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Rieger

Career Unit 2012

Rieger

Self-Discovery

Class Meetings 1-3:

Objective: Students will discover their learning style, personality type, and career interests.

Assessments: Surveys and Self-Assessment and Career Choice for Research Paper

Step 1:

A. Go to .

Answer the questions and choose “Score It.”

Take note of your type, signified by four capital letters and percentages.

Click the box “Self-Awareness and Personal Growth” and read.

Click the box “Career Choices” and read.

B. Go to .

Fill in the PLSI Score Sheet and totals according to directions.

C. Mark your letter combinations from A and B on your Learning Style Grid.

D. Reflect in “Journal 1” about how your temperaments display themselves in your life.

E. Discuss what this means

Step 2:

Go to .

Take the inventory, see the summary, understand and identify the different styles, discuss.

Go to to determine learning style.

Read about the result and discuss.

Step 3:

Go to .

Choose “Assess yourself” before choosing each of the following: Interests Assessment, Skills Assessment, and Values Assessment. Keep values/notes for your selections.

Choose “Generate Options” and look at possible careers for your higher categories.

Choose “Gather Information” and then “Make a Decision” to lead you toward your career interest for research.

Step 4:Answer the following reflection questions:

Know Yourself (Self Assessment)
Before you begin exploring college majors and careers which will prove satisfying, you must first develop a true understanding of yourself: your skills, interests, values, and personality characteristics. Questions you may want to ask yourself are:
Skills

  • What are my strengths and weaknesses?
  • What skills do I need to acquire?

Interests

  • What am I interested in doing?
  • What activities have I enjoyed the most?

Values

  • What is important to me in a career?
  • In what ways must I be challenged and rewarded?

Personality

  • What personal qualities do I possess that will help me in the classroom?
  • How will my personal style influence my career choice?

In the self-assessment section of this website, you learned about your interests, skills, and values. We encourage you to meet with a career counselor to further explore these dimensions and how they relate to your academic and career plans.
Begin Identifying Options (Career Exploration)
To continue gathering information and researching careers, you will need to start identifying options. Questions you might ask yourself are:

  • At this point in time, what college majors and career paths am I considering?
  • What other types of options am I considering?

 Did the on-line Personality Type Quiz accurately depict your personality type?

 Did the Prioritizing Work Values help you identify your core values?

 Did the process help you identify an occupation you are interested in?

Students should have a career path to research at this point.

Paper Outline

Class Meetings 4-7: Paper and Presentation Preparation

Class Meetings 8-11: In-class Oral Presentations

Objective: Students will convey what they learn about a chosen career field and their preparation and fit within that field.

Assessment: Research Paper, Oral/ PowerPointPresentation

Introduction:

Career Exploration is an important part of your high school education because it gives you a focus for thefuture. Hopefully you will make decisions about your classes and study habits that reflect your career andeducation goals.

Career Report:

Type a 2-4 pagepaper on a career of interest. Collect research materials from the library andInternet. You must include at least 4 citations from a minimum of four different sources.

Report should be prepared in proper MLA Format with a Works Cited page. To focus your research youshould consider the following:

Section IWhat I Know, Assume, or Imagine

This section is guided by the questions: What do I already know about my topic and what do I want to know about it? Write five questions about the career you want answered as you research your topic. Before conducting any formal research, do a quick-write about what you already know, think and assume about your topic. Include personal perspective like why you are interested in this topic or experiences that lead you to want to investigate this topic.

When pulling your research project together, think of Section I as the introduction to the information you have discovered and will share with the class.

Job Description/Duties

What responsibilities would you have? Which responsibilities would you like and which would youdislike?

Personal Characteristics Needed

What important personal characteristics do you think would be needed to be happy and successful in thisoccupation? Why does this career fit your personality? What personal values does this career providethat are important to you? (Examples: security, having fun, status, helping others, challenging…)

Education Needed

What specific high school classes and activities would be most helpful in preparing for this career? Whattype of education or training would you need after high school? List possible colleges/schools where youmay receive training.

Work Setting

How many hours would you generally work? What would your work environment be? Would you travel?

Would your job be stressful? What would you like and dislike about the work setting?

Wages and Benefits

Entry wages: How much would a worker in this occupation generally start at? What is the range ofwages that an experienced worker can earn? Will the worker receive insurance, sick leave, paid vacation, etc. Do you see this occupation as providing enough income for you to live according to yourexpectations?

Employment Outlook

What is the occupational outlook for this career?

Personal Assessment

Explain why you think this occupation would be right for you. How does it fit your personality, interests,values, educational plans.

Conducting Field Research Interview (See Field Research Interview file.)

1. You will personally interview 1-2 people working in your chosen career.

2. Notes will be taken during the interview.

3. A written reflection will be completed after the interview.

4. A thank-you note will be sent following the interview.

A Real World Exploration: The Job-Search Process

Objective: Students will learn about the Job-Search Process, prepare the appropriate resources, and perform each of the steps in preparation for future applications. To connect and prepare students for their future studies and careers. To prepare professional-level, working files/ experiences.

Assessments: Job Application (Work Sheets), Resumés, Cover Letters, Interviews, Thank-you/ Follow-ups. Both class and real-world, professional feedback.

Classes 12-13:

1. Create an account on Indiana Career Connect

(Social Security number is required.)

  1. Read Reading and Using Jobs Adsinformation found at
  2. Locate a Job Ad and Label its parts.

Find a job that interests you and also matches your skills/ abilities.

This job should follow your research for a job/industry and will influence your cover

letter and interview experience.

Use a variety of Job Search Engines or sources

Indiana Career ConnectCareer Builder.com

Monster.comIndeed.com

Jobs.comSnagajob.com (hourly/ part-time), Newspapers

  1. Discuss Applications and their parts

A job application is a form employers use to collection information about you to see if you are a good fit for the position. There are usually four parts of a job application:

1)Personal information

2)Employment information, also called work history

3)Education and training

4)References.

5)What is a job application?

a)Why do I need to fill out an application?

b)What should I do about time I was not working?

c)What should I do if I have been incarcerated?

d)What should my application look like?

6)Copies will be provided to students. They may also follow the directions below

a)Students should go to for an application guide.

b)Copy and paste beginning with the “Name ______” just above “Application Worksheet 1” and continuing to Reference 3 “ZIP code.” Paste into a word processing program. Save as Application.username.2012.

7)Fill in the applicable sections. Writing or typing is acceptable, but neatness is imperative. This information should be kept for future reference.

Classes14-17:

  1. Read about résumés: .
  2. Other source: Resume-Main09 PDF
  3. Look at résumé examples or utilize templates in Open Office/ MS Word.

What is a résumé?

Why do I need to do a résumé?

What should I do about time I was not working?

What should I do if I have been incarcerated?

What should my résumé look like?

What should my résumé include?

  1. Create a résumé.

Classes 18-21:

  1. Read about Cover Letters .
  • Cover letter overview
  • What is a cover letter?
  • Why do I need to do a cover letter?
  • What should I do about any times I was not working?
  • What should I do if I have been incarcerated?
  • Cover letters part 1
  • What should my cover letter look like?
  • What should my cover letter accomplish?
  • Cover letters part 2
  • What should I do before I start writing?
  • What are the sections I should include in my letter?
  • Cover letters part 3
  • Headings
  • Introductions
  • Addressing your letter
  • Cover letters part 4
  • Body paragraphs
  • Closings
  • Cover letters part 5
  • How should I follow up on my cover letter and résumé?
  1. Use notes and coverletterformat file to write your own cover letter for the job.
  2. See Cover Letter Rubric PDF for expectations.

Classes 22-24:

  1. Discuss Interviews: .

Interviews Part 1: Preparing for a job interview

Interviews Part 2: What to do during and after a job interview

  1. Visit from InternationalBusinessCollege about Interviewing Skills
  2. Prepare for an interview using various resources:
  3. Interview Fifty Standard Interview Questions file
  4. Interview eval. form file
  5. Individual and role playing preparation

Class 25-26: Complete any incomplete components and prep for interviews.

Double check that everything is prepared for your meetings - bring everything to

class and work with teacher/ students to ensure success for coming days.

Mock Interviews - Student-Student Preparation; Instructor Guidance

Classes 27-29:

Interviews with professionals

In addition to preparing for your interview, be sure to bring a copy of your Application, Résumé, and Cover Letter.

At the conclusion of the interview, be certain to get the interviewer’s name and contact information, so you can send follow-up contacts.

Class 30:

Follow-ups and Thank-you letters

This unit was created by Mr. Rieger for high school seniors during the Fall 2012 semester. Both original and borrowed resources were compiled in order to complete this Career Unit.

Avid School. Career Research Project. 2011.

Hohlfield, Tina. Joan Shal. Career Research Project. WissahickonHigh School

Kelly, Elaine. CAREER RESEARCH PROJECT. Miller Place HS.

Marey Mayo.Digitools. 2011.

Purdue OWL. Career Engagement. 2011.

Rieger, Tavis. Career Unit. 2009-11. New Castle H.S.