Help teens build their job-search skills and job readiness by using this Career Launch Facilitator Guide to work individually or in small groups.
Targeted program Grades 9-12 10-12 Sponsored by
Participants identify what they like, what they are good at, and what the world needs. Then they consider careers that may relate to their passions and problems they want to see solved.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 2Youth identify problems in their community and research ways to address these problems. They consider potential ways to help solve problems through work they can do in the future.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 3Youth explore their past and current dreams for the future.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 4Participants become familiar with six career fields, 16 career clusters, and skills and education needed for a few jobs in each cluster. They identify broad career fields or specific careers to explore further.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 5Participants think creatively about potential careers and businesses. They work in teams to design an object that will solve a specific problem.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 6Youth will learn about real-life entrepreneurs who started businesses as young people. Then in small groups they will use design thinking to explore a new product or business idea.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 7Youth explore three of the career clusters: STEM, Health Science and Information Technology. They create infographics to share what they learn and generate interest about those careers with their peers.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 8Youth prepare to meet with workers in the community to explore occupations of interest. They draft questions to ask community workers to learn more about their careers and the paths they took to get there.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 9Youth meet with workers in the community to explore occupations of interest. They to ask prepared questions to learn more about workers’ careers and the paths they took to get there.
Level 1 Explore Grades 9-12 Session 10Youth identify their strengths and passions and consider how they relate to potential careers.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 11Youth reflect on three dimensions of their identity: culture, relationships and experiences. They create storyboards to explore their identities and the potential careers that might suit them.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 12Youth reflect on their strengths, passions and identities, and work with a partner to find a recurring theme across all three. Participants next explore a few career fields that interest them and relate to that common theme.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 13Participants explore the possibility of becoming entrepreneurs by designing a product or service they could sell to others. Youth “pitch” their ideas to peers and receive constructive feedback to round out their business plans.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 14Youth explore pathways to a successful career including postsecondary education, training, military, straight-to-work or a combination of options.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 15Youth explore and practice soft skills needed to succeed in a career, such as positive attitude, time management, creative problem-solving, productive teamwork and flexibility.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 16Youth detail key milestones that will move them toward the future they want. They will identify strengths and interests, explore career options, and determine the type of education they need.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 17Youth prepare to meet with Club alumni about their occupations. Youth draft questions to ask alumni about their careers and the paths alumni took to get there.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 18Youth meet with Club alumni to explore occupations of interest. They ask prepared questions to learn more about their careers and the paths alumni took to get there.
Level 2 Develop Grades 9-12 Session 19Youth learn about networking and research several steps for conducting a job search. They will apply job-search strategies when conducting an online job search.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 20Youth review a sample job posting and identify qualifications, technical skills and soft skills required.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 21Participants think about their experiences and practice documenting their background information. They use this information to create a working resume.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 22Youth learn important skills to apply when writing a cover letter. They practice the skills discussed when writing a cover letter with a partner.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 23Youth prepare for an interview by considering interviewing strategies and preparing answers to potential interview questions. They work together to practice strategies learned and are rated on their group performance in mock interviews.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 24Participants learn how to assemble a digital career portfolio. They also evaluate their digital footprint and consider how it impacts an employer’s impression of them.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 25Participants discuss the importance of a positive work ethic. They consider workplace scenarios and identify performance expectations needed to succeed as a valued employee.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 26Youth prepare to meet with potential employers in the community to learn about the types of jobs available for teens. They draft questions to ask employers to learn about their expectations and requirements for employees.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12 Session 27Youth meet with potential employers in the community to learn about the types of jobs available for teens. They ask employers prepared questions to learn about their expectations and requirements for employees.
Level 3 Apply Grades 9-12Career Launch encourages Club members ages 13 to 18 to assess their skills and interests, explore careers, make sound educational decisions, and prepare to join our nation's workforce. Club staff and volunteers help teens build their job-search skills and job readiness by using the Career Launch Facilitator Guide to work with teens individually or in small groups. The Career Launch program can be facilitated in-person or virtually allowing for career exploration, college and job search information and interactive activities. Mentoring, job shadowing and training opportunities round out the program.
Education programs complement and reinforce what youth learn during the school day while creating experiences that invite them to fall in love with learning. Rooted in social-emotional skills, programs in this area enable all youth to be effective, engaged, adaptive learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future. This informal learning space features both remediation and enrichment, all while inviting youth to discover and pursue passions that connect to future opportunities. Education programs include experiential learning, so that youth learn actively, through a “hands-on” and “mind-on” approach.
At each developmental stage, Education programs prompt youth to plan and prepare for the future. This includes observing and practicing the social-emotional “soft skills” that lead to early successes in building and maintaining friendships, and engaging in programmatic experiences that prepare youth to learn and work in middle school, high school and beyond. Programs and experiences for elementary school-aged youth build the foundation for employability and career exploration, supporting the skill development necessary for success in post-secondary education and the workforce.
Education Outcome Statement: To enable all youth to be effective, engaged, adaptive learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future.
Education Skills: In order to successfully learn and work, youth need to build not only academic skills, but also social-emotional skills. Social-emotional skills help youth build healthy relationships with themselves and others, recognize and manage emotions, and solve problems. All Education programs, including Career Launch, are designed to build the academic and social-emotional skills that enable youth to become effective, engaged, adaptive learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future.
On Track to Graduate with a Plan for the Future
Visit BGCA.net and search for "Work Based Learning Guide," see Page 6 .
Positive youth development is an intentional approach that engages youth in their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, uses and enhances young people’s strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships and furnishing the support needed to build their leadership strengths.
Youth development practices that promote teaching and learning are key to the effectiveness of Education programs. Effective Education programs, when facilitated with high-quality youth development practices, help youth develop the attitudes, behaviors, and skills needed to become effective and engaged learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future.
Youth development professionals can help all youth become more effective and engaged learners with the following practices:
Youth development professionals help all youth stay on track to graduate with a plan for the future using the following practices:
Inclusion is a core component to building a safe, positive environment in your Clubs. In order to fulfill our mission, Clubs must create safe, positive, and inclusive environments for all youth and teens – including every race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status and religion. By creating inclusive environments in our Clubs, we improve the overall experience for all young people.
When youth development professionals use positive youth development practices, they help ensure all youth:
As you implement Career Launch, consider strategies that help youth feel affirmed, safe, and engaged with Club experiences that meet their needs and abilities. For more information on building and sustaining an inclusive environment, visit BGCA.net and search for "Program Basics BLUEprint," see pages 23-24 of PDF.
Positive Youth Development Supports Character and Social-Emotional Development
All programs, including Career Launch, offer opportunities for youth development professionals to model, recognize, reinforce and reflect on character development. Positive youth development provides direction for how you interact with, engage and model behavior for youth. You get to shape the lives of young people every day. As a result, you set the expectations and show youth what the essential character traits (i.e., caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness) look like in practice. These character traits come to life when youth practice social-emotional skills like teamwork, conflict management and emotional regulation. Young people use skills to lead themselves and others, as well as demonstrate positive attributes in citizenship, like community engagement and voting.
Youth can start to build character using “caught and taught” approaches. Youth “catch” social-emotional skills when they observe youth development professionals modeling appropriate behaviors, and when they interact with peers. Youth can also be “taught” skills to build good character when skills are explicitly introduced and practiced through program sessions and activities. Use the following formula to understand how character develops over time:
Youth Development Professionals Model Good Character + Youth Practice Skills Regularly = Character Development
To build character traits, be sure to include many opportunities for youth to practice the social-emotional skills that are embedded in Career Launch. These include skills related to:
For more information, see Practicing Social-Emotional Skills to Achieve Character Development on page 22 of the Program Basics BLUEprint. Visit BGCA.net and search for "Program Basics BLUEprint." It will show you the specific social-emotional skills that young people should practice in order to demonstrate positive behaviors indicative of essential character traits.
Youth development professionals facilitating Career Launch can model good character in the way they support all learners, offer feedback rather than criticism, and encourage honesty and responsibility.
When character development is present:
When character development is absent:
Format and Key Features
Each session in Career Launch follows a consistent format that incorporates best practices in positive youth development. Facilitating the sessions in the format written is highly recommended to implement the program with fidelity. Each component of the session is briefly described below.
Session Adaption
While many of the session topics may bring new information and involve serious activities, the program will have the greatest impact if you complete the sessions in order, and cover as many of them as possible. After reviewing each session, you may prefer to modify some of the activities to better accommodate the needs of your teens. Creativity and fun should remain at the forefront of everything you do in the Career Launch program. Use your creativity and engage teens to think of ways to add more fun to each session. When relevant, allow teens to use technology to complete the activities.
Program Facilitation Tip
Invite volunteers to your Club to help teach teens valuable life lessons, and simultaneously help volunteers learn something about themselves. Boys & Girls Clubs volunteers can make a difference in the lives of teens, and they also give you a chance to demonstrate how special your Club is. Clubs have used volunteers to help with homework, coach a game, help with a service project, supervise a field trip or teach an art session.
Career Launch is an opportunity to engage volunteers to help you implement this program. Consider volunteers that are from your community, Club alumni and even individuals connected to the firms that are listed as part of The Equity Collective in the Acknowledgment section of the Career Launch curriculum.
Supporting Workforce Readiness
Boys & Girls Clubs of America is pleased to present this guide to prepare teens for our nation's workforce , made possible by the generous support of the Equity Collective. The Equity Collective is an industry-leading group of wealth and asset management businesses that have come together to empower and provide educational resources focused on the finance industry for the next generation. Equity Collective is composed of 27 members. Senior leaders from each organization are participating in education and awareness initiatives over a multi-year commitment that will support Club kids across the nation.
Members include:
American Century Investments
BNY Mellon Investment Management
Capital Group/American Funds
Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Diffractive Managers Group
First Eagle Investment Management
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Janus Henderson Investors
John Hancock Investment Management
Lazard Asset Management
Macquarie Asset Management
Morgan Stanley (spearheading member)
Natixis Investment Managers
New York Life Investments
Touchstone Investments/Fort Washington
Virtus Investment Partners
