Career Explorations
Description
Career Explorations Course Description
- Provides overview of career options, plus self-awareness, to best assess the student’s career goals, and delineate the steps along that path
- An interactive, research-based and text-based course. Students learn to navigate official job statistics and data, and perform online job search
- Includes weekly class discussion boards and a personal career guidance via phone session with the Melamed instructor
- Includes resume writing skills. Students complete the course with a polished resume.
Course Content
- Personal identity and role models
- Personal skills, aptitudes, and accomplishments
- Personality traits and interests
- Family needs and salary goals
- Industry clusters
- Occupational clusters
- Bureau of Labor and Occupational Outlook Handbook to determine market demand and average salary
- Career pathways. Guided research – Choose two professions. Explore them, speak to those in the field. Visit them in the workplace. Hear about a typical day. See if it suits you. Share your findings with your classmates.
- Career ethics. Workplace ethics. Study scenarios and simulations. Know the halachah of lashon hara, keeping confidences and trade secrets
- Education options. Evaluate your needs: professional skills, degrees, apprenticeship, etc.
- Career entry opportunities. Including getting a job in that setting as an unskilled worker while you’re still in school, and thereby gain familiarity with the field.
- Explore if entrepreneurship is right for you. Risks and opportunities. Explore how you can combine your skill set/prior training with innovation and repackage yourself.
- Make more money. Monetizing your skills, leveraging your accomplishments.
- Dealing with your realities, making your game plan according to the cards in your hand, such as – current budgetary needs, geographic constraints.
- Job Applications and Resume writing
- Online portfolio. Create your own with guidance from instructor.
- Personal qualities and character traits sought by employers.
- Job Search and Networking
- Best foot forward. Signs of a successful person. Dress for success. Be punctual.
- Social media and internet presence. Take charge of your online profile, make sure a Google search brings up the right persona.
- Dealing with rejection. How to rebound. A confidence from within.
- Effective interviewing. Role playing, simulated interviews with classmates.
- Closing the deal. How to negotiate. Understand your contracts. Be informed of laws and your rights.
- Coaching and being a supportive friend. Find a buddy in the class to coach, find another who will coach you.
- Follow up – Discussion board remains open for 10 weeks following the course, in which lessons are put into practice.
This course can be taken alone, or in conjunction with another Melamed Career Training course.
