THE SENIOR CAREER EXPLORATION PIN
To earn the Career Exploration pin, you must complete the first two requirements below
and at least one of the suggested options. Options can be individual or group projects.
1. Read the discussion of careers in Chapter 4. (Attached to the December 8th
newsletter.)
2. Write your own resume. See pages 101-103 in Chapter 4 for assistance or try
available web sites for help.
Option 1: Plan a Career Fair
Bring people and careers together to meet a need in your community.
- Decide on your audience.
- Compile a list of organizations and businesses that you would like to see represented.
- Develop a strategy for identifying and contacting people, i.e. calling, writing, faxing.
- Find a place to hold the fair, check calendars, and set a date.
- Identify all essential tasks and responsibilities and those people who will follow through
on them.
- Publicize the fair to your intended audience.
- Afterwards, evaluate the fair. What could have been improved? What did you learn?
- Thank those who helped.
Option 2: Plan a Trip to Explore Careers
This is an opportunity to go where the careers or career training can be found. Your
travels can lead you to the workplace, training facilities, or colleges.
- Identify the career or career areas you would like to focus on.
- Brainstorm a list of potential places to visit using business directories, newspapers,
phone books, and career resources.
- Decide on your time commitment. How many trips will you make or will there be
one trip with multiple stops?
- List places and potential speakers. If necessary, develop a budget for what you want to
do and plan how you will pay for it.
- Develop your plan and itinerary, arranging for all necessary things, such as scheduling,
transportation, food, and lodging.
- Research the careers and places you will be visiting.
- Carry out your plan. (Don’t forget to review Safety-Wise!)
- Evaluate. Discuss what you learned and how you might do things differently.
- Thank appropriate people with letters.
Option 3: Carry Out a Career Internship
This is an opportunity to go beyond reading and to mentor with someone who is in a
career that truly interests you. Here are some hints:
- Make a list of possible careers that you are interested in, then research and rank your
choices.
- Look for a possible mentor. Your council might help you by suggesting someone, or
you can pick a mentor yourself and clear the placement with your adviser and the
council.
- When you have identified the possibilities, approach the one that looks best for you.
you may go through a human resources department in a large organization, speak
directly to an individual whom you want as a mentor, or work with a person whose
job is to match young people with adult mentors.
- Be prepared to answer questions about your interests, why you want to intern, and how
much time you can spend doing it. (You might do it during a school break, after
school, or on weekends.)
- When you connect with a mentor, spend some time discussing expectations that you
both have for the experience. This will include time commitments, opportunities for
job shadowing, actual work expectations, and possible tips on dress and conduct.
- An internship is what you make of it. Work with your mentor to find out about
training for a particular job, what typical workday activities are, what other jobs are
available in the field, and what the future is expected to be for the job. Identify professional organizations associated with the job and find out about possible paid
internship or apprentice positions for the high school graduates.
- Decide how you will evaluate your internship.
- Keep a journal of your experience.
Option 4: Get a Paying Job
Getting a job after school, on weekends, or over a school holiday that pays money can be
a valuable experience for a teenager. Even if you are working in a capacity that will not
become a future career, you are still acquiring important skills.
- Read the section on pages 103-105 of Chapter 4 about job interviews.
- Interview for a job, taking your resume with you or sending it in beforehand. Decide
in advance what skills you have that will be important for the job so that you can
address them in your interview.
- If you do not get a job on your first try, determine what you might do differently in
your next interview. (You might even speak to the person who interviewed you to
ask for suggestions.)
- Once you have a job, keep a journal about what you learn about work and your
personal work habits for a period of time. Evaluate your experience with your
adviser.
Option 5: Start Your Own Business
Here’s an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship. Ideally, your adviser for this
project will be an individual who is knowledgeable about the business world- perhaps a
current or retired business owner, someone from a professional women’s organization, or
a school business club adviser. Here’s a brief outline of how to set up a business:
- Identify a need.
- Determine how to fill the need through a service to be performed or the development
of a product.
- Plan and implement business operations:
a. Find out about laws that will affect you, such as insurance, liability, and taxes.
b. Develop a time line for project implementation.
c. Develop a budget
d. Obtain money to buy supplies.
e. Set up facilities.
f. Obtain supplies and materials.
g. Plan production methods.
h. Set a price.
i. Produce the object (if a product-oriented business).
j. Advertise and market the service or product.
k. Implement accounting procedure; keep records.
- Determine how profits will be used.
- Evaluate your operations and improve them where needed.