Start a conversation about community resources for career exploration today!
You can make connections with businesses and organizations in the community that can help your middle schoolers develop important career-related skills or learn more about careers they find interesting. Sometimes these groups may offer opportunities for kids to engage in hands-on learning either after school or over the summer. It can be helpful to talk about these types of opportunities with your child. One option for middle schoolers is to follow an adult around for a day at their job. This is called “job shadowing.”
Conversation Starters
Ask your middle schooler:
- Have you heard of any activities going on outside of school that sound fun or interesting to you?
- Does your school offer any opportunities to participate in job shadowing experiences in the community? If so, are you interested in this?
Questions to ask the school counselor or principal
- Do you know about any businesses or organizations in the community that offer opportunities for kids to engage in hands-on, career-related learning?
- Are there any camps or summer programs to support their development (e.g., cooking camps, welding camps)?
- Are there opportunities for my child to attend career fairs?
- Do you know of any connections for my child to gain experience participating in job shadowing? Does the school offer a job shadowing program for students?
This is the last in a series of three pages with conversation starters. Click on the “Return to Exploring Careers” button below to go back to the second page, or click on “Return to Career Conversation Starters” to go to the main page with all three options.
