Skills and Interests Inventory

In this activity, you will explore your personal skills and interests through a fun and interactive inventory. This activity is designed to help you reflect on your strengths and consider how they can be connected to exciting career paths!

Instructions:

1. Personal Reflection: Think about your favorite subjects, hobbies, or activities in school and outside of school. What excites you the most?
   
   
   
2. Inventory Sheet: On the worksheet provided, list down three skills you believe you are good at. Examples: problem-solving, creativity, teamwork.
   
   
   
3. Interest Chart: Next, make a list of three interests or topics you love. Examples: reading, technology, sports.
   
   
   
4. Connecting the Dots: Write a short note about how you think one of your skills could be linked to one of your interests to form a future career. For instance, if you're good at creativity and love art, you might enjoy a career in design.
   
   
   

Questions to Consider:

• What makes each skill or interest special to you?
  
  
  
• How do you see these qualities connecting to the career options you learned about in our Career Interest Exploration Slide-Deck?
  
  
  
• Can you think of a job or project where you could use both a skill and an interest together?
  
  
  

Follow-Up Discussion:

After you complete your inventory, we will form small groups to discuss our findings. Share one skill and one interest from your list and explain how you believe these could relate to a potential future job. This discussion will help you see new ideas and possibilities from your friends' perspectives.

Enjoy discovering your skills and exploring how they can lead to a dream job!

Dream Job Reflection Worksheet

In this worksheet, you will reflect on your unique skills, interests, and values to imagine what your dream job might look like. Use the prompts below to guide your thinking and writing. Remember to be honest with yourself and have fun exploring your future possibilities!

Section 1: Self-Discovery

1. Write down three skills you believe you are most proud of. What makes each skill special to you?
   
   
   

2. List three interests or topics that you truly enjoy learning about or participating in. What do you love most about these interests?
   
   
   

Section 2: Dream Job Brainstorming

3. Imagine a job where you can use at least one of the skills you listed and one of your interests. Describe what the job might involve and why it feels like a dream job for you.
   
   
   

4. What are some qualities (like creativity, helping others, problem-solving) that are important to you in a job? List at least three qualities and explain why each is important.
   
   
   

Section 3: Bringing It Together

5. Looking at your skills, interests, and the qualities you've listed, how do you see these elements connecting to what you imagine as your dream job? Write a few sentences describing how all these parts come together for you.
   
   
   

6. In a future career, what would make you feel inspired and happy every day? Explain what elements of a job are non-negotiable for you and why.
   
   
   

Take your time with these questions. Your reflection is a personal journey into understanding yourself and your future possibilities. Enjoy the process of discovering what your dream job could be!

Career Pathway Role-Play

In this engaging activity, high school students will participate in a role-play to simulate real-life career scenarios. The goal is to help students understand various job roles and the skills needed in each. This interactive session encourages creative thinking, teamwork, and critical analysis of potential career choices.

Instructions:

1. Preparation:
   • Divide students into small groups (3-4 per group).
   • Assign each group a career category (e.g., Science & Technology, Arts & Media, Business & Finance, Health & Medicine, Social Sciences, or Engineering & Architecture).
   • Provide a brief description of the assigned career path and key responsibilities.
     
     
     
     
2. Role-Play Setup:
   • Within each group, assign roles such as a team leader, a technical expert, a creative strategist, and a communicator. If the group has extra members, they can rotate roles.
   • Give each group 5 minutes to discuss and plan a short skit (2-3 minutes) that illustrates a typical scenario in that career category (e.g., launching a new product, solving a complex problem, creating a work of art, or planning a community health initiative).
     
     
     
     
3. Performance:
   • Each group performs their skit in front of the class.
   • Encourage the audience to observe and note which skills and behaviors are highlighted during each role-play.
     
     
     
     
4. Reflection and Discussion:
   • After all performances, facilitate a class discussion to reflect on the role-play experiences. Ask questions such as:
     • What key skills did you observe in each career scenario?
     • How do these skills relate to your personal strengths or interests?
     • Which career pathway sparked your interest and why?
       
       
       
       
5. Wrap-Up:
   • Summarize the session by emphasizing the connection between personal skills, career roles, and real-world applications.
   • Encourage students to consider how their own interests and strengths might shape their future career choices.

Enjoy the role-play and let your imagination explore the wide range of potential career paths!

Career Path Mapping

In this interactive activity, you will create a visual map that outlines a career path you are interested in. This map will help you understand the steps involved in pursuing your dream career, including educational requirements, skills, and potential job positions along the way.

Instructions:

1. Choose a Career:
   
   
   
   Think about the career you are interested in. It could be a career featured in our slide deck or one you're curious to explore further.

2. Research the Career:
   
   
   
   Spend a few minutes researching the career. Look up information about:

   • Necessary education or certifications
   • Essential skills and competencies
   • Entry-level positions and potential pathways for advancement

3. Create Your Map:
   
   
   
   On a large sheet of paper or digitally using a tool like MindMeister or Google Drawings:

   • Start with your chosen career in the center of your map.
   • Branch out with key steps, such as high school courses, college degrees, internships, and entry-level jobs.
   • Add information about the skills you need to develop and any certifications or training programs required.

   Tip: Use different colors, symbols, or icons to represent different stages (for example, blue for education, green for skills, and red for job titles).

4. Reflection:
   
   
   
   Once your map is complete, answer the following questions either in writing or in a group discussion:

   • What was the most surprising step in the career path?
   • Which skills do you already have, and which do you need to work on?
   • How does this career path align with your personal strengths and interests?

5. Sharing:
   
   
   
   If time allows, present your career path map to the class. Explain the steps and highlight one or two key learnings from your research.

Enjoy the process and use this map as a blueprint for your future career planning!