As a secondary educator, a great service you can do for your students is to get them career ready. Part of that is introducing them to the wide array of careers (and paths!) that are open to them. To that end, we’ve put together an interactive career exploration activity called Wheel of Careers.
Why does career exploration matter?
Career education is essential for students in grades 6–12 because it helps them connect academic learning to real-world applications, explore future career paths, and develop the skills needed for success in both college and the workforce. During these formative years, students begin to understand their interests, strengths, and values, which are critical for making informed decisions about their futures. Career education also fosters goal-setting, financial literacy, and employability skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. By integrating career readiness into the curriculum, schools empower students to envision and prepare for meaningful postsecondary opportunities.
How the Wheel of Careers activity works
Your students (as a group or independently) will be given the question “Which job uses these skills?” and answer it. Once they respond, they will be presented with a slide about that job and the skills required. If they are interested in learning more about the job, they can choose to click on a free corresponding Everfi course about it. The free printable worksheet can help them remember what they’ve learned. They can also use this information to share their interests with others.
What’s on the Wheel of Careers?
We selected a variety of jobs from many different career clusters, with a special focus on jobs your students probably haven’t heard of. You’ll see jobs that require a college degree and jobs that don’t, new careers and long-standing ones, plus a wide range of salaries. The really cool thing is that most of these jobs have a FREE corresponding Everfi course that students can take to find out more about the career they’re interested in. Here are the careers included on the wheel:
- Graphic Designer
- Data Scientist
- Civil Engineer
- Flight Attendant
- Forensic Accountant
- Product Designer
- Electrician
- Financial Advisor
- Race Car Engineer
- Small-Business Owner
- Machinist
- Software Developer
- Virtual Assistant
What standards does the Wheel of Careers meet?
The national and state standards for grades K–12 in career development are designed to assist school career counselors and specialists in preparing students for career exploration and career planning. The Wheel of Careers addresses:
- Career awareness and exploration activities
- Instruction on how academic subjects relate to careers
- Introduction to career planning and personal interests
Who is the Wheel of Careers for?
This activity is for students in grades 6–12. Depending on how you use the Wheel of Careers in your classroom and what age your students are, this activity could take anywhere from one to four 45-minute periods. If you use it with younger students in middle school, you might want to use it as a one-class introduction. If students want to dive in more deeply, they could take on independent research. If you have older high school students, you could do the game in one class and then ask students to choose one of the jobs and take on the coordinating free Everfi course to learn more and develop a presentation to share with the class.
How do I get this career exploration activity?
- Fill out the form at the top right-hand side of this page, which will trigger an email with a link.
- Make a copy of the presentation and download the student worksheet.
- Play the game by clicking Present.
Student worksheet
