Career Exploration
Today’s world is made up of endless career possibilities and each year, jobs are even created that don’t currently exist. That’s why it’s our goal to help students explore career possibilities, align them with their interests and skills, and start down their individual path to success.
As a district, we align our career exploration program with the Future Ready Iowa initiative. That means we start with a broad view of career options and provide you with the tools and resources to go deeper as your interest grows.
To help students explore their career options and chart their education plans, career information is organized in the following framework:
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Six Career Service Areas are used to help students visualize careers in broad categories. In Iowa, the areas are:
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The six service areas are broken down into 16 Career Clusters. Each cluster represents a group of careers that require similar knowledge and skill sets. Career clusters are a great tool for organizing career options and help give students a guide for the things to consider when exploring pathways and occupations within the cluster. |
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The 16 career clusters are further broken down into 72 Career Pathways. Each pathway represents a group of occupations that focus on a specialty within the cluster. Career pathways provide students detailed information about the knowledge and skills needed to pursue occupations within the pathway. |
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With endless career options, students are able to discover occupations that match their interests and skills. The career exploration resources and tools used by students will help them identify their occupational goals, plan for necessary training and education, and prepare them for success after high school. |
Kuder Navigator, the district’s career information system, helps students explore and prepare for various options after high school. Students take assessments beginning in middle school that identifies their interests, skills and work values that are matched up to career clusters, pathways and occupations. Learn more about Kuder Navigator and how it is used in the district.
Students login to Kuder Navigator through the Clever Portal.
Students can generate a Parent Access Code from their Navigator account that parents use to establish a parent account.
View instructions on how to set up a parent account.
The Future Ready Iowa website directly connects students to tools for finding education, training and jobs beyond high school. It uses Labor Market Information to identify the number of jobs, the average median income and what training is required within a geographically determined distance.
Christa Burgess
VERTEX Coach
Hempstead High School
cburgess@dbqschools.org
563/552-5198
Rochelle Morgan
VERTEX Coach
Senior High School
rmorgan@dbqschools.org
563/552-5576
Natalie Nemmers
Counselor
Dubuque Online School
nnemmers@dbqschools.org
563/552-4910