What do you love about your job?
What made you think about doing this as a career?
What drives you to do well?
Did you have to train for this career? Was it through a college path, or was it by some other way?
How do you touch other people’s lives through your career?
Has this been your only career? If not, what made you change careers?
What kinds of materials do you have to use every day? For example, do you use a computer, heavy equipment, or measurement tools?
How do you know when you’re doing your job well?
Do you have to continue to train for your career?
Do you work closely with other people, or mostly on your own? How or why?
What are some of the challenges you have encountered in your career?
What is the salary range for people at your company?
What are some of the benefits of working for your company?
Why should I consider following your career path?
What do you like to do outside of your career?
How does what you learned in school related to what you do now?
What was your favorite subject in school?
Where did you go to college? What was that like?
INTRODUCING YOURSELF AND YOUR CAREER.
To keep young students engaged when introducing yourself and describing your career, explain in simple, broad strokes what your company does and what you do. Use examples that kids will be familiar with in their life. We recommend that you respond to a few (not all) of the topics on the right and allow time for a few questions from the class.
What does your organization do?
Have you heard of ____? The company I work at helps ____ do ____ by doing ______. Its mission is to _______.
Passion project. Are you working on a passion project? Describe it, or how you bring your passion to your work?
I am passionate about ________. Anyone here love this? My job supports my passion by ________. It’s often helpful to hear about non-computing hobbies and interests.
What do you do? (individual level) What does your work day look like?
Has anyone ever _______? I do ______. Each day I work with ______ to develop _______.
Where did you go to college? What did you study? Do you have any advanced degrees? Share your college experience. Ask students:
How many of you have heard about ________college? I attended ___ college located in ____.
What was your favorite subject in middle school?
Describe how your favorite subject relates to your job now.
What is your current job?
My title is _______. What do you think I do?
Describe your job. Don’t be overly specific.
How did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?
In middle school I wanted to be _____. In high school I wanted to be ___. In college I wanted to be ______. I ended up being _____
Did you have anyone help you in your educational journey?
How many of you have a mentor or someone who helps you out at school? I had a favorite teacher / mentor that helped me by _____.
Have you ever had to overcome a professional or academic obstacle?
Something I learned that I thought was very hard was____. I overcame that by ______.
Are you currently advancing your education? Do you use what you learned in school in your current job?
Talk about love of learning….. I still study ______, I still take these classes _____, I have this hobby I am learning _____.
What are three tips for middle school students?
The best advice I received about choosing my career was ______.