SHOWCASE YOUR CAREER AT CAREER EXPLORATION NIGHT

The Rotary Clubs of Gwinnett County, Gwinnett Mosaic, & Lawrenceville, in partnership with Interact Clubs at Peachtree Ridge, Meadowcreek and GSMST have joined together to co-sponsor an exciting Career Exploration Night for local high school students!

• Educational Booths
• Career Panels & Presentations
• Q&A Sessions

Come help the next generation learn what you do, what skills and experience they need to succeed and explore the many career paths available to them as they plan for their future.

Sign up to showcase your career today! Call Paige Havens at 678-938-4279 or email havensp@bellsouth.net

WHY: As local high school students become curious about various careers, there are very few opportunities for them to get face-to-face time with real professionals to ask questions about the education and skills they need to succeed in that career.  They are eager to learn what colleges to explore, what experience they need, and the many different types of jobs that are available in various career pathways.

This Career Exploration Night is designed to help professionals in our community take time with students, who will be the next generation of workforce, and help guide and mentor them. It is our goal to help them set real goals and expectations for themselves and correct misconceptions they may have about various careers.

Each high school student will be signing up for next year’s classes in the few weeks that follow this event.  It is our goal to educate them about options open to them andencourage them to take courses that will help them explore what pathway fits them best. This event will open their minds and open doors that we hope will set them on an exciting career path that’s just right for them.

HOW: The evening will launch with an open informational forum in the school’s Commons area. There, career representatives will man information tables (trade show format) that students and their parents can browse. This will give the students an opportunity to ask one-on-one questions about careers in various fields and gain valuable insight as to next steps they should take to prepare for such careers. At the information tables we encourage you to bring visuals to help illustrate the work that you do, offer handouts on employment trends in your industry, typical jobs in your company, average salary ranges, etc. Information tables will be open in the Commons Area throughout the entire evening.

Please note that this event is NOT intended to be a job fair. Our goal is to help students better understand that there are many careers available to them based upon their unique skills and interests.

In addition to the booth set-up we will host three thirty-minute breakout sessions in classrooms offering panels of professionals discussing specific career opportunities in 15 key career pathways, which we aligned intentionally with the State Board of Education’s current Career Pathways.

Event Schedule

4:30-5:30 p.m.   Set-up in Commons Area

5:30-6:15 p.m.   Career Information Booths in Commons Area

6:15-6:30 p.m.   Transition to classrooms for Breakout Sessions

6:30-7:00 p.m.   1^st Breakout Session

7:00-7:05 p.m.   Move to next breakout

7:05-7:35 p.m.   2^nd Breakout Session

7:35-7:40 p.m.   Move to next breakout

7:40-8:10 p.m.   3^rd Breakout Session

8:10-8:30 p.m.   Open Q&A in breakout rooms with panelists

Again, there will be 15 different career panel choices. Each student will select the top three career pathways they want to dive more deeply into and attend those three breakouts.

Panels will be introduced and lead by a moderator.  Each panel will consist of a blend of 5-6 professionals from various careers in each pathway. Panelists will offer a short introduction and some key information about their areas of expertise and then the moderator will open up for questions from the students.

Suggested Talking Points for Panelists:

•  Give the name of your profession or career and a simple job description.
• Outline your educational background and specialties you have.
• What soft skills, talents or personality traits are important to have?
• Are there extracurricular activities that prove helpful in your career?
• Why did you select this career?
• Highlight examples of the range of activities you do on a typical day
• Do people in your career generally work alone or in groups?
• Do they supervise others or are they supervised or self managed?
• Do you travel?
• Describe the education path expected.
• Is there ongoing continuing education required for your job?
• What experience, internships and/or apprenticeships are beneficial?
• Share insights as to the job outlook in your career.
• Share little known idiosyncrasies about your career that are relevant.

WHO: This event will be open to students in our community that are grades 8-12. Last year was our inaugural year for this event and we drew over 300 students and parents.  This year we are targeting to engage more than 500.

We are actively seeking professionals to engage with us to showcase the following career pathways:  Agriculture & Natural Resources, Finance,

Entrepreneurship & Business Management, Hospitality & Tourism, Information Technology, Marketing & Communications, Architecture & Construction, Education, Arts & AV, S.T.E.M., Distribution & Logistics, Law & Public Safety, Health Sciences, Public Administration, Real Estate, Manufacturing and Non-Profit Management.

This event is sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Gwinnett County, Gwinnett Mosaic and Lawrenceville, in partnership with Interact Clubs at Peachtree Ridge High School, Meadowcreek High School and Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology. We are working in close tandem with school administrators and counselors to ensure that all of our efforts align with the work of the school system.