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Career Clusters, a Bridge Between Education and Career Planning
Author:12 Jul
Since 1960s, career cluster resources have been used as career exploration and planning tools in schools, learning communities, and organizations across the nation. Career Clusters is a system that matches educational and career planning.
Step 1: Identifying Career Cluster Interest Areas
Career clusters are groups of similar occupations and industries. When teachers, counselors, and parents work with teens, college students, and adults, the first step is to complete career cluster assessment. The assessment identifies the highest career cluster areas. Career assessments show teens, college students, and adults rankings from one of the following 16 Interests Areas or Clusters:
1. Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources
2. Architecture & Construction
3. Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
4. Business, Management & Administration
5. Education & Training
6. Finance
7. Government & Public Administration
8. Health Science
9. Hospitality & Tourism
10. Human Services
11. Information Technology
12. Law, Public Safety & Security
13. Manufacturing
14. Marketing, Sales & Service
15. Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
16. Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
Step 2: Exploring Career Clusters and Related Careers
After pinpointing the highest career clusters, teens, college students, and adults explore the different careers and create education plans. Career cluster tools used in career and educational planning include:
LISA: A comprehensive career cluster database
Models
Brochures
Pathways
High school plan of study
Interest and Skills Areas
Crosswalks
After completing a career cluster assessment, teens, college students, and adults look at web sites, career models, brochures, pathways, and high school plans. One of the most unique comprehensive career cluster resources is the Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), an Internet program. LISA lets you explore career clusters, careers, abilities, training requirements, and more. There are 3 steps in the LISA program:
STEP 1: Click here to select a Career Cluster,
STEP 2: Click here to select a Career Group
STEP 3: Explore Occupations within this Career Group
In Step 1, when you choose a career cluster, you will see a description of the cluster. When you select a career group in Step 2, you see different careers. Finally, in Step 3, you see a wealth of information:
Job descriptions
Educational and training requirements
Crosswalks, for example ONET, DOT, GOE, and other codes
Abilities
Knowledge
Skills
Tasks
Work Vales
Labor Market Information
Even though LISA is an awesome program, in classroom or workshop settings, you need printed materials. When using printed materials, the career model is the best place to start. Models provide excellent overviews listing the cluster definitions, sample careers, pathways, knowledge, and skills. Visual models show career clusters, the cluster subgroups, and related careers. Models are an excellent way to introduce career clusters.
For presentations, workshops, and group discussions, the career cluster brochures provide additional information. Adults and teens read about the different careers that are available in each career cluster. Teachers, counselors, and parents use the brochures to solidify adults’ and teens’ potential career or educational decisions. The brochures cover topics such as:
Definition of career clusters
Careers
Career pathways
Employment outlooks
Skills
Credentials
Teachers, counselors, and parents use career pathways for more detailed information. The career pathways are subgroups or areas of concentration within career clusters. Each pathway contains career groups. The career groups have similar academic skills, technical skills, educational requirements, and training requirements. Career pathways are plans of study that outline required secondary courses, post secondary courses, and related careers. The career pathways are essential tools that teachers, counselors, parents, and other adults use to give educational planning advice.
Several web sites feature High School Plans of Study. These study plans show required, elective, and suggested courses for each grade level. The school plans also match the career clusters to related careers, career pathways, and post-secondary options. Teachers, counselors, and parents find that these school plans are guides for selecting the right high school courses to match potential careers. Beyond high school, the Utah System for Higher Education has created a College Major Guide. Parents, teachers, and counselors can use the guide to match college majors to Certificate and Degree Programs.
Additional Resources for Counselors and Teachers
For planning curriculum and educational programs, there are detailed Knowledge and Skills Charts and Cluster Crosswalks. The knowledge and Skills expand upon the information listed on the career cluster models. For each knowledge and skill area, there are performance elements and measurement criteria. Crosswalks show the relationships between career clusters and other career models:
Career clusters build a bridge between education and career planning. Different types of career cluster resources are available: videos, web sites, booklets, brochures, activity sheets, and workbooks. Teachers, counselors, and parents use career cluster resources to successfully complete career and educational planning.
Resources:
American Careers Career Paths, Career Communications, 6701 W. 64th St., Overland, KS 66202, 800-669-7795
Career Click, Illinois Department of Employment Security,33 South State Street, Chicago, IL 60603, (312) 793-5700
CIP Code Index by Career Cluster, Adult & Postsecondary CTE Division, Bureau of Career and Technical Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126, (717) 772-0814
Cluster and Career Videos, Career One Stop, U.S. Department of Labor, Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210, 866-4-USA-DOL
College Major Guide Utah System for Higher Education, Board of Regents Building, The Gateway, 60 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1284, (801) 321-7100
Find Careers (Videos), iSeek Solutions, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Wells Fargo Place, 30 7th St. E., Suite 350, St. Paul, MN 55101-7804
High School Plans of Study, New Hampshire Department of Education, 101 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301-3860, (603) 271-3494
Introduction to Career Clusters, Career Education, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, P.O. Box 543
Blacklick, OH 43004-0544,
Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), customized Internet version of OSCAR, a product of the Texas Workforce Commission/Career Development Resources, TWC/CDR, Austin, TX 78753
Maryland Career Clusters, Maryland State Department of Education 200 West Baltimore Street Baltimore, MD 21201,
Rhodes Island’s Career Clusters, Rhode Island’s Career Resource Network, 1511 Pontiac Avenue, Cranston, RI 02920, 401-462-8790
School to Career Clusters, State of Connecticut, Department of Labor, Job Bank, 645 South Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457, (860)754-5000
States’ Career Clusters Initiative (SCCI), 1500 W. Seventh Avenue, Stillwater, OK 74074
Career Pathway Plans, Career Cluster, Knowledge and Skills Charts
VTECS Cluster Frameworks, VTECS, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA, 30033,404-679-4501 ext 543
What are Career Clusters? Career Prospects System, New Mexico Career Resource Network, CAREER TECHNICAL AND WORKFORCE EDUCATION BUREAU (CTWEB), Education Building, 300 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 827-6512
Mary Askew -
About the Author:
Dr Mary Askew specializes in career tests, websites, and books for students. Students need eye appealing, easy to use, yet comprehensive career resources. Find out how students can reach their career potentials at http://www.hollandcodes.com. Contact Dr. Askew at learning4life@qwest.net.
15 Responses for "Career Clusters, a Bridge Between Education and Career Planning"
I often wonder this myself.
While it is true that some people work hard in a career and make their own living, I find for the most part rich people with big houses come from rich families. It is old money passed down from generation to generation, or their rich family and friends hook them up with their careers. It is difficult to start out with no money and no connections and end up living the high life.
If you figure out how though, come back and let me know!
Hope this helps!
Hello,
The best one could do is to change a hobby or passion you like and make a business or career out of it. In that way you are not going to work; just enjoying your hobby and being payed for it. Just remember that in life you may dream of certain careers from being a great actor to an astronaut or doctor. When you start working or getting some introduction to the requrements of entrance or the reality of the work, you may find it is not your cup of tea. This sort of quest is normal and sometimes it is a while with some trial and error before you find your niche. LOL, at 20 years old I had no idea that I would be where I am today.
Meanwhile here is a site that should be quite helpful as a guide:
http://www.ehow.com/how_18314_decide-certain-career.html
Regards,
Michael Kelly
Thanks! Canfield’s the man.
So have u settled with what you want to do yet? Or what are you doing right now-in work i mean
Journalists often make good tech writers because they try to write with the user in mind and are less prone to use tech jargon. A good technical writer knows how to research thoroughly, how to interview people to tease out the information needed, and how to put this all together in a document or other materials for users.
Wikipedia has a nice description of technical writing, so you can understand the difference with journalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_writing
If you work at a small company, is there any technical writing there you can do now? For instance, you say you are very web savvy — are your fellow reporters and other staff members? If not, could you write a set of troubleshooting guides or a short tutorial that would help?
Also, consider volunteering in order to get practical experience and build up your technical writing portfolio. Lots of nonprofits need help with writing up procedures (they often have procedures, but they aren't documented), annual reports, getting-started guides for new volunteers, film or video scripts, tailored reference documents, tutorials and user guides for clients, etc.
easiest would be ones you see and know a lot about even if you are not associated with that job in any way..such as doctors, working at a supermarket, teachers, camp counselors, and other jobs that you are familiar with. even a hair dresser or a nail salon stylest. do you know what you want to be when your older? if so, why don't you use this one because it would be more interesting and its stuff you actually need to know eventually. it would be a lot easier to write about this career. if not maybe take the test on nycareerzone.org because then with your results, you can learn a lot about what it tells you that you should become.
Travel and Tourism industry is another option that you can look at.
Thank you. Very inspirational.
a B.S. in Bus Admin is a useless degree
Finance is more banking/credit/loans/mortgages related
accounting is number crunching, financial statement prep, auditing
accounting is generally boring repetitive, often stressful
haven't worked in Finance field
FP/FA – mostly commission or salary with sales quotas – cold calling
Ive been an Electrician a Fitness Instructor an Office Worker a Delivery Driver and a Police Officer, I hope my heart sings a little louder and my next choice is my last… im getting close, I feel it. Thanks
High Quality information, in only a few words!
Thank You!
THANKYOU!! THANK YOU! NO decision is forever!!!!
Hello, Your question is a bit general and there are lots of potential choices, I'm not sure what interests you. There are many 2 year programs available possibly EMT training, Respiratory technician or X-ray/sonogram technician. The best bang for your buck in the long-term would be to shoot for a BSN (4 year nursing degree). There are always well-paying nursing jobs available regardless of where you live. Good luck!
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all your answers are at this site:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/ourCompany/career.do
you might be able to get a job with an american company that does business in parts of the world where your language skills would be useful. anywhere that french is the main language would be a possibility but you will need strong language skills and a high overall grade point would be beneficial as well.
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