Career Activities
CARTOONS: Why Are Soft Skills Important?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Examine a number of cartoons about soft skills and choose one to analyze in more depth
- Explain the cartoon's key message about soft skills and how it depicts that message
INTERACTIVE: How Do You Manage Your Time?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Examine how they currently manage their time in a typical day
- Compare their daily time management with that of famous, creative people throughout history
- Explore how the average modern American spends their time and compare it with their own day
INTERACTIVE: How do Millennials Compare to Their Grandparents?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Compare various characteristics of the Millennial generation with the Silent generation
- Reflect on how important historical, cultural, political, and social events happening when members of each generation were young adults influenced these characteristics
- Predict how future generations of Americans will continue to evolve
INTERACTIVE: Shifting Incomes for American Jobs
In this activity, students will:
- Explore the differences between people who make the most in their field and the people who make the least for over 20 major occupations in the United States.
- Make connections about how salaries are becoming increasingly differentiated for some occupations
INTERACTIVE: Can You Make it as an Uber Driver?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Experience what it is like to be a driver for a ride-sharing app
- Determine what the responsibilities of the job are and identify advantages and disadvantages of the role
- Reflect on their experience as a driver and determine if it is a career they would consider pursuing in the future
INTERACTIVE: Will Your Job Be Done by a Machine? (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Understand factors that lead to jobs being done by machines
- Compare the likeliness of a job being automated
- Available in English & Spanish
INTERACTIVE: What's The Unemployment Rate For 25-34 Year Old College Graduates?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Discover the current unemployment rate for recent college grads
- Make a connection between assumptions about unemployment rate and the decision to attend college
INTERACTIVE: What is the Most Common Job in Each State?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Track the most common job in different time frames in their state
- Use trends to hypothesize the future of popular career options in their state
INTERACTIVE: What Are Your Chances of Making It To The Executive Suite?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Explore how different factors affect an individual's potential of becoming a top executive
- Analyze how education, work experience, and identity traits relate to becoming a top executive
INTERACTIVE: Minimum Wage Since 1938
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Observe the change in federal minimum wage over time
- Compare the inflation-adjusted wage and analyze the differences
- Correlate relevant events with changes in the minimum wage
MOVE: Career Comparison
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Learn about different careers and how their job skills can lead to other career opportunities
SOFT SKILLS: Accepting Criticism (SP)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Role-play realistic high school and workplace scenarios in order to practice the soft skill Accepting Criticism.
Available in English and Spanish
SOFT SKILLS: Conflict Resolution (SP)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Role-play realistic high school and workplace scenarios in order to practice the soft skill Conflict Resolution.\
Available in English and Spanish.
SOFT SKILLS: Flexibility (SP)
Description:
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Role-play realistic high school and workplace scenarios in order to practice the soft skill Flexibility.
Made Available in English and Spanish
SOFT SKILLS: Good Communication (SP)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Role-play realistic high school and workplace scenarios in order to practice the soft skill Good Communication.
Available in English and Spanish
SOFT SKILLS: Positive Attitude (SP)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Role-play realistic high school and workplace scenarios in order to practice the soft skill Positive Attitude.
Made Available in English and Spanish
SOFT SKILLS: Self-Confidence (SP)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Role-play realistic high school and workplace scenarios in order to practice the soft skill Self-Confidence.
Available in English and Spanish
ANALYZE: A High School Resume and Cover Letter (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Understand the components of a cover letter
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of sample cover letters
- Available in English & Spanish
ANALYZE: With Whom Should I Network? (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Learn how to identify the people in their network.
- Learn how to leverage those contacts to improve their chances of finding job opportunities, being introduced to networks and receiving positive recommendations that will aid their chances of landing a job.
- Available in English & Spanish
FINE PRINT: Pay Stub
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Analyze a sample pay stub to understand its various components
- Use the sample pay stub to answer a variety of questions
COMPARE: Choosing Between Job Offers
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Be presented with a scenario where they have to choose between three different job offers.
- Weigh factors like salary/benefits, job responsibilities, location, and company reputation.
- Decide which factors matter most to them.
CREATE: A CV of Failure
In this activity, students create a completely nontraditional resume of failures instead of accomplishments and reflect on how they grow from failure.
CREATE: A Famous Person’s LinkedIn Profile (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Create a LinkedIn profile and practice the skills of professional social networking. From Beyonce to Barack Obama, help construct an informative, creative profile that showcases the skills and accomplishments of someone famous.
- Available in English & Spanish
CREATE: A Practice Job Application (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Use their own information to complete a job application. They will include personal information, previous employers, and references. Then they will have an opportunity to share with a partner and review glows and grows.
- Available in English & Spanish
CREATE: A Resume and Cover Letter (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Create their own resume and cover letter.
- Brainstorm the information needed for a resume and cover letter.
- Create a professionally formatted resume and cover letter.
- Share their work with classmates to receive feedback.
- Available in English & Spanish
PROJECT: Create a Career Portfolio (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Create and compile “required” resources for obtaining employment: sample job application, resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, elevator pitch, and sample responses to interview questions as well as follow-up. A variety of media is used.
- Available in English & Spanish
PROJECT: Create a Career Roadmap (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Create a Career Roadmap where they choose a career they would like to pursue and research the key elements of it
- Available in English & Spanish
PROJECT: Create Your Own LinkedIn Profile (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Create a LinkedIn profile for themselves
- Have the option of creating a mock profile via our Google Docs template or creating an actual profile on LinkedIn.com
- Available in English & Spanish
PROJECT: Do's & Don'ts at the Workplace
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Showcase their knowledge and understanding of soft skills (also known as interpersonal skills) by acting out different skits, which display what could happen at the workplace
- Show how using solid soft skills can help fix the issue or address the situation
PROJECT: First Week on the Job Means Paperwork
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Complete real tax forms, health insurance enrollment forms, and 401(k) enrollment forms they receive their first day on the job
- Log questions they have about this process and attempt to find answers through discussion with peers
PROJECT: Networking: From Prep to Interview
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Practice every step of the networking process:
- First, they’ll research companies before a job fair, then craft an elevator pitch, practice an informational interview, and complete the follow-up steps once they’ve received contact information
PROJECT: Should Employers View Facebook Profiles?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Gather facts and build arguments to later debate the ethical implications of employers viewing social media accounts
PROJECT: What Was Your First Job?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Develop interview questions to ask their acquaintances about their first job experience and then write a newspaper article about their findings
PROJECT: Who Aced the Interview Challenge? (Sp)
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Prepare for a job interview
- Practice delivering on-the-spot answers in a group challenge
- Receive peer feedback on their responses
- Winners from each group advance to a class championship round
- Available in English & Spanish
PROJECT: You Decide: Who Gets the Job?
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Assume the role of a hiring manager
- Review the resumes and cover letters of three potential candidates and decide which they feel is most suited for the position
RESEARCH: Finding Job Openings
In this activity, students will be able to:
- Go through the process of finding a job.
- Take stock of their personal strengths and interests.
- Use internet tools to find job openings that interest them.
- Develop a plan of attack for securing those jobs using proven job-hunting strategies.