Career Research Project for Transition: 12 Job Profiles and Research Pages, Ages 14 to 21

This career research project helps transition students learn what real jobs look like, with 12 plain language job profiles, a research organizer, a compare two jobs page, a worker interview, a presentation planner, and a rubric.

Why I made this: Interest inventories tell students what kind of work they might like. Then they need to learn what the job looks like day to day. This project turns "I like animals" into "an animal care worker cleans kennels in the morning, and here are the skills I would need."

What’s included:

• A teacher page with a 7 day plan

• 12 job profile cards: stocker, cook or kitchen helper, custodian, animal care worker, office assistant, childcare aide, landscaper, warehouse worker, hotel housekeeper, pharmacy technician, auto care technician, and library assistant

• A 2 page career research organizer

• A compare two jobs page and a "my top 3" page

• Interview a worker questions

• A presentation planner (poster, slides, talk, or video) and a project rubric

• A job shadow plan

How I use it: We read the profiles together, each student picks a job to research, and we finish with short presentations. Students look up local pay and ask a real worker, so the project stays honest about their own area.

Skills covered:

• Career exploration and research

• Comparing jobs to your own interests and skills

• Asking a worker good questions

• Presenting what you learned

Who it is for: Transition, special education, CTE, and life skills teachers with students in grades 9 to 12 and 18 to 21 programs.

What you download: Career Research Project Transition.pdf (14 pages, US Letter, print ready) plus an editable Word version.

How this is different: The Digital Transition Interest Inventory finds what kinds of work a student likes. Reading Job Ads is about reading help wanted ads. This project is research on what specific jobs involve, with an interview and a presentation. A short free Career Research Activity exists; this is a full 12 profile project with organizer, compare page, worker interview, presentation planner, rubric, and job shadow plan.

Part of the Transition Cliff job skills series.

Made by Jeremy D. Gooch, special education teacher and transition coordinator. Drafting and layout had AI assistance; every page was checked by me.