1. Skip to content

What is a Career Cluster?

To have a good career, you must make good choices and work hard. First, you should know what your options are.

What Does It Mean to Plan Your Career?

Good careers don't just happen. Think about when you make dinner. To make a good meal, you must plan what you're going to have, get the food, cook it, and serve. To have a good career, you must also plan, then make good choices, and work hard.

You can plan a dinner in one night, but a good career takes longer to plan. Hard work may not be fun, but it can lead to good things.

The first step in planning a career is to know what your options or possibilities are. To make good choices, you will need to know how to compare your career options.

Learn About Career Clusters and Your Options

A career cluster is group of careers that share common features. If you like one job in a cluster, you will probably find other jobs in that cluster that you will like as well.

Here are examples of three different career clusters.

  • Health — Workers in this cluster help people have healthy lives. Some work directly with people, some don't. This cluster contains jobs like home health aide, medical sonographer, pharmacy aide, and medical transcriptionist.
  • Business — Workers in this cluster help companies run smoothly. This cluster contains jobs like office clerk, receptionist, credit checkers, and janitors.
  • Public Safety — Workers in this cluster protect people and enforce laws. This cluster contains jobs like security guard, court clerk, alarm installer, and life guard.

Next Steps: