Career Exploration
Career Exploration is an important part of the postsecondary journey and a crucial step leading into planning for college or training programs after high school. Student in our region have access to a number of resources to help with career exploration. Career Cruising/Xello is something students can access from middle through high school to help explore jobs, careers, and the classes or majors needed to become an expert in a field of choice. All of the resources in Career Cruising/Xello are aligned with the state’s recommended career pathways or zones that have been adopted in the MI Career Development Model
Xello is a self-exploration and planning program that helps people of all ages achieve their potential in school, career and life. This online resources allows students to develop an educational development plan (EDP) based on their interests, strengths, and weaknesses. Xello also acts as a database that can expose career pathways, and offer a glimpse to education requirements of those careers.
Career Exposure
Talent is the greatest concern of employers in our region. High demand high wage occupations in our community such as health care, insurance, IT, advanced manufacturing, all have immediate openings for qualified candidates. 70% of jobs in our region require some form of postsecondary degrees or credentials.
The Brookings Institution research shows that young people are more likely to persist in their education, both through high school and into college, if they see the relevance of their academic experience to real-world work experience. Some individuals may drop out of training due to lack of a full awareness of real career opportunities.
Students need exposure to different career pathways, companies and all the job or occupations that are available in an industry or field. Students need to discover how their passion, interests, and skills align with a job. In some cases the jobs of the future have not even been created yet.
Students can do many different types of experiences to expose them to the world of work. Internships, co-ops, job shadows, job fairs, informational interviews are just a few of the ways students can see if a job or occupation is the right fit and supports and sustains them.
Have you ever wondered how you're supposed to make a decision about what sort of career you want to pursue when you don't know what jobs or occupations are available?
Explore High Demand/High Wage industries in Michigan at the RoadMap to Opportunity. https://roadmap2opportunity.org/
Connecting Education and Careers
Understanding the connection between a job or occupation and the education needed to reach that career goal is essential. CapCAN has developed these brief infographics to highlight the post-secondary degrees and credentials at college and university programs in Michigan that align with the nationally recognized career clusters.
Be sure to talk with your Guidance Counselor to learn more and discuss your exploration on Xello.
Check out CapCAN's Educational Pathways Videos from local professionals about their college to career journey on YouTube to learn more.
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