BYO Career Development Timeline

Setting the Stage

During our lifetime, we engage in activities and experiences that provide us with skills and knowledge that are often transferrable to a variety of jobs. These “transferrable skills” or “employability skills” are as important as the formal education/training the person brings to the workplace. For example, playing on a school team provides opportunity to build a variety of skills that may be transferrable to work settings. These may include teamwork, dedication to practice, scheduling, able to face failure, stick-with-it-ness, etc. All of these skills are valuable to potential employers. Volunteer activities are another way to develop valuable transferrable skills.

Material & Preparation

• Students should have a good understanding of employability skills and why they are important.
• Arrange for computer and internet access for students working in pairs or groups (if using electronic planning form or other online timeline program). 
• BYO Timeline Planning Form reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] - 1 per student

What to Do

Teachers could begin this lesson by having students visualize they type of career they want to have, the skills the already have that lead them to this career path, and how they plan to acquire the necessary skills that will help them land a job in this area.

Teachers should remind students that career development is a process not a one-time activity. It is a process that begins while they are in school but will continue throughout their work life. Teachers could introduce this activity by explaining that they will be engaging in a visualization process in which they will create a timeline of their career development process. 

As students complete this activity, they will list their transferable/employability skills and develop a timeline that will chronicle the development of these skills. Students should also include career aspirations and plans in their timeline. For example, courses they will take as they work towards graduation, post-secondary education or training plans, etc. 

After completing the initial individual work, students could collaborate with another student as they work through the first two components of the BLM. This will provide them with opportunity to clarify their ideas and to receive feedback on the items they feel should be included in the completed timeline. 

This activity can also be used as an introduction to the concept of Employability Skills.  

Please refer to the Let’s Talk Science website for more information and ideas for using the BYO Timeline Learning Strategy in your classroom.