Main Menu

Explore More

Career Cruising

Cruising Into the Future

Middle school students are curious by nature and one topic they begin to ponder more and more as they move through middle school is what they will be doing after high school. Part of the 7th grade Guidance class curriculum focuses on just that subject. Career exploration and preparation is required by Chapter 339 in the state of Pennsylvania. At the middle school level, career awareness and understanding one’s self are areas of focus. To help students with these tasks Parkland Middle Schools use a web based program through the 7th grade Guidance classes called Career Cruising. All 8th grade students also spend some time prior to course selection working in Career Cruising. In addition, all 9th grade students at Parkland High School will need to complete a course, 626 Career Explorations, as part of the high school graduation requirements beginning with the class of 2017. This course is essentially an extension of the Career Cruising program.
 

So what exactly is Career Cruising? Career Cruising is a web based program which offers access via any internet connection. 7th grade students will complete several surveys. The first is called Career Matchmaker. This 116 question survey, assesses students’ interests and suggests various careers based on the students answers. The second survey is called My Skills and helps students take a look at what their current skills and abilities are and how they fit with different careers. The third survey is called Learning Styles and it helps students understand how they may learn best. Results from these surveys are stored in a file called My Plan for each student. Students may also store specific careers, colleges, and future survey results. Information about volunteer experiences, extracurricular activities, hobbies and interests can also be added. Of course, hundreds of careers can be explored along with colleges, universities, technical schools, scholarships and financial aid.

We encourage parents to spend time on Career Cruising as well. We believe you will find Career Cruising a valuable tool that will assist you and your child in planning for a bright future. If you and your child would like to explore Career Cruising prior to the 7th grade experience please contact the guidance office for the required general login username and password. If you have any questions please contact the guidance office for assistance.