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. |
Xello, the district’s career and college readiness platform, helps students in grades 7-12 (and possibly more in the future!) build the skills, knowledge and plans to be ready for the future.
Using an investigative, discovery-based learning process, students better understand themselves, their future career options, and the 21st century skills they’ll need to succeed.
(Xello replaces the Kuder Navigator tool previously used by the district.)
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