Trips with your students can be equally fun and enriching. It’s great to take your students out to play hard, but once in a while, you’ll want to teach them how to work hard. Allowing them to experience different career paths will help them plan for their future and gain the valuable insight they need to make important decisions about where they see themselves settled. When you’re coordinating a trip to boost career opportunities, be prepared to do an equal amount of internal and external intellectual exploring.
Talk To Your Students About Their Ambitions
It’s hard to demonstrate valuable career opportunities to your students when you don’t know where their strengths and interests are. Before you plan your trip, talk to them about what careers seem the most appealing to them. You’d be best off showcasing a wide variety of opportunities, but visiting the opportunities where your students share common interest will keep them engaged in the trip. They’ll be able to see if expectations meet reality while also being afforded the opportunity to consider things they’ve never considered.
Look in Unconventional Places
Some of the best skilled trades aren’t always the most glamorous. Your students might believe they want to be architects or designers, but working in construction or becoming an electrician might be a better financial future with greater job stability. They likely won’t know that unless you show them. Provide them with the information they need in order to see the clear distinction between the idea of what a career might be and what a specific career can actually provide.
Arrange for Hands-On Experiences
Some things, especially in the medical field, cannot be demonstrated through hands on experience. Bringing your students to volunteer on a community build project will let them get their hands dirty. They’ll understand the hard work that goes into creating a structure. The same goes for many other careers. Culinary careers and STEM careers also come with volunteer opportunities that your students can use to gain valuable hands on experiences. Volunteer opportunities may just be your best bet.
Visit Educational Institutions
Visits to higher-level or specialty educational institutions will show your students what they need to do in order to secure the career opportunities they’re most interested in. Learning is a lifelong process, and your students will continue to learn even when they’re settled in the position they’ve always dreamed of. The value of ongoing education is a crucial value to demonstrate. If they know what they want, they’ll be learning how to get there. It’s both sides of the journey.
Facilitate Tons of Communication
You need your students talking to you, talking to each other, and talking to people who can provide them with resources and information that they need. Make sure your students are exchanging contact information with people who can help them in the future, even if that contact information is only good for internship or volunteering opportunities pertaining to a promising career path. You want the aftermath of the trip to be just as valuable as the trip itself. Help them network as you help them organize their thoughts.
No matter where you take your students and what they’re doing, it’s important that you make the most of your time. Even if your students aren’t massively interested in the opportunities they’re exploring, coach them on the skills they’d need to land the opportunities they do want to explore. At the end of the day, your trip is still a learning experience.
About the author:
Sienna Walker is a blogger, whose main interests lie in travel, education and careers. She often shares her tips and strategies with students, job-seekers and employers alike. Feel free to follow her at @SiennaWalkerS.
