Career Planning Worksheets for High School Students

As a teacher or homeschooler of high school students, you know how crucial career planning is for them. They will be heading off to the workforce soon and need the tools to succeed and thrive in a career. Fortunately, educators can use many practical teaching tools to their advantage. Let’s take a look at some of the best worksheets to teach career planning to your high schoolers.

Career Assessment Worksheets

Many students have no idea what career path they want to follow. Taking assessments that highlight their interests can be excellent starting points. Here are some career assessment worksheets:

• MyMn Career Plan: These extensive worksheets begin with an assessment to gauge student interests, match careers to those interests, and show paths to reaching career goals. (Recommended for 9^th graders, but good for 9^th – 12^th)
• Brand Evaluation Worksheet: This worksheet (see Blackline Master 3a) has students self-reflect on their strengths and needs, fine-tuning the attributes that will help them in specific careers. (Grades 9 -12)
• UCanGo2 Student Workbook: This workbook has worksheets that cover the whole gamut of career planning. See “What Do You Want to Be?” (pgs. 7-8) and “Career Interests” (starting on pg. 11) to dive into career assessment and strength identification. (11^th-12^th grade)
• Stages of Career Worksheet: This worksheet involves kids discovering interests and possible career choices. (Ideal for high school special education, but can be used in gen. ed, too)
• RIASEC Test: Students fill out this worksheet to get an idea of possible careers, with categories like Realistic, Artistic, Investigative, and Enterprising, to get them on their way. (9^th – 12^th)

Career Exploration Worksheets

Once students have an idea of their desired career cluster, they can focus on some jobs within that segment. Here are some worksheets to help them research their dream job:

• Worksheet for Researching Occupations: This worksheet requires students to research and fill in relevant information about specific careers. (9^th – 12^th grade)
• Developing My Career Plan: This worksheet (see page 20) has students list their career goals, interests, and training needed to reach their goals. (9^th – 10^th grade)
• Career Exploration: These worksheets are stand-alone activities students can complete independently to learn more about specific careers. (9^th – 12^th grade)
• Career Exploration Webquest: In this worksheet, students go on a Webquest and complete the sheet with the information they find. (best for 10^th grade, but good for others)
• Career Exploration One-Pager: This worksheet keeps kids on track researching a career without overwhelming them, making it excellent for learning about job training and skills. (9^th – 10^th grade)

Career Readiness Worksheets

As students figure out specific careers, they can begin to plan how to prepare to land the job. These worksheets focus on interviewing, soft skills, and tips to get into their career.

• Networking BINGO Worksheet: This worksheet (Blackline Master 6a )goes along with a group “networking” activity, in which students learn the art of building connections to make job searching easier and more productive. (11^th – 12^th grade)
• Speed Interviewing: Students complete this worksheet (Blackline Master 11a) as they assess their partner’s interviewing skills. (11^th – 12^th grade)
• Self-Evaluation of Workplace Readiness Skills: This worksheet guides kids through various categories to see if they’re ready for their careers. (9^th – 12^th grade)
• Job Interview Questions: This worksheet lists 99 sample interview questions to prepare your kids for the big day. (9^th – 12^th grade)
• Career Research Handout: This worksheet combines all the elements, having kids list qualifications, salary, skills, and education/training needed to prepare for specific careers. (9^th – 12^th grade)

Application and Resume Worksheets

Now that your students have inventoried their interests, honed in on a career, and learned the skills to land their job, they can focus on the hands-on side of career planning. They learn to fill out applications and complete resumes, which these worksheets can help teach them.

• Customized Resumes: These worksheets (Blackline Master 7a) show students resumes with problems they need to identify and improve. (9^th – 12^th grade)
• Application for Employment: Students need to correct the mistakes on a job application in this worksheet, preparing them for the near future. (9^th – 12^th grade)
• Pocket Resume for High School Students: Kids see what information they need to know for resumés in this worksheet and write it down for later use. (9^th – 12^th grade)
• Volunteering Tree Diagram: Volunteering is crucial for resumé building, and this worksheet provides a space for students to map out their volunteering activities. (11^th – 12^th grade)
• STEM Careers Research and Application: These worksheets go through the whole career planning process, from narrowing in on a career to training requirements to preparing to apply for the job. (9^th – 12^th grade)

Check out our teacher’s hub for teaching career planning to students for more lesson plans, learning objectives, teaching tips, and other resources for all grade levels.