Lesson 3: Exploring Careers
This lesson focuses on exploring some of the 17 career clusters and exploring career clusters with the most job opportunities. Students will identify their top two clusters of interest.
Objectives
- Understand the difference between jobs and careers.
- Understand how jobs can be grouped into career clusters.
- Be aware of common career clusters and identify your top 1-2 clusters of interests.
Materials
- Lesson Presentation: Lesson 3 Exploring Careers (Powerpoint)
- Student Workbook: My Job Exploration Workbook Lesson 3 (Powerpoint)
- Knowledge Check: Lesson 3 Pre-Check and Post-Check (PDF)
Expanding Your Knowledge
These optional activities and resources can reinforce lesson objectives in the home, engage families, or supplement classroom instruction.
Virginia Career View Career Clusters
This web page from Virginia Career View features detailed descriptions, videos, and activities for each of the seventeen Career Clusters.
Career Day Roundtable
Invite guest speakers with jobs or careers that match students’ preferred career clusters. Have students meet with representatives one-on-one to learn more about the career and the strengths and skills required for success.
Career Exploration Stations
Set up stations around the classroom with props (e.g., chef’s hat, computer, stethoscope, hard hat) for each of the career clusters. Print and cut the VCU CTI Career Cluster handout into stickers or printed sheets and instruct students to match the stations with the corresponding career cluster. Review with the whole class and check for accuracy.
What’s Your Job?
Invite students to discuss their job with a family member or a trusted adult in the community. Then, using the VCU CTI Career Cluster handout, help the student find which career cluster the job belongs to.
Additional Resources
These additional resources support the content in the Pre-ETS Toolkit and provide even more ways to help students plan for the future.
Exploring Virginia's Career Clusters
Use this career cluster infographic from the VCU Center on Transition Innovations to help students discover career clusters not discussed in today's lesson or additional jobs within each career cluster.
Use the following videos to provide a more detailed description of the career clusters discussed in today's lesson. Each video provides an overview and a short presentation of an example job and job-related tasks.
Business Management and Administration
Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics
Pathful/Pathful Jr
This website provides real-world videos, interactive assessments, and tools that students can use to begin career exploration through virtual job shadowing and career advising. Access to the platform for Virginia educators is available through the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). Contact the Secondary Transition Specialist at VDOE.
Career Planning Toolkit
This resource from the VCU Center on Transition Innovations is designed for educators and counselors who support students with significant disabilities throughout the career planning process. It is a companion resource to CTI’s Get Ready for Your Career course.