A Lesson Plan for Career Exploration for Middle School Students

Ask any child what they aspire to be when they grow up and you will elicit varied responses ranging from occupations such as a fireman, policeman, or teacher to the newer and more glamorous sounding job titles of astronaut or petroleum engineer. At any early age, we begin to form opinions and thoughts about what we want to be when we grow up. Starting the process of exploring occupations at an early age helps students to not become overwhelmed or pressured into selecting a career that is unsuitable because they have not done the prerequisite investigation of the world of careers. I have outlined some assignments or activities that can make career exploration fun and enjoyable for the student

Who am I? Have the student write an essay describing what kinds of activities they enjoy in their spare time. Ask the student to write about their hobbies, extracurricular activities, likes and dislikes. The instructor can administer a career interest survey to the student to help identify areas of interest that may have not been considered. The results of the career assessment can be used to help motivate the student to further explore the areas of interest in which he received high scores. Students can be asked to write a job description of their ideal job which would give insight into what may be occupational preferences to explore further.