Lesson MINI

LESSON MINI

Mapping Your Future Career

Grade:

9-12

Topic:

Jobs and Careers

Unit:

Preparing for the Future

Overview

In this lesson mini, students will connect their personal strengths to potential career paths, distinguish between traditional and emerging careers, and analyze how workplace trends transform job requirements over time. Through interactive activities including mock interviews, jigsaw puzzles, and collaborative research, students will identify transferable skills needed across evolving career landscapes, predict future job opportunities, and develop strategies to adapt to changing industries. By the end of these four interconnected activities, students will articulate personalized career interests with supporting evidence, map potential transition pathways between related professions, and reflect on their own strengths and skills needed for future workplace success.

Ideas for Implementation

Career and technical education

Advisory and homeroom

School counseling curriculum

Life skills and personal development

College and career readiness courses

After-school programs

Key Vocabulary & Definitions

adaptability (noun): the ability to adjust to new conditions, particularly as industries evolve and career expectations shift over time

articulate (verb): to express thoughts, ideas, or information clearly and effectively, a key skill in job interviews and career pitches

disruption (noun): a significant change that alters industries, job roles, or workplace structures, often driven by technology or shifting market demands

inquiry (noun): the process of asking thoughtful and purposeful questions to gain deeper understanding, especially in interviews and research

sustainability (noun): the practice of maintaining economic, environmental, or social balance in industries, influencing the future of job opportunities and skills

synthesize (verb): to combine different pieces of information to form a clear and well-supported conclusion, as students do when analyzing career insights from their interviews

viability (noun): the likelihood that a career or job path will remain relevant, stable, and sustainable over time based on industry trends and demand

Authentic Learning Extensions

Students explore their strengths through authentic learning experiences that connect directly to potential career paths, engaging in real-world activities and practical applications that deepen their understanding. Here are some examples:

Future Career Documentary: Building on Activity 2, “Understanding the World of Work,” students create a short video or presentation predicting the evolution of a career field over the next 10–20 years. Using research on technological advancements, economic shifts, and emerging skills, they illustrate how the role might change and what professionals in the field will need to succeed.

Industry Expert Q&A Panel: Expanding on Activity 4, “Building Interview Skills,” students collaborate to research and invite guest speakers from various fields to participate in a career panel. They prepare insightful interview questions and engage in a discussion about workplace trends, career pathways, and industry demands. Afterward, students reflect on how the panel shaped their understanding of career options.

Personalized Career Growth Plan: Inspired by Activity 1, “Matching Strengths to Real Jobs,” students develop an individualized career road map outlining the education, skills, and experience needed for a profession of their choice. They research degree programs, certifications, licenses, or apprenticeships, identifying concrete steps they can take now to prepare for the future.

Workplace Skills Challenge: Connecting Activity 3, “Exploring Workplace Trends,” students participate in hands-on challenges designed to simulate essential skills in various careers. Examples include problem-solving activities for engineers, marketing-strategy tasks for business roles, or data-analysis exercises for emerging tech careers. This allows students to explore different career paths by testing real-world skills.

Choose Activity

LESSON MINI

Mapping Your Future Career

Activity

1:

Matching Strengths to Real Jobs

By the end of the activity, students will be able to distinguish between traditional and emerging jobs, link their strengths and interests to careers, and identify key skills for suitable roles.

30-40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per student)

Whiteboard and display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will explore different career paths, including both traditional jobs and emerging opportunities. Explain that traditional jobs are long-established roles that have been a staple in the workforce, while emerging opportunities are new career paths created by modern trends and technological advances.

Begin by asking students to think about careers they have heard of—through family, school, or media—and write down as many as they can in 1 minute.

Ask students to share some of their ideas with the class. As they do, create two lists on the board: one for traditional careers (e.g., teacher, doctor, mechanic) and another for emerging careers (e.g., drone operator, artificial intelligence specialist, renewable-energy technician).

Explain to students how they will explore different careers, required skills, and the evolving job market. Lead a brief discussion with these questions:

What do you enjoy doing, and how could it become a career?

How have careers changed over time?

What key skills matter in today’s job market?

Have students reflect on what they enjoy and their natural strengths. Explain that recognizing their interests can help them explore careers that match their strengths. Give each student a Claim, Evidence, Reason graphic organizer, and instruct them to make a claim about a career that might suit them, provide evidence based on their interests and skills, and explain their reasoning. Invite them to use their devices to research careers, if needed.

Once complete, have students discuss the following question as a class: “How do interests and skills connect to careers?” Offer examples, such as how problem-solving skills align with engineering or how creativity connects to design.

Have students pair up and use their handouts to discuss their career choices. Each partner should ask questions to help refine their reasoning, such as the following:

What skills or interests led you to choose this career?

How does this career align with your strengths?

What challenges might someone in this field face?

End with a fun activity in which students share their career choices without saying the job titles. Instead, they give three clues based on their Claim, Evidence, Reason graphic organizers. For example:

I enjoy solving problems and working with numbers.

This job requires strong analytical thinking and attention to detail.

People in this field often work in finance, business, or technology.

The class will then guess the career, reinforcing learning and encouraging critical thinking in an engaging way.

Differentiation and Variations

Visual and Language Support: Provide a simplified career snapshot template with guiding prompts to help students structure their responses. Use images or symbols to represent different industries and job types. Offer sentence starters such as “This career interests me because…” or “One skill needed for this job is…” to support multilingual learners or those who need help organizing their thoughts.

Alternative Response Formats: Allow students to respond with drawings, short audio recordings, or role-play scenarios to express career interests in creative ways.

Advanced Extensions: Challenge advanced learners to compare multiple career paths, analyzing how education, job stability, and salary differ across industries. They can also explore how emerging technologies might affect their chosen careers in the future.

Flexible Grouping: Pair students strategically to balance skills and encourage peer mentoring during discussions and partner work.

Collaborative Teaching

Team Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a Team Teaching strategy. In this model, sometimes referred to as “tag team teaching,” both teachers deliver instruction together, often alternating or integrating their teaching styles seamlessly. This collaborative approach provides students with multiple perspectives and teaching styles, enriching their learning experience. By modeling effective teamwork and communication, this approach demonstrates how different viewpoints can enhance understanding and create a dynamic and interactive classroom environment. Evidence indicates that team teaching can enhance student engagement and provide a richer, more diverse educational experience.

Activity Introduction: Teacher A introduces the concept of traditional versus emerging careers and leads the initial brainstorming. While students list careers they’ve heard of, Teacher B circulates, prompting quieter students and helping categorize responses on the board.

Class Discussion and Graphic Organizer: While Teacher A facilitates the discussion on how interests and skills relate to careers, Teacher B distributes and explains the Claim, Evidence, Reason graphic organizer. Both teachers then support students in completing the organizer—one guiding reflection questions, the other providing sentence starters or checking for understanding.

Partner Work and Clue Game: Teacher A oversees the partner discussions, encouraging students to ask clarifying questions and refine their reasoning. Meanwhile, Teacher B prepares the class for the closing activity and supports students in crafting strong clues for the career guessing game.

Activity Wrap-Up: Both teachers take part in the final guessing game—one facilitating, the other noting standout examples to celebrate, reinforcing connections among interests, skills, and evolving career opportunities.

Mapping Your Future Career

Activity

2:

Understanding the World of Work

By the end of the activity, students will be able to predict future careers, analyze industry trends, and evaluate their own skills for future success.

30-40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per student)

Paper and writing utensils

Whiteboard and display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will explore how careers evolve and how new jobs emerge. Begin with a discussion about jobs from 50 years ago—what careers have disappeared, and what new ones exist today? Ask how automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and climate change shape industries. Explain that many of them will work in jobs that don’t yet exist, and challenge them to predict future careers. End by asking: “What skills will be most valuable in the future workforce?”

Have students work in small groups to research and identify three careers that didn’t exist a generation ago. Each group will select a unique industry (e.g., gaming, social media, health care, sports science, or environmental conservation) and brainstorm modern job roles within that field. They will use their devices to explore how these careers emerged, the skills needed, and their growth. Give examples such as “social media manager” or “app developer,” and ensure groups choose distinct industries or angles.

Distribute paper and writing supplies as needed to each group. For each of the three careers they select, groups will record the job title, a brief description, and one reason for its growth. They will then share with the class the most surprising career they discussed and predict how it might evolve over the next decade.

Distribute two copies of the Jigsaw Puzzle graphic organizer to each group, and have them create two future careers that could emerge in the next 10 years. These are the instructions for each of the graphic organizer’s four sections:

Name the job and describe its function.

Explain the trend or problem that created the need.

Identify necessary training or education.

Describe a typical workday.

Example: An AI ethics investigator ensures that AI remains fair and unbiased in hiring, law enforcement, and health care.

Groups will have 5–7 minutes to prepare a brief presentation using their Jigsaw Puzzle organizer. They should cover the job title and function, the trend behind it, required training, and a typical workday. Each member should contribute to keep the presentation clear and engaging.

After all teams have presented, lead a brief class discussion on trends they noticed. Ask students what similarities they saw between the future jobs and what industries seemed to be growing the most. Encourage them to consider how technology, environmental changes, and social needs are shaping these careers. Have students pair up and discuss the following questions:

What aspect of future careers interests them most?

What skills will be most valuable?

What is one strength they have and one skill they want to develop?

After pairs finish sharing, bring the class back together and invite a few students to share key insights from their discussions.

Wrap up by asking students to reflect on how they can prepare for careers that don’t yet exist. Have them write down one skill they can begin developing now that would be useful across multiple industries. Then, as a class, brainstorm and list ways to stay adaptable in a changing job market—such as continuous learning, problem-solving, and staying current with technology. End with two or three key takeaways from the activity to reinforce learning.

Differentiation and Variations

Visual and Language Support: Provide a sample Jigsaw Puzzle graphic organizer with sentence starters to help students structure their future career profiles. For multilingual learners, offer a word bank of career-related terms and encourage the use of visuals or labeled diagrams in their presentations.

Scaffolding Presentation Skills: For students who need extra support, offer a simple presentation outline with key prompts to guide their explanations. Allow teams to practice their presentations in small groups before presenting to the class to build confidence.

Advanced Extensions: Challenge advanced learners to research how automation, AI, or environmental changes could eliminate or transform existing jobs. Encourage them to compare their future jobs to historical career shifts, identifying patterns in how industries evolve.

Collaborative Teaching

One Teaching, One Assisting: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a One Teaching, One Assisting strategy. In this model, one teacher leads the activity while the other circulates, assisting individual students as needed. This ensures that when students encounter difficulties, they receive immediate help in the form of personalized support and answers to their questions. By addressing students’ unique needs and keeping them on track, this approach enhances individual learning experiences and fosters a supportive classroom environment. Studies indicate that immediate feedback and individualized attention can significantly enhance student understanding and retention of material.

Activity Introduction: One teacher introduces the activity, leading a discussion on how careers have changed over time and how new jobs emerge. The assisting teacher observes student participation and provides clarification where needed.

Exploring New Careers: The lead teacher guides students in identifying three careers that didn’t exist a generation ago. As students work in small groups, the assisting teacher circulates to assist with brainstorming, helping students connect careers to industry trends.

Presenting Future Jobs: The lead teacher facilitates group presentations, prompting students to explain their job titles, purpose, required skills, and responsibilities. The assisting teacher monitors engagement and helps students who need assistance articulating their ideas.

Class Discussion: The lead teacher leads a discussion on the feasibility of future careers and how workplace trends influence job creation. The assisting teacher encourages quieter students to contribute and ensures all voices are heard.

Mapping Your Future Career

Activity

3:

Exploring Workplace Trends

By the end of the activity, students will be able to compare traditional and emerging careers, analyze how job requirements and skills have evolved over time, and identify transferable skills needed to navigate changing career landscapes.

>40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per student)

Sticky notes (5 or 6 per student)

Whiteboard and display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will research how career landscapes are changing by comparing traditional careers with emerging ones. Define traditional careers as long-established roles and emerging careers as new opportunities created by technological advances and societal changes.

Have students individually list as many careers as they can think of in 3 minutes. Then, as a class, create two lists on the board: traditional careers and emerging ones. Consider sharing the following examples:

Teacher vs. virtual-reality education designer

Accountant vs. cryptocurrency financial analyst

Divide students into pairs and assign them a traditional career and one related to an emerging path (e.g., journalist and social media content creator; factory worker and robotics maintenance technician). Give a Career Evolution Research handout to each pair, and review the handout sections with the class. Instruct students to complete Part 1 using Britannica School and other approved resources to explore how an emerging career came from a traditional one. As they work through each section, check in and answer any questions. When students have completed the research portion (Part 1), direct them to work through Parts 2–5 of the handout sequentially:

In Part 2, they’ll create their side-by-side comparison chart highlighting key differences and similarities between careers.

In Part 3, they’ll analyze which skills transfer between careers, which new skills are required, and which traditional skills remain valuable.

In Part 4, they’ll predict future careers that might emerge in their field and the skills needed for these roles, justifying their predictions with current trends.

In Part 5, they’ll design a visual pathway showing how someone might transition from the traditional career to the emerging one, including necessary education, skills development, and experience.

Post all completed handouts around the room and have students circulate to view others’ research. Invite students to use sticky notes to add one question or insight to each handout they visit. After the gallery walk, students consider key insights from their handout.

Wrap up with a whole-class discussion of the following questions:

How do traditional careers inform emerging ones?

What skills seem most transferable across career evolutions?

How can students prepare for careers that might not exist yet?

Differentiation and Variations

Visual and Language Support: Provide a sample 2-Circle Venn Diagram graphic organizer comparing a well-known career, such as journalism or medicine, with an emerging career to help students understand how to analyze workplace trends. Offer sentence starters such as “One way this career is changing is…” or “A new skill needed in this field is…” to support multilingual learners and those who need help structuring their thoughts.

Guided Career Exploration: For students who struggle with career selection, provide a short list of diverse professions with descriptions of how they have changed over time. Allow them to choose from these examples instead of generating their own. This scaffolding ensures that all students can fully engage with the activity without feeling overwhelmed.

Advanced Extensions: Challenge advanced learners to explore not only how a career is changing but also why by considering economic, technological, or cultural factors. Encourage them to predict how the trend might continue evolving in the next 20 years and what new careers could emerge as a result.

Collaborative Teaching

One Teaching, One Observing: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a One Teaching, One Observing strategy. In this model, one teacher provides direct instruction to the entire class while the other observes student behavior and engagement to gather evidence of learning. This approach allows for detailed observation and assessment, helping identify students who need additional support or intervention. By focusing on student responses and participation, the observing teacher can ensure that the learning needs of all students are addressed and met in the activity. Research shows that targeted observation can lead to more effective intervention strategies, improving student performance.

Activity Introduction: Teacher A introduces traditional versus emerging careers and facilitates the brainstorming activity, recording careers on the board. Teacher B observes which students are contributing and which may need prompting or clarification, noting initial understandings of career concepts.

Partner Research and Handout Work (Parts 1–3): Teacher A explains the Career Evolution Research handout and monitors overall progress. Teacher B moves through the room observing pairs as they research and complete comparisons, noting how well students make connections between traditional and emerging roles and where additional guidance is needed.

Prediction and Pathway Design (Parts 4–5): Teacher A supports students in developing future career predictions and visual pathways. Teacher B observes creativity, accuracy, and alignment with trends, identifying students who may need help articulating their ideas or organizing their visual representations.

Gallery Walk and Sticky Note Reflections: Teacher A manages the movement and timing of the gallery walk. Teacher B observes peer feedback interactions, noting which students are engaging critically with others’ work and which might need support in providing thoughtful insights.

Whole-Class Discussion: Teacher A leads the class reflection using the final discussion questions. Teacher B shares observations—such as which skills were commonly identified as transferable, misconceptions that arose, and strong student examples—to reinforce key takeaways and inform next steps.

Mapping Your Future Career

Activity

4:

Building Interview Skills

By the end of the activity, students will be able to conduct career exploration interviews, analyze patterns across professions, and articulate key career insights through structured reflection.

30-40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per student)

Paper and writing utensils

Whiteboard and display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will explore how interviews can help them learn about careers. Explain that asking the right questions provides insight into different career paths, required skills, and workplace realities. Highlight that interviews are not just for job seekers but also for anyone interested in gathering valuable information about professions.

To provide context, begin with a brief real-world example of how informational interviews have helped someone discover or advance in their career.

Have students pair up and discuss what makes a strong interview question. Write three sample questions on the board—one that is too simple, one that is too broad, and one that is clear and open-ended:

Too simple: “Do you like your job?”

Too broad: “Tell me about your career.”

Just right: “What skills have been most valuable in your current role?”

As a class, briefly discuss which question is best and why. Distribute paper and writing utensils as needed. Have students work with their partner to create three strong interview questions about careers.

Distribute the Career Path Interview handout, which provides space to record interview questions, notes, and observations. Instruct students to review and refine their three questions using the criteria discussed, ensuring the questions are clear and insightful.

Each student will take turns interviewing their partner using their prepared questions. Encourage them to practice active listening by making eye contact, taking notes, and asking follow-up questions to deepen the conversation. If a student is unsure how to answer, allow time to use classroom devices or approved resources to research their response and support a thoughtful discussion.

After the peer interviews, bring the class together and display the Career Skills Recognition handout. Read each skill aloud, asking students to stand if they heard it mentioned in their interviews. This visual activity helps students recognize common themes across careers and identify which abilities are most valued in different industries. Use the discussion questions on the sheet to guide a conversation about patterns students noticed and the relevance of these abilities in future careers.

Provide a few minutes for students to complete their Career Path Interview handouts before beginning the guessing game, and establish a rule that clues should focus on skills, education requirements, and job responsibilities rather than obvious identifiers.

Have students complete the final section of the handout. Then use their responses to play a guessing game in which they share three clues about a career they explored while classmates try to guess what it is.

Wrap up the activity by reinforcing how strong interview skills can help with career exploration. End with a quick “one takeaway” share, in which a few student volunteers state one insight they gained from today’s interviews. Distribute a 3-2-1 Reflection exit ticket to each student and encourage them to complete it as they reflect on the activity. Collect the exit tickets to inform future activities.

Differentiation and Variations

Scaffolding Interview Skills: Provide students who need extra support with a sample interview script that includes sentence starters and suggested follow-up questions. Offer time for guided practice with a peer or teacher before the interview activity to build confidence in asking and responding.

Alternative Reflection Formats: Allow students to choose how they reflect on the interview—options could include creating a visual summary of key takeaways, recording a brief audio reflection, or drawing a web of common skills discussed. This gives all students access points for meaningful engagement.

Advanced Extensions: Encourage advanced learners to conduct a second round of interviews with a different peer and compare responses. Ask them to identify trends across interviews, reflect on the relevance of transferable skills, and consider how emerging careers might shape future workplace demands.

Collaborative Teaching

Station Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a Station Teaching strategy. In this model, students rotate among different stations, each managed by a teacher who teaches a specific part of the content. This keeps students engaged through varied activities and teaching methods. It also allows teachers to focus on their strengths and teach content in a more in-depth and specialized manner. This approach ensures that students receive a comprehensive and dynamic education by catering to different learning styles. Research supports that multifaceted teaching strategies cater to diverse learning styles, enhancing students’ comprehension and retention.

Activity Introduction: Teacher A outlines the purpose and flow of the six stations, while Teacher B shares a quick example of how interviews support career exploration. Together, they preview the focus of each station and set expectations for movement and timing.

Station 1: Question Development: Teacher A leads students in identifying the qualities of strong interview questions. Students work in small groups to brainstorm and refine their own, using models and peer feedback to improve clarity and depth.

Station 2: Mock Interviews: Teacher B facilitates paired interview practice, helping students build confidence in professional communication, active listening, and follow-up questioning.

Station 3: Simulated Career Interview: Students independently select a career and draft responses as if interviewing a professional. This station helps develop empathy and critical thinking by imagining real-world workplace experiences.

Station 4: Interview Analysis and Reflection: Students review and analyze their interview notes to identify key skills and patterns across careers. Teacher A supports students in connecting these insights to broader workplace trends.

Station 5: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER): Teacher B introduces the CER framework and supports students in using it to write a reflection on what they learned through the interview process and how it connects to their own career goals.

Station 6: Gallery Walk and Feedback: Students circulate to view peers’ CER responses and provide feedback using sticky notes. This station encourages peer-to-peer learning and exposes students to a variety of career perspectives.

Activity Wrap-Up: Teacher A leads a brief group discussion on insights gained, while Teacher B distributes the 3-2-1 Reflection exit ticket and supports students as they complete it. Both teachers highlight how the stations built practical interview and reflection skills.

Mapping Your Future Career

Activity

5:

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

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Resources

Implementation

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Differentiation and Variations

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Collaborative Teaching

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Lesson MINI

LESSON MINI

Mapping Your Future Career

Overview

Choose Activity

LESSON MINI

Activity

1:

Matching Strengths to Real Jobs

By the end of the activity, students will be able to distinguish between traditional and emerging jobs, link their strengths and interests to careers, and identify key skills for suitable roles.

30-40

Materials

Resources

Activity

2:

Understanding the World of Work

By the end of the activity, students will be able to predict future careers, analyze industry trends, and evaluate their own skills for future success.

30-40

Materials

Resources

Activity

3:

Exploring Workplace Trends

By the end of the activity, students will be able to compare traditional and emerging careers, analyze how job requirements and skills have evolved over time, and identify transferable skills needed to navigate changing career landscapes.

>40

Materials

Resources

Activity

4:

Building Interview Skills

By the end of the activity, students will be able to conduct career exploration interviews, analyze patterns across professions, and articulate key career insights through structured reflection.

30-40

Materials

Resources

Activity

5:

Materials

Resources

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