Careers Exploration
CAREERS EXPLORATION
Lesduur is: 40 minIntroductie
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CAREERS EXPLORATION
Targets common misconceptions about careers, such as the idea that a first choice is permanent, and grounds key employability terminology. Students move from sector awareness to independent research and a concrete next step.
Which careers are available now that weren't 20 years ago?
Draws on prior knowledge of the changing jobs market, building a shared list of newer roles before the sector work begins.
Stretch: Ask students to pick one role from the web and explain what change in technology or society created it.
Device-Free: Pairs list as many new careers as possible in one minute on a mini-whiteboard, then share the most unusual.
WHY CAREERS EXPLORATION MATTERS
Jobs / economy evolves — new roles emerge (e.g. AI, green jobs)
Helps with subject choices, skills development, motivation
Reduces the “I don’t know what I want to do” anxiety
Be proactive rather than reactive
Explains why early careers exploration matters, linking a changing economy to subject choices and confidence about the future.
Stretch: Students give a real-world example of a role linked to AI or green jobs and explain which skills it is likely to need.
Device-Free: Show of hands: who already has a career idea? Use the response to open the point on the slide about anxiety over not yet knowing a career path.
Match the job to the career sector!
Data Analyst
Social Media Manager
Hotel Manager
Police Officer
Nurse
Hospitality/ Travel and Tourism
Creative and Media
Health and Social Care
STEM/Engineering/Tech
Public Services/Education/Government
Deze slide heeft geen instructies
Health and Social Care
STEM/Engineering/Tech
Creative and Media
Business/Finance/Administration
Public Services/Education/Government
Hospitality/Travel and Tourism
Which careers can you think of in these sectors?
Groups students' career ideas under six sectors, making the breadth of options in each area visible at a glance.
Stretch: Students identify a career that bridges two sectors and justify where it fits best.
Device-Free: Divide the board into six sections and invite students to add a career to each in turn.
Which sector would you be interested in working in?
Health and Social Care
STEM/Engineering/Tech
Creative and Media
Hospitality/Travel and Tourism
Public Services/Education/Government
Business/Finance/Administration
Gauges where class interest lies across the six sectors and shows which areas few students have yet considered.
Stretch: Ask students to explain what draws them to their chosen sector, referring to a skill or interest they already have.
Device-Free: Assign an area of the room to each sector and ask students to stand by their choice.
Fill in the blanks
Apprenticeship: A job where you learn skills while working and studying. CV (Curriculum Vitae): A document that lists your education, skills, and work experience. Freelancing: Working for different companies at different times, rather than being permanently employed by one company. Internship: A temporary job where you gain experience in a particular field. Interview: A meeting where someone asks you questions to see if you are suitable for a job. Job Shadowing: Observing someone at work to learn about their job. Networking: Meeting people who can help you in your career. Portfolio: A collection of your work that shows your skills and achievements. Reference: A person who can talk about your skills and abilities to a potential employer. Volunteering: Doing work without pay to gain experience or help others.
Targets key employability vocabulary, as each definition must be read for meaning before the correct term can be placed.
Stretch: Students explain the difference between an apprenticeship and an internship, and where each might lead.
Device-Free: Read each definition aloud; students write the matching term on mini-whiteboards.
Choose a job or sector - or you may be allocated one!
Using career websites, research:
What does the job/sector involve?
What skills, qualifications, personal qualities are needed?
Typical salary/working conditions/growth prospects
Research Activity
Research activity, with an open question on the following slide. This activity can be done individually or in small groups.
Sets up independent research into a chosen job or sector, guided by three questions that reappear on the feedback slide.
Stretch: Ask students to compare two sources and judge which gives more reliable salary or growth information.
Device-Free: Provide printed job profiles from a careers website for students to annotate against the three questions.
Feedback Time
Asks students to evaluate their research findings rather than simply list them, with the Reminder hotspot acting as a checklist.
Stretch: Students judge whether the job they researched suits their own skills and interests, giving reasons.
Device-Free: Pairs present their findings to each other for one minute each, then swap partners.
If a job doesn't require any qualifications it's easier to enter and has lots of progression
True
False
Addresses the misconception that roles without entry qualifications always offer strong progression.
Stretch: Ask students to explain how someone in such a role could still progress, for example through training on the job.
Device-Free: Thumbs up for true, thumbs down for false, then ask volunteers to justify their choice.
Transferable skills are useful across many jobs, not just one
True
False
Checks that students see transferable skills as portable, countering the idea that every skill is tied to a single role.
Stretch: Students name two transferable skills and show how each would apply in two different sectors from the lesson.
Device-Free: Students stand for true and stay seated for false.
Once you choose a career, you can't switch later
True
False
Challenges the belief that a first career choice is permanent, a common source of anxiety when students make option choices.
Stretch: Ask students to explain how the transferable skills from the previous question make a change of career possible.
Device-Free: Show of hands, followed by pair talk on why the statement is false.
You don't need to research future growth trends in jobs - trends don't change much
True
False
Tackles the assumption that job trends stay fixed, linking back to the point about a changing economy earlier in the lesson.
Stretch: Students suggest a sector likely to grow over the next ten years and justify the prediction.
Device-Free: Students write T or F on mini-whiteboards and reveal them together.
Pathways and Next Steps
Information slide – click on the hotspots to reveal more information.
Introduces the main routes after school, from qualifications to apprenticeships and university, so students see more than one pathway.
Stretch: Ask students to compare two routes for the job they researched and justify which suits them better.
Device-Free: Draw the routes as branches on the board and ask students to place a sticky note on the one they are considering.
What is one job you will research further this week?
Works as an exit ticket, checking what students have taken away by asking them to commit to a specific next step in their research.
Stretch: Students state where they will look for information and the one question they most want answered.
Device-Free: Students write their answer on a paper exit slip, collected at the door.
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