Career Readiness Quiz Pack Power students’ research and goal-setting Career Readiness Quiz Pack Introduction We’ve designed this pack of quizzes to support and structure your students’ career exploration. These quizzes help you (and them!) assess their career readiness, and lead them logically through essential questions. We also guide their goal-setting so that by the time they’ve completed the pack, they have solid next steps towards their dream career. You can use these quizzes in class or as independent assignments, and you can have students complete them one after the other, or at different stages of their research journey. For example, you might use the first quiz to establish their understanding and build your strategy according to their needs, finding appropriate resources and supporting their research so they have enough knowledge to set truly meaningful goals. However you decide to use these quizzes, we hope they help you guide students towards their brightest futures! And if you want to take it to the next level and give students an interactive platform that carries out these assessments as part of its intelligent matching process, and can even pair students with the courses that best fit their abilities and ambitions, make sure you create your free BridgeU account! 2 Career Readiness Quiz Pack Quiz 1: What do you know about your career options? It’s never too early to think about all the exciting opportunities you’ll have when you’re ready to embark on your career! This quiz helps you start assessing your options and the ways you can find out more about them. First, let’s think about some of the research you might have done already sometimes without even realising you were doing careers research. 3. W hat do you think it’s like to work in those fields? Think about specific job roles, working hours, working conditions, specialisations, salaries, or other factors that are important to you. 1. H ave you ever heard or learned about careers through any of these activities or channels? If you have, you’ve already begun your career-research journey! ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Part-time job Work experience or internships Related extracurricular activities/hobbies Looked online at job postings Looked at a careers website Looked at universities’ subject or careers information Taken career assessments Attended an assembly or presentation about careers Spoken with a professional about their career Interacted with career counselling at school Watched a documentary 4. What appeals to you about these fields? Read a book/listened to an audiobook Listened to a podcast Followed a related account on social media Other (feel free to specify!) If you found any of these especially helpful, why not share them with your careers counsellor or fellow students? You might help to shape someone’s future! Now let’s see how you felt about what you saw, read and heard through those channels. 5. D o you know of any notable people who work in those fields? What can you find out about their work and contributions? 2. W hat are the three industries and sectors that most interest you? (e.g. entertainment, fashion, sports, medicine…) 3 Career Readiness Quiz Pack Quiz 2: What are your long-term goals? Now that you’ve thought a little about the options that exist and the ways you can find out more about them, it’s time to focus on you! In this quiz, we’ll help you assess what’s most important to you and think about some specific long-term goals. 4. W hich of the industries that you’re interested in could deliver on your values and your day-to-day needs? Why do you think so? 1. T here are lots of different things that you can value about your career. Look at the criteria below, and rank each from 1 - 10 in order of importance. ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ A high salary A good work-life balance The ability to work remotely Making the world a better place Learning and growing throughout my career Having lots of new experiences Contributing to social change Creating new ways of doing things Prestige and success A comfortable lifestyle 5. W hich roles would fit with your values and needs? Why do you think so? 2. T hinking about those criteria or any others that matter to you, describe what career success looks like to you. 3. W hat does an ideal working life include? Tick all that apply, and feel free to add your own! ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Lots of teamwork ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Deciding how and when to do things Working independently most of the time ollowing a set structure or process and having clear F instructions Managing a group of people Meeting new people all the time Jumping between different tasks Focusing on just one task at a time Thinking creatively Flexible working hours and/or locations Working in an office Working in the field Pitching ideas and suggesting changes 4 Career Readiness Quiz Pack Quiz 3: What are your stepping stones? By this stage, you have an idea of what you want from your career and the jobs that could meet your key criteria. Now it’s time to think about how you’ll get there! For this quiz, you might want to carry out some research as you go or before you get started. If you’re not sure where you can find useful information, look back over some of the research channels listed in the first quiz. 1. What’s an entry-level position in your ideal industry? 4. W hat related or useful subject areas could you study at university? Do job postings ever say a degree in specific subjects is required or preferred? 2. W hat skills and characteristics do employers look for in entry-level candidates? 5. W hat do you need to get into a quality degree programme in those areas? Things to note here could be anything from portfolios and required grades, to specific deadlines, to helpful experiences you’d like to mention in essays. 3. D o they offer internships? If so, what do they suggest are the benefits of an internship? 6. W hat extracurricular pursuits could help you develop the necessary skills and characteristics? 5 Career Readiness Quiz Pack Quiz 4: Are you gaining relevant skills? You know what your future employers need, but have you got it? This quiz will help you think about all the valuable experiences you’ve already had and align them with the key characteristics that make up career readiness. These are broad, transferable skills that apply to whichever path you hope to pursue. But it’s a good idea to look over the career-specific skills and characteristics you listed in the previous quiz, and see how all the things you’ve done so far are developing those, too! For each of these qualities, list at least one experience or activity you’ve done that develops and demonstrates the quality, and explain how it does so. And don’t worry, we’ll give you a little definition and some examples to get you started! If you can’t think of anything you’ve done yet, these examples could also give you some inspiration of things to try out… 1. C ritical thinking and problem solving This refers to the ability to assess a problem and make decisions to solve it. It could mean dreaming up a creative solution, or using logic to think through a problem step by step. E.g. A science project for which you built something that can be dropped from the third floor and float safely onto the concrete ground… 2. Written and spoken communication skills Chances are, you talk and write quite a lot every day. But the trick is to be able to do it clearly and concisely. Luckily, because you do do it every day, you’ll likely have lots of examples to draw from. E.g. Written essays, debate club, fostering team spirit for a sports club, a personal blog 3. T eamwork and collaboration This is all about being able to work with people to share and combine ideas. It means being positive and friendly, and willing to share your best thoughts and efforts with the whole team. It’s also all about listening to others, and recognising when somebody’s idea might be better than yours (it does happen from time to time!). E.g. Fundraising events, sports teams, part-time jobs, group projects 6 Career Readiness Quiz Pack 4. D igital technology Here’s an area where your generation tends to have a clear advantage - you’re probably really familiar with lots of digital technology. But that also means that to stand out from the crowd, you’ll need to think carefully about the special skills you have and the ones you need. Plus, the biggest question of all: how are you using technology to do brilliant things? E.g. Filming and/or editing videos, using a content management system to publish your blog, creating a digital solution to a problem or project 5. L eadership Not everyone gets lots of leadership opportunities in the most straightforward sense until they’re advancing in the workforce. But having leadership skills isn’t all about being somebody’s boss or manager! And even if you’re not a captain, leader or president, there are probably moments where you’ve proposed a solution and helped everybody see your side of things and deliver on your ideas. It might be brief, but it’s still leadership! E.g. Babysitting, suggesting a particular tactic/game-play in a sports match, leading on a group project in school, planning a charity event, organising a trip with your friends 6. P rofessionalism and a strong work ethic This is all about showing commitment to your work. Usually, actually enjoying what you do and caring about it are crucial ingredients (which is why it’s so important to find the right career for you!). It’s things like always showing up to work on time and with a positive attitude, acting professionally and politely, not procrastinating or shirking responsibility, volunteering to do certain tasks and taking initiative where appropriate. Basically, being a great person to work with - which we’re sure you are! E.g. Your conduct in school, your commitment to an extracurricular activity, your participation in work experience or internships, your part-time job 7 Career Readiness Quiz Pack 7. C areer management Essentially, the purpose of these quizzes is to develop this skill! It means you understand your field, the trajectory you envisage your career taking (it has to be realistic!), and what makes you such an asset to employers. It’s also about spotting opportunities for growth - like some of the examples we’ve given already. Finally, you should be able to assess your skills and know your strengths and weaknesses. E.g. The contents of this pack of quizzes! Any of the research tasks listed in the first quiz, any form of self-assessment you’ve done, any time you’ve reflected on your extracurriculars and why you do them… 8. G lobal and intercultural fluency This final competency refers to the ability to think on a global scale, and understand and work with different cultures. It means being aware and accepting of all kinds of different identities (e.g. racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious) - and that should translate into any work you do and every team you’re in. It’s also why it’s such a good idea to study abroad - it’s the best way to develop and demonstrate your global and intercultural fluency! E.g. Studying abroad/doing internships abroad, working as part of a diverse team, social activism 8 Career Readiness Quiz Pack Setting your goals Congratulations on finding answers to all those questions! Your career readiness has grown in leaps and bounds, and now it’s time to turn everything you’ve learned into action. In this final section, you’ll set yourself some long and short term goals to ensure you have a detailed plan of how you’ll get where you want to go! There are all kinds of tasks you could set for yourself. Some good examples are joining a school club, securing a summer internship, undertaking pre-university programmes, researching micro-credentials or setting up a video journal… The world is your oyster here. The main things to keep in mind are how each goal is getting you closer to your ultimate destination, and making every goal as specific and detailed as possible. Once you’re done, why not share it with a counsellor or guardian? They can advise you on your goals, make further suggestions, help you find the opportunities you need and hold you accountable so that you stay on track. Good luck - we know you’ll be achieving great things very soon! This week I will This term I will Over the summer break I will In the next two years I will At university I will My long term project will be 9
