Career Exploration and Planning Tools
The following career exploration and planning resources can be used as you advise students, incorporated into career exploration and planning units, or integrated into a CTSO chapter meeting or other event.
Ideally, you will have access to many of the following tools through one integrated career exploration and planning system.
These tools, usually delivered in the form of quizzes, are fun ways for students to consider their career interests, their existing knowledge and skills, and what they want their future to look like. They typically include questions about preferred tasks, work environments, and communication styles and can help start a conversation among students and families about what career options could be a fit for a particular student, while also fostering self-knowledge.
Examples:
These tools help students organize and present their knowledge, skills and experiences as they apply for advanced courses and experiences like capstones and internships as well as college, apprenticeships and more. They typically include a course transcript and evidence of completed projects and experiences in formats like documents, images, videos or slides.
Examples:
While your job as a counselor is not job placement, you can help CTE learners – and all students – understand trends in the local, regional or state labor market with information like:
- High-wage and/or high-demand jobs
- Fastest-growing jobs
- Projected job openings in one, five or 10 years
- Descriptions of jobs, including working conditions, anticipated wages and education and training pathways that lead to those occupations
This data can help students explore broad career areas that interest them; learn about current high-demand and emerging occupations; consider the conditions, earnings and lifestyle they’re looking for; and identify the educational options that will get them where they want to go.
Examples:
Industry partners, CTSOs, nonprofits and other partners offer career resources that can be shared with students and families and integrated into career lessons or CTSO chapter meetings. These may include job descriptions, video interviews, virtual field trips and more in a particular industry or occupation or across multiple career fields.
Examples:
In some localities, schools and employers have developed networks that help match students and teachers with employers and industry representatives for purposes like finding guest speakers, coordinating job shadows and internships, and identifying mentors.
Examples:
Within your school or district, students may be allowed or required to take part in courses that focus on or include career awareness and planning. These may include one or more of the following:
- Semester-long or full-year courses that focus on identifying student strengths, interests and goals; researching careers; and gaining financial literacy.
- Career-focused lessons or units that are integrated into CTE courses.
- Short-term rotations through the CTE program areas available in your school or district.
- Summer camps that enable students to explore a particular career area or industry. Some of these optional experiences may be targeted to particular learner groups like girls in STEM.
While you may not have primary responsibility over these career exploration activities – that task will more likely fall to CTE teachers and administrators or staff like work-based learning or career development coordinators – you may be engaged to deliver lessons or to help integrate career planning activities into coursework.
Examples:
Reflection Questions
The following questions can help you think through both the information and resources you have and what you might need as you support learners and families with career exploration and planning. These questions, among others, can also be found in the fillable reflection tool.
- What career exploration and planning tools and resources are available to you to use in your counseling practice?
- How can you help students identify and explore their strengths and interests?
- How can you help students track and provide evidence of their knowledge, skills and experience?
- Where can you turn for data to help students understand the labor market and the education pathways that lead to jobs?
- How can you engage with partners for career exploration resources and opportunities?
- How do you align your advising with other career exploration activities?
State-specific Info: Learn more about career exploration tools available in your state with our State-by-State Resource List.
