Career InterestWebQuest 
ACareer Search for Grades 9-12

 

Developed by John Confer
john_confer@hempfield.k12.pa.us

Introduction
     This WebQuest has been developed to help each to find a career that "fits" him or her.  Many students have no idea what they plan to do following high school.  With the tools available in this activity, it is our goal for you to have a solid idea where you are heading following your graduation from high school.  You may also find that what you thought you might like to does not really fit your abilities and goals.  This is ok.  Many people who are in the world of work have changed their goals and aspirations as they have grown as individuals.  It is ok to change your course as you go through this program.

Your Task
     As you complete this WebQuest, you should find out somethings about yourself and the career you see yourself in following graduation.  When you are finished you should be able to:

• Accurately describe your strenghts and identify your weaknesses
• Identify your goals as they pertain to your chosen career
• Identify the skills necessary for your career
• Identify the post high school training that will be necessary for you to achieve your career goals
• Describe the career you have chosen and the future outlook for this career
• Show working knowledge of use of online resources to complete this WebQuest

The Resources Available
     The following resources are available to you, in one of  the following areas: 1. the Learning Support room, 2. the Library, or 3. the Writing Center.  You will need to secure a pass to the library prior to coming to the Learning Support room.  See one of the teachers in the Learning Support room to get a pass to the Writing Center.
 
      Resources

•  PHEAA Mentor-this site provides several career and interest related inventories
•  MyFuture.com-this site provides a work interest inventory and a personality survey
•  Psychometrics.com-a site with a career values inventory and a career competentcy questionnaire
•  Jobs.com-a site with comprehensive information about job opportunities and an online resume service
•  Hotjobs.com-this site has information about the availability of employment throughout the U.S.A.
•  Occupational Outlook Handbook-a site to find specific information about career including future outlook for your    career
•  You can also conduct a search using a search engine such as Yahoo, Excite or Google
•  Other searches can be conducted on meta search engines such as Dogpile, Black Widow and Meta Crawler

The Procedure

1.  Find out your strengths and weaknesses.  First write down your weaknesses, skills with which you have difficulty.
    These can be academic, personal or the lack of specific job skills.  Then write down your strengths, these are the things
    which you do well, again these can be academic, personal or specific job skills.  Next, write down your interests and
    hobbies.  And finally, write your career goals as you think they are right now.
2.  Complete one or more of the online surveys related to your personal and/or job related interests.  Print a copy of each
    of the results of each survey you complete.  You should have no more than 4 interest surveys.  Don't worry if the
    results are different on each of the surveys and be truthful on each survey.
3.  Look at your career goals and find two to three related careers.  For each of these careers, find out the specific skills
    necessary to work in each of these fields.  A print out of the information about each of these areas is acceptable, but you
    must highlight the specific skills necessary for this career.
4.  The next thing you need to find is what, if any, additional training is necessary following high school to work in this
    field.
5.  Finally, you need to write a one to two page summary about the career you have chosen.  This should include why you
    chose this career, how your strengths and skills make you a candidate for this career, what skills are necessary to be
    successful in this career, and any necessary post high school training and how you plan to fulfill this training
    requirement.
6.  Compile all your information into one packet and turn it in to one of the teachers.
7.  You are DONE!!!!!