Minnesota

Description of Lesson

This lesson is developmentally based on career exploration through the use of career clusters. This curriculum is provided for all ninth grade students and is facilitated by guidance and career center staff. Use the school district’s model (and/or curriculum) for career study as a resource for students. Other resources available within a school district and community can provide students with much of the information they will need. This lesson will help students answer the following questions: What are my interests? What do I do well? This lesson has goals that support the Minnesota Graduation Standards objectives in Decision-Making: Career Investigation. This lesson is designed for a ninety minute work period.

Introduction:

1. Each student will be provided with information on career clusters. Use the school districts model for career study as a resource for students.

2. Introduce students to John Holland’s World of Work Map, available from the American College Testing Program. Help students become familiar with Holland’s concept that career pathways or job families are clustered together based on their primary work tasks working with people, ideas, things, and data.

3. Provide students with a variety of models for making decisions and for justifying their decisions. Students will compare their personal attributes with the characteristics they have discovered in career clusters in order to select a career for in-depth research.

The Lesson

Objectives:

The students should know how:

- To understand a variety of career clusters

- Know their own attributes and aptitudes needed in particular types of occupations and careers.

What students should do:

-Evaluate career choices in relationship to life goals and personal attributes.

Materials:

Career Exploration Log and Matrix (2 sheet handout)

Occupational Outlook Handbook and any other resource

Final Product: summary statement of career choice

Overview: In this task, keep in mind you will explore career clusters. You will compare this career information with your personal attributes and goals to make a decision about career choices.

Task Steps: Use handout

1. Finding out about myself

The Career Log sheet (first sheet of this handout) allows for students to explore:

-personal attributes

-personal interests

-personal aptitudes

-personal abilities

-personal experiences

-personal goals

Each student should write six statements within each of these category. Students may need definitions and examples within each category.

2. Explore at least two career clusters.

The Matrix sheet (second sheet) allows students to begin exploring careers within career clusters that seem to correspond to their attributes, interests, aptitudes, abilities, experiences, and goals. Look for common characteristics in careers that align with personal attributes. You should document at least two different resources for each the two careers the student has chosen. You can obtain information through the internet, field trips, career fairs, and guest speakers. Take advantage of resources that are available in the community. Fill in these certain areas for two selected career choices using two resources:

General Information Category (left side of second sheet)

-Career duties

-Working Condition

- Abilities needed

-Training required

-Salary

Overview of Step One and Two:

Students should have six personal information statements on sheet one

Students should have two careers researched with at least two resources used

Students should have completed the General Information Category with information found from two different resources.

3. Comparing your personal qualities with two career clusters

Using both sheets complete two matrices, in each matrix. Students should now separate the two sheets and place them side by side. Have students take the general information section (found on the left side of the matrix sheet) and compare it with Career Exploration Log sheet (their personal information). For each career cluster, compare the job characteristics of one career cluster with the findings about yourself you summarized on the Career Exploration log. Look for patterns in each career cluster that correspond to your interests, aptitudes, abilities, experiences and goals. Have students put check marks if they have the same job characteristics as the career clusters they have already researched. The result allows students to gain insight as to which career cluster has a stronger correlation with their personal characteristics than the other career cluster.

4. Compose the Final Product

Students will now evaluate the information they found on the two Career Exploration Log and Matrix forms. Students should make a decision about a career or career cluster in which to conduct in-depth research. Have students support decisions with evidence from the matrices and explain how their career choice corresponds to their life goals and personal attributes.

This lesson directly relates to Minnesota Graduation Standard (Career Development and Decision-Making Skills). This lesson is reflective of the Educational and Career developmental domains of the Minnesota School Counselorsí Model of Development Guidance and Counseling.

Additionally, all of this lesson plugs directly into the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee Standards for middle/junior high schools the development of Self-knowledge and Occupational Exploration.

Reference:

Guide to American Colleges (17th ed.) (1996) Harper Perennial

Minnesota Graduation Standard (Performance Package Task 2)Personal Portfolio of Career Investigation

Minnesota Career Information System (MCIS)

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statisitics (1998).

Occupational Outlook Handbook (Wintergreen Orchard House)

Career Exploration Log and Matrix handout will be detailed in the following pages.

Career Exploration Log

Personal Attributes

1. Ex. good listener 4.

2. 5.

3. 6.

Personal Interests

1. Ex. water-ski 4.

2. 5.

3. 6.

Personal Aptitudes

1. Ex. working on car engines 4.

2. 5.

3. 6.

Personal Abilities

1. Ex. read 4.

2. 5.

3. 6.

Personal Experiences

1. Ex. police explorers 4.

2. 5.

3. 6.

Personal Goals

1. Ex. To finish high school 4.

2. 5.

3. 6.

Matrix

Career One:_______________

General Information (put check marks in this column)

Career Duties: Attributes:

Working Conditions: Interests:

Abilities Needed: Aptitudes:

Training Required: Abilities:

Experiences:

Salary: Goals:

Career Two: _________________

Career Duties: Attributes:

Working Conditions: Interests:

Abilities Needed: Aptitudes:

Training Required: Experiences:

Salary: Goals:

The left side is called general information, it contains all researched information about a career from at least two resources. The right side is where the student lists their personal interests, aptitudes, attributes, experiences and goals related to the information found about each career.