Below is an overview of the Career Guidance Program for students in grades 10-12.

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Sophomores

Career Exploration

You will work on a personality profiler with your counselor using Family Connection (Naviance). You will learn about careers that are matched to you, your personal strengths and blindspots, how you negotiate in your daily life, and a host of other useful information. You’ll further explore careers of personal interest and see how the requirements and characteristics of those careers match your personality, goals, interests, skills, and abilities. We encourage you to meet with your counselor as often as needed to ensure that you are set for graduation and to help with any career/college questions- graduation is closer than you think!

Résumé

Create a résumé and keep it updated in Naviance - you will be using this document from now until graduation. Be sure to provide a copy to your counselor. Your résumé will help you organize your activities and accomplishments and will help your counselor in nominating you for scholarships. Sample résumés are available in the College & Career Center or you can use the résumé builder in Family Connection (Naviance), under the “About Me” tab. This will start during a unit of Career Exploration and Financial Literacy Class.

Juniors

Standardized Testing

All juniors should plan to take the PSAT. Plan to register for the SAT Reasoning Test and ACT in early spring- we recommend the March, April and/or May exams. It is the recommendation of the Sr. High Counseling Center where every student considering attending a 4-year college takes both the SAT Reasoning Test and the ACT at least once. Watch for deadlines- the registration deadlines for the March, April & May exams end as early as February! 

Career Exploration

You will continue to explore careers of personal interest and see how the requirements and characteristics of those careers match your personality, goals, interests, skills, and abilities. You will learn how to search for colleges or postsecondary training based on your current skills and interests using Family Connection (Naviance). Don’t forget to update your résumé on Family Connection (Naviance), which will be used as you apply for college, scholarships, part-time jobs, and summer programs. Again, visit your counselor often this year. There are a lot of decisions to be made this year and there are only a few short months before you’ll be making serious decisions regarding your future by applying to colleges, enlisting in the military, getting a job or signing up for a technical school!

Seniors

Senior Appointment

You will be meeting with your counselor in early Fall to discuss your post-secondary plans and what you should be doing now. Whether you have a detailed plan already or are not sure where you’re heading just yet, there is a lot to do this fall to get ready for graduation and life beyond high school. It is important that you are prepared for the upcoming deadlines and events, so make sure you meet with your counselor as soon as you can. Remember, it is your responsibility to schedule this appointment as early in the Fall as you can.

Résumé

**Please note: Your résumé is required for your senior appointment with your counselor! Make sure your résumé is updated, complete and on file with your counselor (this can be in The form of a printed copy or electronic copy through Family Connection (Naviance)). The résumé is used by your counselor to nominate you for scholarships and to write your letters of recommendation. Your résumé, (or variations of it), is used as you apply for college, scholarships, part-time jobs, and summer programs.

Standardized Testing

Plan to register for the SAT Reasoning Test and ACT in early fall if needed; dates are included in this newsletter.

What Should I be Doing Now?

Check out these websites for helpful checklists for the college application process:

www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/articles/Pages/Preparing-for-College-Senior-Checklist.aspx

The site below includes a checklist for parents:

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/for-parents

Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores:

Scholarships

Start researching and applying for scholarships as early as possible! Over 150 scholarships are listed in our local database on Family Connection (Naviance) under the “Colleges” tab. You’ll find many more through online search sites such as fastweb.com, mystudentedge.com or meritaid.com. Additional scholarship search sites are listed in the ‘Helpful Links’ section of the Career Center.

College Fairs

Plan on attending College Fairs both at Gates Chili and in the community.