Lesson 7

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Learning about Careers

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Student Resources

Student Resource 7.1

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Assignment: Career Presentation

In this lesson, you are going to develop a presentation about a career that is interesting to you. You will need to research your career on at least three different websites. Once you have done your research, you need to put together a presentation about your career to share with your classmates. This presentation will also be a part of your portfolio.

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Choosing a Career

You can select any career that is interesting to you. Consider choosing a career that was recommended by the My Next Move site, which you used in Lesson 5, or take this opportunity to learn more about a career that has always fascinated you.

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What the Presentation Should Include

–   The name of the career

–   What you do in this career

–   What education or training you need for this career

–   The average salary for this career

–   Whether there will be lots of demand for this career in the future

–   Whether this career is a good fit for you

–   A list of sources/bibliographic information

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Finding Images

Because this is a presentation, you will need good images that represent your career. The images and graphics need to help the viewer understand the career you’re talking about.

Some good places to look for free images are:

–   Wikimedia Commons ( http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page )

–   Dreamstime Free Photo Section ( http://www.dreamstime.com/free-photos )

–   Microsoft Office Clip Art ( http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx )

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Researching Your Career

You need to research your career on at least three different websites. Some suggested resources are listed below, but you will also need to find at least one website that is not on the list. Use the tips you learned in Lesson 6 on how to recognize a reliable website.

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Good Sources of Information

–   My Next Move ( http://www.mynextmove.org/ )

–   Occupational Outlook Handbook, US Government Bureau of Labor Statistics ( http://www.bls.gov/oco/ )

–   Careers, Kids.gov ( http://www.kids.gov/6_8/6_8_careers.shtml )

–   Career Snapshots, Monster.com ( http://my.monster.com/Job-Profiles/GetProfile.aspx )

–   Careers A-Z, About.com ( http://careerplanning.about.com/od/careersatoz/Careers-A-To-Z-Profiles-Quizzes-Personal-Stories-And-Related-Occupations.htm )

–   Career OneStop for Students ( http://www.careeronestop.org/StudentsandCareerAdvisors/ExploreCareersStudents.aspx )

–   Career Videos: Career OneStop ( http://www.careeronestop.org/Videos/CareerandClusterVideos/career-and-cluster-videos.aspx )

–   Explore Careers: Big Future by The College Board( https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/explore-careers )

–   Career Profiles: Brain Track ( http://www.braintrack.com/colleges-by-career )

–   Career Lists: California Colleges.edu ( https://secure.californiacolleges.edu/career/career-lists.asp )

–   Career Planning: Fastweb ( http://www.fastweb.com/career-planning )

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How to Find Other Reliable Sources

–   See if one of the recommended sites offers links to another site.

–   Search for a professional organization or trade union for people in the career field.

–   Search for a magazine that’s written for people who have that job.

–   Use a search engine, but remember to evaluate the results! Don’t just click on the first thing the search engine pulls up.

Student Resource 7.2

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Organizer: Research on a Career

Student Name: ___________________________________________________Date: _____________

Directions: Use this organizer to help you keep track of the information you learn as you research your career. First, write down what career you will be researching. Then in the space provided, write down your notes and the sources of your information. An example is provided. If you run out of space, copy the organizer onto a separate sheet of paper.

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The Career You Are Researching

My career will be:

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Organize Your Research Here

Fill in each section of the table below. That way you can be sure that you have collected all of the information you need. Look at the example to understand what to do.

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Example

Topic	What I Found	Source of Information
Education or training	3 steps to becoming architect: 1.   Get a degree. 2.   Complete an internship. 3.   Pass an exam to get licensed in your state.	American Institute of Architects website: http://www.archcareers.org/website/article.asp?id=8&navitemid=15&linkid=32
Average salary	Architect’s annual salary in 2008: $70,320 If you’re interning, you’ll make a lot less.	“Architect” on BLS website: http://www.bls.gov/k12/build04.htm

 

Topic

What I Found

Source of Information

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After You’ve Finished Your Research

Before you sign off your computer, make sure you have all your sources listed in the correct bibliographic format. Remember you can use EasyBib ( http://www.easybib.com/ ) or Son of Citation Machine (http://citationmachine.net/ ) to help you.

Choose one of these tools and make sure you know which format your teacher wants you to use. Then plug in the information you have into the tool and write down the correct bibliographic format in the space below. Keep in mind that bibliographic format may ask you for author’s names, dates of publication, and other things you didn’t write down in your notes. If so, you need to go back to the website where you found the information and find as many of those details as possible!

Also remember that you need at least three sources. Only two of your sources can come from the recommended sources list in Student Resource 7.1.

Citation #1:

Citation #2:

Citation #3:

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