Career & College Readiness Lesson Plans
Possible Careers
Career Exploration
Grade Level 7
Overview
Students will use the CareerZone Interest Profiler to learn about themselves;
they will also explore career options including STEM occupations.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
● Identify occupations that are potential career options based on taking the Interest
Profiler assessment.
● Identify Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) occupations that
match the Holland Code results from the Interest Profiler assessment.
Language Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
● Reason inductively about data, making plausible arguments that take into
account the context from which the data arose.
● Work with texts and learn to interpret, incorporate, and evaluate them.
● Write comprehensive evaluation of lesson using proper sentence structure, verb
tense, academic and career-related vocabulary.
Standards Alignment
● California Common Core State Standards: College & Career Readiness
Anchor Standards:
 L.1
● California Career Technical Education Anchor Standards:
 4
● California Standards for Career Ready Practice:
 1, 4
● National Career Development Guidelines:
 CM2, CM4
● International Society for Technology in Education Standards:
 2, 4
California Career Resource Network, California Department of Education
Career Exploration
Possible Careers
● English Language Development Standards:
• Part I: 1, 6
Materials
1. Computer with Internet access for students
2. Computer with Internet access and projection capability for instructor
3. Projector and screen
4. Handout
•
The Short List (p. 4)
5. Online Resources
• California CareerZone
https://www.cacareerzone.org
• Optional
•
O*Net Online
http://online.onetcenter.org/
Academic Vocabulary
•
Holland Code: is a system of matching personal interests with career choices.
•
Occupation: is a cluster of jobs with common characteristics that require similar
skills (e.g., photographer).
•
STEM: is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
STEM education is a sequence of courses or programs of study that prepare
students for successful employment and/or postsecondary education that require
different and more technically sophisticated skills.
Activity
Students will select five occupations on the California CareerZone based on the results
of the Interest Profiler assessment. These occupations will be noted on “The Short List”
tracking handout.
Lesson Procedures
1. Introduce the lesson explaining to your students that they will be using an interest
assessment to identify occupations that may be a good match for them. Students will
also identify Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) occupations that
may be a good match.
California Career Resource Network, California Department of Education
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Career Exploration
Possible Careers
2. Provide students with a copy of “The Short List” handout. Review the handout with
students.
3. Show students the California CareerZone Web site (link in Materials section). Under
the “Assess Yourself” option, show students the Interest Profiler assessment and
explain they will need to complete it for this lesson.
4. Choose a sample occupation and show them where they can find information on the
occupational profile to complete the related parts of their “The Short List” handout. An
easy way to choose a sample occupational profile is to select “All Occupations” under
the “Explore” dropdown menu and select an occupation. Point out the STEM symbol
on the list of occupations.
5. In one day of independent research time, have students develop a list of five
occupations to profile. Have students use their Interest Profiler results to complete
the “The Short List” handout. Students may need time prompts to stay on target for
completing all five occupations.
6. Check students’ “The Short List” handout for completion. If any are incomplete, return
for revision.
7. Once the handout is complete, have students complete a writing exercise working
from “The Short List” handout. Structure the writing exercise so that it fits into your
curriculum at this point in the school year. The following outline may be useful:
i.
Introduction. Sentence prompt: In researching possible careers, I decided to
research _____________. These occupations are interesting to me because
_______________.
ii.
Body. Sentence prompt: The first occupation I researched is_____________.
What I like about this occupation is___________________________.
iii.
Analysis. Student explains the commonalities among the five occupations.
iv.
Close. Student summarizes their findings and explains which occupation(s)
s/he will learn more about and why.
IMPORTANT: State and federal laws govern the conditions and
limitations for Internet usage by children under the age of 13. Before
using the Internet, check your district policies and/or state and federal
regulations.
California Career Resource Network, California Department of Education
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Career Exploration
Possible Careers
Estimated Time
One to two class sessions (one for researching; one for writing)
Evaluation
•
Evaluate students’ shortlists for completion.
•
Evaluate papers ensuring proper vocabulary, punctuation, sentence structure,
logical flow, academic and career-related vocabulary.
California Career Resource Network, California Department of Education
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Career Exploration
Possible Careers
The Short List
Name
You will be utilizing your Holland Interest Codes from the California CareerZone Interest
Profiler to complete the following chart: identifying five potential career choices. This
short list is not carved in stone and will likely change as you continue through school;
but it will serve as a beginning for future exploration and activities.
Please list your three Holland Types in order below:
1.
2.
3.
Occupation
Associated
Holland Code
Type
What type of
training do you
need to get this
job?
Is this a STEM
occupation?*
*At least 2 of your career choices must qualify as STEM occupations.
California Career Resource Network, California Department of Education
If so, provide
evidence.