Career Readiness
“Life is a journey, not a destination.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“What do I want to be when I grow up?” That’s a question we start asking ourselves very early on and, sometimes, again later in life. We often think that preparing for a career begins in high school, however, the journey to career readiness should start long before. Choosing a career path requires a life-long personal journey of self-exploration that begins in the preschool years and continues throughout a person’s life. What we want out of life may change many times throughout a life-time and what’s most important is knowing who you are and how you want to be.
”What are my skills and interests?” “What do I need to know to be a good worker?” “What career path should I choose to live the kind of life I want?” “What if I can’t decide on one career path and I like to do lots of things?” Those are all the essential questions one should be asking on the journey to career readiness. The truth is, some of the jobs that students are preparing for right now, don’t exist. Training for a specific occupation, while important, is overshadowed by the need to develop the skills that they need to be resilient, hard-working, collaborative, problem solvers. It’s about teaching students how to develop themselves into successful, independent adults who aren’t afraid to follow their own path in life. This group of modules seeks to turn the quest for a career path into a life-long exploration of interests, skills, problem-solving, trial and error, and flexibility.
You can also check out the Maine DOE Career and Education Development-Life and Career Ready Standards for more information.
