Massachusetts Connecting Activities

 


Reflection: Professional Roles, Skills and Knowledge

Which of the following are part of your role in Connecting Activities?  What roles do you feel most comfortable doing?  What would you like to do more of?  Who else in your network enjoys these roles?

Working with Employers and Industry Groups:

[  ]  Attending presentations or reading reports to learn about industry trends and career opportunities; sharing this information with students & parents.

[  ] Meeting with employers or employer groups to encourage them to offer work-based learning experiences.

[  ] Inviting employers to participate in a career day, guest speaker series or other career development events.

[  ]  Organizing a list of employers who have agreed to participate in a career day.   Setting up tables, name tags, thank you letters and other materials.

[  ]  Meeting with an employer who has agreed to provide an internship.  Working together to develop a job description and identify skills/tasks for the intern.

Working with Students 

[  ] Leading a workshop about career development.

[  ] Making a presentation to a group of students to invite them to participate in a Connecting Activities program.

[  ]  Meeting one-on-one with students to support them in preparing for and participating in a work-based learning experience.

[  ] Helping a student to find resources for college and career exploration.

[  ] Deciding how the students in your school should prepare for a Career Day.  Developing projects that students can do before the Career Day and workshops that can take place during the Career Day. 

[  ] Providing leadership opportunities for students and parents.  Creating a network of students, parents and alumni who can help with developing internship opportunities and with developing workshop series and other events.

Working with School Leaders, Teachers, Counselors & other staff

[  ] Working with school leaders to schedule workshops, career guest speakers and other career development events.

[  ] Meeting with school leaders who would like to develop an internship program.  Offering support, expertise and resources. 

[  ]  Meeting with school leaders who currently sponsor job and internship opportunities. Deciding how to collaborate; offering to share materials and resources. 

[  ] Consulting with school leaders and school counselors to make sure all students have access to career development activities and work-based learning experiences.  Designing outreach strategies, reaching out to students who may be at risk. 

[  ] Meeting with school leaders to share information about current statewide grants and initiatives.  Deciding how to collaborate; offering to share materials and resources.

Working with Colleagues in Connecting Activites and Workforce Development 

[  ]  Working with a statewide group of CA staff to develop materials, resources and strategies.

[  ] Working with a local group to plan the citywide summer jobs program.

[  ]  Convening a meeting for staff from all of the CA partner schools in your region.

[  ] Organizing a training session for CA staff.

[  ] Working one-to-one with a new CA staffperson to provide an introduction to CA.

Understanding Labor Market Information / Career Information 

[  ] Leading a workshop about trends in the local and regional labor market.

[  ]  Organizing online and print materials so that students can learn about the labor market.

[  ] Compiling a list of local employers, focusing on key industry sectors, such as health care, information technology, advanced manufacturing, hospitality, and other sectors. 

[  ] Participating in committee work with other workforce development professionals; focusing on labor market information; making plans to raise awareness among students, parents & others about career pathways in key industries.

[  ] Participating in committee work to create a “scope and sequence” of career development education activities for the local middle school and high school.  Deciding what career development activities should take place for students in each grade. 

Organizing Information / Data Management / Writing

[  ]  Organizing a list of students and their summer job placements.

[  ]  Entering data into a database; running reports.

[  ] Teaching others how to enter data into a database and run reports.

[  ]  Gathering information for a quarterly or annual report (including data, photos, stories, lists, etc.).

[  ]  Working with colleagues to write a grant proposal.

[  ]  Writing a newsletter article about the work of the Connecting Activities initiative.