Career Exploration: Middle-High School
I've been focusing on career exploration and want to discuss how you can help your middle and high schoolers. While their needs at these ages are slightly different, there is a lot of similarity. This is the time when they should begin to really explore careers. Some school systems include career exploration into their curriculum, but not all have the capacity to do so and it is not always the highest priority. We, as parents, can do a lot to help our children explore careers.
The state of Wisconsin education standards includes career exploration in their education standards. They were the clearest that I could find so I am going to use this as the base of this week's discussion.
Career exploration at the middle school grade levels, including developing an understanding of:
The continuum of careers across work environment, duties, and responsibilities and how a pupil's personal interests and skills relate to those careers.
Career exploration may also include work-based learning experiences and career research identifying personal preferences in relation to occupations and careers pupils may pursue.
Career planning and preparation at the high school grade levels, which shall include the following:
Conducting career research to identify personal preferences in relation to specific occupations.
School-supervised, work-based learning experiences.
Instruction in career decision making.
Instruction that provides for the practical application of academic skills, applied technologies, economics, including entrepreneurship education and personal financial literacy.
Pupil access to career and technical education programs, including programs at technical colleges.
Pupil access to accurate national, regional, and state labor market information, including labor market supply and demand.
Instruction and experience in developing and refining the skills and behaviors needed by pupils to obtain and retain employment.
So how do we help our children? There is a lot of help for you, such as high school counselors, post-high school schools (college, community college, trade school) career centers, Military OneSource specialty counselors, GetMyFuture tools, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics site. You can also reach out to your friends, family, and community for support.
What should your child's career exploration consist of?
Assessments. They need to know themselves. What are their interests and abilities? What are their values and desired work environment? The GetMyFuture site includes assessment tools. Your high school counselor college/trade schools career center can provide age appropriate assessments.
Learn about careers. They need to learn about careers they find interesting. The Bureau of Labor Statics site has a great tool as does GetMyFuture. This should include
Duties of the job
Education and training required
Salary expectations
Future outlook
Talking to people in careers. This is a step most often skipped, but is one of the most important, Talking to people who actually work in careers can provide a different perspective and deeper understanding. Talk to other parents and your school to find those in careers your child has an interest. Help them (especially at middle school level) make an appointment and write out a list of questions to ask.
Working, job shadowing or volunteering in career fields. This is a great way to go further in career exploration. My niece wanted to be a doctor and she was able to participate in a special program at her school to become a nurse's aid. This was a great way for her to learn about that career. My daughter job shadowed at a day care center and another volunteered at the family center to learn more. There are all sorts of ways to make this happen.
Please share additional resources that you know about in the HUB, where you can catch Rose’s weekly topics!
Rose Holland has served the military community for over 30 years in a variety of roles as a volunteer and family program staff. Through this work, she has seen many inequities imposed upon military families. Her passion to assist military families is driven by her own experience as a military spouse of almost 33 years and has shaped the service she provides. Rose became an activist for military families in the area of career and employment, serving as a career counselor and providing corporate and local organizations insights into the military world and helping the community understand the hidden talent pool of military families.
Rose has a BBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, a Master’s in Theological Studies with a focus on pastoral care from Saint Norbert College in DePere Wisconsin, and a Doctorate in Education with a focus in Educational Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Her dissertation project focused on military spouses in federal employment and their perceptions of perceptions of federal position during the pandemic.