Saturday, March 17, 2012

Words: Career Coaching

"What do you want to do when you're older?"
"I don't know, I just want to be successful."
"Well everyone wants to be successful, what makes the difference is if you have a plan.  So, what sort of job do you want to have?"
"I don't know, I just want to have a really successful job.  Like, I see those people downtown going to work in those buildings in suits, and I don't know what they do."

Conversation with a sophomore that was a STRONG reminder that our kids don't have the context to be able to identify many career choices.  I get frustrated hearing "rapper, pro-athlete, or lawyer" as their life plans all the time, but it's simply because they don't know what other options there are. It's not their fault.  

So, what can we do?  We might take a few students to visit our sponsor's bank, which I imagine would be very eye-opening for them.  Eventually, I'd lovvvve to have a strong career focus in my future classroom, especially with younger students since they likely get it the least.  Monthly field trips to 'shadow' a professional? Bring in as many guest speakers as possible? Provide career-aptitude quizzes simply to help envision the wide range of careers?  It doesn't matter if we teach our students every fact and skill possible if they don't know the steps needed to secure a job and apply the skills after graduation!

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