JA It’s My Future

The students learn that they will have their own personal brand and that the brand they build today will reflect on them in the future. They will examine well-known logos to learn how individuals and companies create their brands and build their reputations. They will assess their personal characteristics to define their own brands and then develop logos to represent themselves.

The students are introduced to the 16 career clusters and the pathways through them. They will take a career interest survey and learn about potential jobs within their preferred clusters. They will share job information with other members of the class and discuss the importance of all jobs within a community.

The students learn the importance of being aware of which fields are growing and which are declining when making decisions about their careers. They will play a game that introduces information about high-growth occupations.

The students see how early experiences can build transferable skills that contribute to future job success. They will look at the lives of celebrities, focusing on the life experiences that led to their success. They will learn about career maps by examining a sample and then creating their own.

The students are introduced to the basics of looking, applying, and interviewing for a job. They will play a game in which they must identify two truths and a myth about the job search process. They will learn the fundamentals of creating a resume and engage in a simulation in which they identify appropriate skills for various jobs and decide on where to highlight those skills on a resume.

The students learn about the differences between technical and soft skills and why both are essential for getting and keeping a job. Students also complete a soft skills self-evaluation to determine which skills they already have and which they can work toward gaining. Finally, they role-play situations that require strong soft skills.