Lesson 5:
Finding the Right Career for You
When thinking about their futures, young adults often envision great wealth and success. Turning dreams into reality, however, is no easy feat. In this lesson, you will research job openings, career descriptions and skills needed to enter your dream professions. You will examine concepts of passion and profit by reading success stories from experienced self-starters, and consider your own true calling. Finally, you will analyze qualifications, salaries and education linked to career goals, and then writes realistic resumes to demonstrate your understanding.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore a career goal and create a plan for reaching it
- Discover different career and income options
- Understand how entrepreneurship impacts a career path
Essential Question: “How do I determine the right career path for me?”
Investigate: Exploring Career Goals
[Time Required: 15 minutes]
- Begin by considering what kind of career you might like to have someday. What do you enjoy doing and how might you make a living in relation to your interests? What kinds of jobs do the important people in your life have, are you interested in following similar career paths? Complete the sentence, “My ideal career is… because…” in your notebook.
- Think about what you would need to do to get your dream jobs (e.g. a college degree or specific work experiences), and then brainstorm a list of possible sources for information on what employers want.
Student Preparation: Understanding Career Choices
[Time Required: 30 minutes]
- Research the ideal career for you by searching job openings and descriptions using websites such as usajobs.gov and jobdescriptions.net.
- Find sample resumes to look over. Notice the basic information, structure, and purpose of each resume. Notice that different jobs may require different information on a resume, and understand how employers use resumes to evaluate potential candidates for a job. Employers will look at more than resumes; they will often conduct Internet searches, and explore social media pages to observe potential candidates’ online interactions. Understand you’re your online presence is equally as important as writing a professional resume.
- Download the Ready, Set, Resume. Have You Got the Skills? activity sheet. Use your research to create a sample resume for your dream job by assessing optimal qualifications, education and skills.
- Consider different job responsibilities, salaries, experience, education, and skills. Analyze how you can find a career path you love while also maintaining financial security. How can you balance passion and profit? What advantages or disadvantages does starting a business offer? Do you see entrepreneurship being a part of your career plans? Why or why not?
Challenge: Learning From Self-Starters
[Time Required: 20 minutes]
- Read the articles “Stephen, King of Business” and “Lovin’ It with McDonald’s President Jan Fields”
- Consider the differences in career paths between the people featured in the two articles. What is similar and what is different? Analyze the merits of what it takes to be a self-starter and what it means to be entrepreneurial. For example, what led to King’s and Fields’ success? What skills are needed to be a self-starter? How can you take what you love and shape it into a career?
Reflection
[Time Required: 5 minutes]
Write in your notebook about how you can balance profit with passion when choosing your career. What did you learn from King’s and Fields’ experiences and how does it apply to your own goals? Evaluate the qualifications on their sample resumes, explaining how your interests and experiences could turn into future careers.
Americans aren’t typically known for their financial responsibility – yet many are already using complex financial strategies. For example, shopping at the mall calls for cost comparisons, and saving for a skateboard requires budgeting. To learn about responsible money management, it’s important to take a look at the building blocks of financial decision-making. In this lesson, we will examine the spending decisions students already make. Then examine real-life spending scenarios and research, analyze, and present their recommendations.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore personal financial choices
- Learn to make informed financial decisions
- Consider what it means to be financially responsible
Worksheet One: