Posts Tagged ‘schoolcounselor.org’

 It’s almost Labor Day!

Career exploration – which is all about helping kids connect-the-dots between their school work, their talents and interests and getting a job someday – can be a creative, easy activity all year long.

(And it shouldn’t just take place in the classroom. Everyone can be a career mentor. We’ve got the tools to prove it.)

But I digress. Back to the calendar.

Consider this: there are many people in the world who love holidays and observances of every kind.

 I searched online and readily found lots of them. They range from the seemingly silly -June is Iced Tea Month- to the serious, Martin Luther King Day, for example.

I wondered who the heck would celebrate Iced Tea so I noodled around.

Low and behold, investigating Iced Tea Month turned out to be pretty interesting.  It became a springboard for learning about the different kinds of teas and tea leaf growers around the world as well as the people who come up with new recipes for hot, bottled, iced and spiked teas.

 I read that there is a lot of research that goes into uncovering the health and nutritional benefits of different types of tea as well as how it can be used in cooking—as a rub, a marinade or for steaming. (I didn’t know that.) It can also be used as a beauty aid.

There are even schools that prepare professionals for relocation to Great Britain and Asian countries where tea services are a large part of the culture — so no one commits embarrassing faux pas on the job.

 Who knew? I found all this out by looking at observances and picking one to investigate.

You could keep connecting-the-dots:  What other types of jobs or businesses are connected to the tea and beverage industry?  Who hires these people? I have Lipton, Nestle and Wild Organics as brand names on the packages of teas in my cupboard.

 What are these companies all about? Are they good employers? Who do they hire? What training or degrees are commonly required to work for them?

Dot. Dot. Dot. Wasn’t that easy?

Labor Day is coming up. You know there is a ton of interesting information related to it.

 So go do a little labor.

 It will help you get career wise!

CareerWise™ products are based on the premise that opening kids’ eyes to all the fascinating  jobs there are in the world is the first step to motivating them to stay in school so they can grow up and get a job someday. Visit www.GetCareerWise.com for our award-winning workbook –with Free Teaching Guide-  and  www.GetCareerWise.com/blog4  for more articles.  (Reprints are ok, but please acknowledge us.)  We will be launching a wonderful new product on Sept 1, so stay tuned.

My goodness, you are a talented little  kid!

Do you realize that many of the things you do so well every day are related to skills that you can use when you grow up and get a job?

Building up your career and life skills whenever you can is very smart.

Think about how to connect your talents, skills and interests to a possible job. Find out what training or education you need to be the best you can be at it.  Learn how to connect dots!

This is a fun and valuable exercise for opening your eyes to all the wonderful jobs there are in the world and preparing to enter it.

I’ll get you started. Add to my list.  Have fun!

• Making your bed:   Innkeeper, Housekeeper, Home Decor Photography Stylist

• Getting dressed:  Clothing Designer, Textile Manufacturer, Fashion Show Coordinator

• Making Breakfast:  Nutritionist, Chemist, Organic Farmer, Chef, Foodserver, Veterinarian (to make sure we get milk from happy cows!)

• Babysitting:  Pediatrician, Children’s Playground Equipment Manufacturer, Children’s Book Author, Nanny

• Soccer Practice: Coach, Stadium Designer, Sportswear Distributor, Field Maintenance Supervisor, Physical Therapist

Are you connecting the dots now? Good for you. You’re getting careerwise!

CareerWise™ products are based on the premise that opening kids’ eyes to all the fascinating  jobs there are in the world is the first step to motivating them to stay in school so they can grow up and get a job someday. Visit www.GetCareerWise.com for our award-winning workbook –with Free Teaching Guide-  and  www.GetCareerWise.com/blog4  for more articles.  (Reprints are ok, but please acknowledge us.)  We will be launching a wonderful new product on Sept 1, so stay tuned.

I’ll give you a hint.

Did you like ‘Avatar’ or ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’? Weren’t they cool in 3-D?

 Then look into stereoscopy as a career option. What a hot technology to master!

Where and how it is used is pretty interesting. And the best part is, there are zillions of ways it can evolve to enhance how we view things in all sorts of industries and mediums. It’s a field waiting to explode with opportunity!

If the future of stereoscopy excites the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and James Cameron, I think other creative spirits should take a multi-dimensional look at it too!

It would be very careerwise.

CareerWise™ products are based on the premise that opening kids’ eyes to all the fascinating  jobs there are in the world is the first step to motivating them to stay in school so they can grow up and get a job someday. Visit www.GetCareerWise.com for our award-winning workbook –with Free Teaching Guide-  and  www.GetCareerWise.com/blog4  for more articles.  (Reprints are ok, but please acknowledge us.)  We will be launching a wonderful new product later this month, so stay tuned!

Ok, you can read a little tongue-in-cheek attitude into the timing of this question.

It sure seems like there are a lot of different ‘experts’ involved in what’s going on in the financial world, doesn’t it?  

 Everyone is weighing in with opinions and predictions about how to solve our fiscal problems. (Bonus points if you know what ‘fiscal’ means!)

I know kids don’t miss a thing, so let’s put all this up-and-down news to good use.

How many job titles can you list that are associated with the financial decisions, activities and communications that are surrounding us all right now?

I’ll get you started:

• President
• Congressman/Congresswoman
• Senators
• Secretary of the Treasury
• Business News Analyst
• Statistician
• Financial Planners
• Roller Coaster Ride Operator (keep your sense of humor!)

I think you will end up with a long list -there are a lot of very interesting jobs involved in analyzing, facilitating, planning, fixing and reporting activities in this huge vital arena.

Next, think about what new jobs, products or services could be created to avoid these kinds of problems or make the handling of them more efficient in the future.

Any ideas?  

Now, you’re really getting careerwise!

CareerWise is the proud publisher of the award winning Grow Up. Get a Job™. Career Exploration workbook. (with Free Teaching Guide).  Stay tuned for another creative career exploration & preparation resource coming soon! www.GetCareerWise.com

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about the dry cleaning industry, with the latest news about how the economy, environmental concerns and changing consumer habits are affecting it.

But what really grabbed my attention was the number of jobs referred to in the article. I counted eighteen. There are probably many more considering that the article reports 24,124 dry cleaning and non-coin-operated laundry establishments in the U.S. alone.

Here are the ones I noted:

1. Dry Cleaning Store Chain Operator
2. Dry Cleaning Store Manager
3. Pressing Machine Operator
4. Garment Sorter
5. Seamstress/Tailors
6. Forensic Accountant & Business Advisor
7. Market Researcher
8. Consumer Products Maker
9. Consumer Products Company Spokesperson
10. Valet
11. Store/Facilities Designer
12. Store Design Tester
13. Environment Protection Agency Representative
14. Director of Technical Services – National Dry Cleaners Association
15. Chief Executive Officer - Dry cleaning & Laundry Institute
16. Director of Public Affairs - Consumer Federation of America
17. Professor of Fiber Science
18.  Dry Cleaning Machine Operators

What a creative way to learn about different jobs in various industries. You should try it as you read the newspaper, a book or online articles.  Your knowledge of the working world will impress everybody!

Learn how to get careerwise on an everyday basis and have fun with career exploration by visiting www.GetCareerWise.com.