Making Informed Career Choices

Setting the Stage

The world is constantly changing and so is the labour market! The labour market refers to the “supply and demand” for labour. Employees supply the labour and employers create the demand. Trends refer to whether a career sector needs more people to work there or if there are already enough of that type of worker. Trends also indicate when some careers are becoming less necessary (e.g., with the advent of driverless vehicles, predictions are that fewer long haul truck drivers will be needed).  Because of the changes in the market place, it is essential to have updated labour market information in order to make informed career choices and increase the chances of landing a job.

Material & Preparation

• Arrange for computer and internet access for students working in pairs or groups.
• Download the Impacts of Labour Market Trends Reproducible (1 per student) [Google Doc] [PDF]

What to Do

Teachers could begin this lesson by asking students if they know of any jobs that were once popular but do not exist today. Some examples are bowling alley pinsetters, milkman, switchboard operators, and elevator operators. All of these jobs were replaced by technological innovations. This could be followed up by having students consider the types of jobs that might not be around in the future (e.g., supermarket cashiers, bank tellers, travel agents, taxi drivers, social media professionals, etc.).

Students will select two Career Profiles from the Let’s Talk Science careers resource. These should be from a sector area that is of interest to them. Using the Impacts of Labour Market Trends Reproducible and a labour market information website such as those listed below, they will analyse the implications of labour market trends for each of the selected careers.