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Classroom Activities: Intermediate / Advanced

Use MyMnCareers in the classroom or workshops to encourage completion of the print guide My Career Plan and to insure understanding. Goal setting and job search skills developed in structured group settings help build confidence and accountability.

These activities are designed to use with the "Finishing High School or My GED" and the "Done with High School/GED and Want to Advance My Career" section of MyMnCareers. They can be used in a classroom, workshop, or other group setting.

I want to explore careers...


  1. Present What Are Job Skills. Then have students take a skills assessment to help them recognize and name skills they already have.
  2. Review options from the Assessment Resources page to determine appropriate tools for your audience. Administer interest and skill assessments to build students' awareness and vocabulary to describe themselves in a work context. One option is to present one assessment for the group to complete together. This will help to introduce the terms and concepts used in the assessment. Individual assessments can be done is a separate session or given to students to take on their own and bring in the results to discuss with an instructor. Use tools from the Finishing High School or My GED / Done with High School/GED and Want to Advance My Career My Career Plan to help students integrate their assessment results into an occupational choice. Demonstrate career research and ask them to record occupational description, wages, outlook, training, and education needed.
    • The Find Careers search tool in the "Finishing High School or GED" section lists a limited number of occupations requiring 2-3 years of training or less (approximately 200).
    • The Find Careers tool in the "Done with High School/GED and Want to Advance My Career" section refers to more than 500 occupations requiring all levels of education and experience.
  3. To build awareness for long-term goal setting, invite students to find relevant career clusters, use What is a Career Path? Have them list the steps they might take in order to qualify for a job requiring a bachelor's degree (4 years), including working in lower-level occupations and actions needed to obtain job training or college degrees.

I want to set goals...

  1. Invite students to take the quiz on long- and short-term goals individually or as a group. Review material and examples on Long-term and Short-term Goals to insure understanding.
  2. Use the page Learn How to Set Goals in class to give students an idea of goals that will help them move forward. Learn about SMART Goals as a group to discuss what makes a goal workable.
  3. The Career Timeline illustrates how setting long-term goals impacts earnings and success. Show the table highlighting two different people's work and skill development experience, and show the wage graph. Give students reflection and sharing time regarding what decisions they see each person making, and how does this information relate to their own choices.
  4. Use My Career Plan for students to write up short-and long-term goals based on their career target. Review the SMART method in class to insure goals are appropriate and achievable. Have each student share one goal with the large group.

I want to get training...

  1. Based on their identified career path, invite students to research education options Use the MyMnCareers education search tool. Record their options in My Career Plan.
  2. Explore how to pay for education. Provide follow up resources for students to learn more in detail about financial aid options.

I want to learn more...

  1. Invite the class to think about a challenge they have faced in the workplace (examples: not fitting in with coworkers, not understanding a manager's instructions, etc.). Ask them to share it and how they handled it, or how they could have handled it better. Their responses can help then answer the common interview question "Tell me about a time when you had a difficult situation at work. How did you handle it?")
  2. Success at Work highlights successful work behaviors. Discuss which ideas are most important to employers and why. Also, discuss how work behaviors in U.S. work culture from those in other countries.
  3. View and discuss the video How to Fill Out a Job Application. Then have students create a personal data sheet or complete a blank application during class for use in preparing job applications.
  4. Dedicate time in a computer lab for all students to register on Minnesota Works, the state's public job bank. Registrants may apply for job openings and receive e-mail notification of job openings in their interest area. Facilitators should create an account in advance to better guide student use. A social security number is needed to register and use MinnesotaWorks.net.
  5. Use students' job skill list for students to identify their work skills.
  6. Have students write a description of their strongest 3-4 skills. This can be used to create an elevator speech for job interviews and networking.
  7. Show two of the videos about job interviews. Provide students with a list of standard interview questions. Pair students to interview each other, or invite other teachers or professionals from outside the classroom to do mock interviews. Discuss what students learned about interviewing.
  8. Use Overcoming Obstacles to identify potential hurdles to students' successful goal achievement. Brainstorm in small groups how to cope with common hurdles. Print out copies of Possible Hurdles Worksheet to record solutions.