Careers

Work doesn't have to be a FOUR-LETTER word:

A Guided Path to Career Planning

Introduction

Perfect job? Fulfilling career? What do you want for yourself? There are jobs that may be better suited to you than others. Finding a career that matches your interests and skills will make work more enjoyable. This WebQuest is designed to guide you through discovering your interests, skills, creativity and concerns so that you can find careers that match your interests. There is a wealth of career information available to you on the Internet, and this WebQuest will show you how to find it.

Upon completion of this WebQuest, you will have a better understanding of yourself and the directions to take to have a satisfying career. Once you have compiled your portfolio, you may want to add more resources and information as you continue on your quest for the perfect job.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, the learner will have a portfolio containing the following:

An interest survey
A career questionnaire
Results of the Career Key
Research on the top three careers of his/her choice
Interviews from persons from each career selected
Resume
Cover letter
Educational plan for three careers

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Content Standards and Benchmarks

National Educational Technology Standards

2) Social, ethical, and human issues
5) Technology research tools
6) Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools
New Mexico's Standards and Benchmarks

Career Readiness

1) Students will identify their career interests and aptitudes to develop an educational plan which supports personal career goals.

Language Arts

9) Students will use language and literature to gain insight into their own and others' lives, and to build understanding of the moral and aesthetic dimensions of human experience.

10) Students will use state-of-the-art computer and other technology to gather, use and synthesize information, and to create and communicate knowledge.

Social Studies

4) Students will know and understand the ways in which human beings view themselves and others over time.

Technology Use

Access to a computer that provides Internet access
Knowledge of browsing, searching, cut and paste, and saving web documents
A printer

Tips
Some websites will provide students with nearly all the information needed to complete the assignments, but they should be encouraged to look at several websites to get an idea of what is available online. They will also develop/improve Internet skills by exploring more than one site.

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Resources

Job tips from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/jobs

Career Key: http://www.ncsu.edu/careerkey/index.html

Tips on planning for the future: http://www.myfuture.com

Career tips for younger students: http://www.bcit.tec.nj.us/G2k.htm

A look at "jobshadowing": http://www.jobshadow.org/

National school-to-work homepage: http://www.stw.ed.gov/

National Lifework simulation page: http://realgame.ca/

How to locate your ideal "fun" job: http://jobsinparadise.com/

The Career Interest Game: http://www.missouri.edu/~cppcwww/holland.shtml

Keys to government careers: http://www.careercity.com/content/govcareer/fedpay.asp

Minimum wage information: http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/minwage/main.htm

U.S. News education and careers page: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/home.htm

Excite classified ads: http://www.classifieds2000.com/cgi-cls/display.exe?partner=xc-xca&path=employment~job~career&template=none&

Sandia National Laboratories employment page: http://www.sandia.gov/Employ/emphome.htm

Los Alamos National Laboratory jobsource: http://www.hr.lanl.gov/html/jobs/

Yahoo classified ads: http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Corporate_Services/Human_Resources/Recruiting_and_Placement/Career_Fields/
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Process

Preparation

Students will need an introductory lesson on career planning, possibly using a video or other support materials, and the Career Key should be demonstrated for them. They also need an introduction to Internet researching, including site evaluation standards, so that they can complete the items required for their portfolios.

Task

The following list of items are required to complete the Career Portfolio. These items can be downloaded from their respective sites before the workshop or class. If completing these forms online, they can be found through the links in the Resource section:

An interest survey;
A career questionnaire;
Results of the Career Key (http://www.ncsu.edu/careerkey/index.html);
Research on the top three careers of their choice;
Interviews with individuals from each career selected, see examples. (http://www.pbs.org/jobs);
Example of a cover letter;
Educational plan for each of the three careers chosen.

Presentation

Papers within the portfolio should be neatly written and/or printed out and arranged in a logical order. The outside of the portfolio should be attractive and may contain pictures related to the types of careers researched. A portfolio sharing session is optional.

Evaluation

Rubrics for Portfolios and Exhibits

Rubrics and Assessment Tools

Rubrics construction

Extensions

Take our daughters to work day

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This WebQuest created by Rick Stanley, Peggy Cross, Janice Jenkins, Elizabeth Peabody, Nina Kennedy and Theresa Marshall of Texico Public Schools, Texico, New Mexico.