The NYSED/CUNY CareerKit project is a comprehensive career preparation resource for teachers and counselors in New York State. Its goal is to equip students with the skills necessary to make informed choices about their career paths. The NYSED/CUNY CareerKit activities are written at the HSE/Upper ESL level, with adaptations possible for Pre-HSE and intermediate ESL levels. Each of the CareerKits addresses one of ten industry sectors and integrates reading, writing, research and math skills. The sectors are:
- Healthcare
- Technology
- Community & Social Services
- Education & Childcare
- Manufacturing
- Hospitality, Recreation & the Arts
- Food Production
- Retail
- Construction
- Transportation & Warehousing
There is also a foundational, multi-sector CareerKit that introduce students to key questions related to career decision-making.
Learning about careers and career pathways is essential to youth and adults considering their next steps in education, apprenticeship programs, training and employment. Each of the eleven 450-550 page CareerKits supports students’ literacy and numeracy skills development while teaching them about careers. The CareerKits contain sector-specific, employment data so that students’ career decisions are informed by labor market realities. Most information applies to all regions in New York State. Some asterisked activities reference local resources and information, and have already been adapted (or can be adapted) by local RAENs for customized use in their regions.
CareerKit activities build essential career skills such as interpreting industry-specific language in want ads; developing criteria for comparing job offers; balancing work and family demands; evaluating personal interests and strengths in conjunction with regional employment trends; and valuing and utilizing bilingual and bicultural skills in the workplace. Written for case managers as well as teachers, the CareerKits include detailed instructional guides, all necessary materials for each activity and a skills-based index, so that teachers can select activities according to their curricular needs.
Following a common framework, all CareerKits provide big-picture information about the sector. They include activities that promote career self-awareness, such as interest inventories, and activities that develop students’ career research skills, such as navigating and interpreting career databases. The CareerKits also teach the nuts and bolts of finding work in the sector; how to access the training and education needed to enter and advance in a particular career; and how to be an informed consumer of the goods and services provided by each sector.
Each NYSED CareerKit activity fulfills a dual purpose – the acquisition of career information and the development of language, literacy and numeracy skills that support achievement on standardized tests.
