Career exploration is the process of discovering what careers match your skills and interests and then mapping out the education or training needed to get there. Career exploration also includes understanding the process of finding and obtaining a job.
Step one to determine a possible career is to consider whether the career matches your skills and interests. Use the resources below to identify careers and learn more about them.
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Oregon Connections offers access to a large career video library, the opportunity to join live webinars with industry leaders, and attend virtual career conversations with career professionals. Use these great resources with students you serve
You can learn more about Oregon Connections here.
Career Journeys website is created to help middle and high school students from across the state of Oregon–and beyond–to dream big. It’s all about exposing students to in-demand career pathways through videos and activities. On this website listen to 3-10 minute videos of young adults in early stages of their career. Hear about how these young adults navigated the public school system and postsecondary education (in some cases) to discover and begin their personal career pathway journey.
WorkSource Oregon
WorkSource Oregon is a statewide partnership with government and local agencies that maintains an list of open jobs across the state. WorkSource also provides job training and other services.
Other Job Search Engines
Preparation and increasing your skills and work experience for part-time or full-time employment is essential. Through resumes and interviews you communicate your skills, abilities, talents, and personality. Community service and volunteer work helps expand your experiences, and internships/job shadows give you a peek into the work you might do in a future job.
Community service/volunteering is when a person donates his/her time or efforts for a cause or organization without being paid. It may be a one-time only or an on-going commitment. It should directly or indirectly benefit people outside the family or household or else benefit a cause, even though the person volunteering normally benefits as well. Most volunteer sites are non-profit organizations.
Community service/volunteering is a great way to build skills and experience needed on resumes and job applications.
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Employability skills, also known as “soft skills”, are a set a transferable skills and personal attributes that are often valued by employers. Developing employability skills can help students successfully transition from school to the workforce.
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Creating your resume is the first step to getting a job. A resume is a summary of your work experience, education, and other qualities that might be of interest to an employer. Usually an employer will evaluate your resume against the job requirements listed in the job posting. If you are a good fit you might be invited to an interview.
Make sure to include internships and job shadows on your resume, job application, and activities chart.
Parts of a Resume
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Interviewing for a job usually happens after your resume and any other materials have been successfully reviewed by the employer. Here are some general tips for having a successful job interview.
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