Shaping Futures, Not Just Choices
Helping middle and high school students navigate careers is a largely untapped opportunity. Taking a comprehensive approach—covering everything from choosing majors to building interview skills and understanding real-world salaries—creates meaningful impact. To refine the direction and build something truly effective, it’s important to clearly define the audience and focus within this space.
Employability Workshop Information
A Parent and Student Learning Experience
- How to explore career interests and strengths
- Understanding college majors vs. trade/vocational paths
- Apprenticeships and how to land one
- Job shadowing — how to find and make the most of it
- Resume and portfolio building for teens
- Interview skills and how to ace them
- Real salary data and how to research it
- Soft skills employers actually want
- Networking for young people (without it feeling weird)
- How to choose a career path without feeling locked in
Parent – Child Decision Making Process
- Fear of choosing the "wrong" major or career
- Want to avoid wasted years in the wrong field
- Looking for a competitive edge over peers
- Parents want their kids prepared before entering the workforce
- Schools aren't doing enough to cover real-world career prep
- Students feel overwhelmed by options and need a framework
- They want to maximize earning potential early
- To gain confidence before job interviews
- To understand trade/apprenticeship paths as a real alternative to college
- Teachers and counselors need structured curriculum they can use
Student Pre-Graduation Career Action Plan
- Feel confident about their career direction before graduation
- Land their first job or internship
- Understand what different careers actually pay
- Know what steps to take toward a specific career
- Build a resume before they even graduate
- Ace their first real job interview
- Understand the value of skilled trades vs. a 4-year degree
- Get real-world exposure through job shadowing
- Develop the soft skills employers expect
- Create a personal career roadmap
Career Launch Problem Solving Works – Eliminating Fear!
- Students have no idea what they want to do — and feel paralyzed
- Schools treat career education as an afterthought
- Most resources are aimed at adults, not teens
- Salary and job outlook information is hard to find or confusing
- Interview prep feels awkward and students avoid it
- Apprenticeships are mysterious — nobody explains how they actually work
- Parents push college without understanding alternatives
- Students confuse their major with their career destiny
- Job shadowing sounds great, but nobody knows how to set it up
- "Soft skills" like professionalism and communication aren't explicitly taught
Career Launch is a Comprehensive Career Education for All Ages
Here's where it gets interesting — your course could serve very different people depending on who you focus on:
- Middle schoolers (7th–8th grade) — early exploration, no pressure
- High schoolers (Gth–10th grade) — starting to think seriously about direction
- Juniors and Seniors (11th–12th grade) — urgency, decisions are imminent
- High school counselors — need a structured curriculum they can deliver
- Classroom teachers — want a plug-and-play unit for their class
- Homeschool parents — looking for career readiness content for their teen
- Vocational/CTE programs — focused on trades and apprenticeships specifically
- College-bound students — need major exploration and career path clarity
- Trade-bound students — interested in skilled trades, apprenticeships, certifications
- At-risk or alternative school students — need practical, real-world-focused content