Career Day Career Day Committee

Model for a Murray High School
Career Day
In this Career Day model, students attend three career sessions of their choice which are led by
professionals. The sessions are 25 minutes long, and are in a classroom setting. Students are given six
minutes to rotate between sessions.
Career Day Committee: Team Teacher Coordinator , (heads the committee , assigns the rooms, and
provides over‐all coordination) Career Center Secretary (does all the inputting into Access from student
sign‐up sheets) , Work‐based Learning Coordinator,(invites career day presenters ,helps organize the
day, and provides presenter thank‐you treat bags) CTE Director, (sets up the Access Computer Model)
PTA President or PTA Committee Member(s) (invites career day presenters) Note: In most schools, the
Work‐based Learning Coordinator would likely be the Career Day Committee Chair. Murray High School
has a once a week, 30‐minute class period called TEAM, and because our career day is held during our
TEAM period, our TEAM coordinator is the chair. )
Steps We Take to Organize a Career Day:
1. The Committee meets several months in advance to determine the list of careers we will have
represented at the career day. We typically generate a list of 50 career choices which we offer
to students. We generate the career choices by examining career pathways and choosing
possible careers within those pathways, trying to represent a variety of pathways and
careers.(see sample list) We also brainstorm and list people we know who would be excellent
speakers, or who have a very interesting career, and then use their career as a career choice.
2. Students are then given a Career Day registration form in their first period class at least six
weeks before the event. (We need this lead time so that we have plenty of time to invite career
speakers to attend ) Students are asked to choose five career choices, listing them in order of
preference. They are also asked to list the name of their first period teacher. This will be
important as we generate labels for students. We can organize labels according to first period
teacher. This makes the labels easy to hand out to the students on the career day.
3. After the students have handed in their choices, an Access Data Base is Set Up and the Career
Center Secretary does all the inputting for the data base
a. The 50 careers are inputted (Presenter names are added next to the career as
presenters are invited to participate)
b. Student names are inputted along with their first three student choices
c. From this data base we can determine how many students have signed up for each
career choice. We can determine if we need to have two or three sessions for some of
the more popular career choices. If some career choices only have a few students, we
drop the choice, and place students in another session, looking at their 4 th or 5 th choice
to determine where to put them.
4. Next we invite presenters. The Work‐based Learning Coordinator, and the PTA representative
have traditionally invited the main portion of the presenters since this is their primary duty on
the committee. The other committee members invite presenters if they know them personally.
We invite parents to volunteer ( Parent/Teacher Conference), and we also ask teachers to give

us presenter names. We try to invite doctors and dentists well in advance so they can clear their
schedule to attend (2+ months if possible)
5. Once we have invited a presenter, we get proper contact information. Most presenters prefer
to communicate through email, so we generally use email to send presenter letters, presenter
reminders, etc. (See sample presenter letter)
6. Once we have determined the number of presenters we will have, and how many students are
in each session, the committee chair is able to assign rooms for each session. These room
numbers are also inputted into the data base.
From the Access Data Base, We are Able to Obtain the Following:
1. Master list of presenters, room numbers, and number of students attending each session
2. Master list of students for each session
3. Label for each student indicating their sessions and room numbers. These are handed to each
student in their home room class just 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the Career Day. They
wear these labels on their shirts.
4. Roll for the teacher in charge of each session so that students can be checked off as they enter
the room. (This helps insure that students don’t just leave the school during the career day.
They are held accountable to attend each session)
More Details:
1. A Teacher is assigned to each room to call roll and introduce the career presenter. Many
teachers remain in their own rooms
2. We send reminder letters and emails to each presenter
3. On the Career Day we ask presenters to “check‐in” as they come into the school. They are
given a water bottle and a “thank‐you” treat bag, and a card with their assigned room
number. They are then escorted to their room by a student
Typical Career Day Statistics for Murray High School:
1600‐plus students attend
50 Career Choices are represented
Usually 56 career presenters are invited (some careers need double sessions)
We always receive positive feedback from both students and teachers as to the value of the Career Day.
This is an annual event at Murray High School, one that we view as being very valuable and worth all of
the hard work.
Data Base Option:
Inputting all of the students into the Access Data Base is a big task. A different option could be to have students
register themselves using a Google‐ based data program. This method was used at the 2010 Wasatch Front
Healthcare Career Day to register 950 students from across the Salt Lake Valley. In this option, students
registered themselves on the computer and chose three sessions. Carol VandenAkker is the person who set up the
computer program for the Healthcare Career Day.
If you have questions about the program, please contact Carol at Carol.VandenAkker@slcc.com

For Questions and More Details:
If you have questions about any of the above information, please contact Joan Anderson at Murray High School:
joananderson3@murrayschools.org

Murray High School
CAREER DAY SPEAKER
Nov. 19, 2009
Presenter Information
Name ________________________________________________________________________
Phone _____________________________________Cell_____________________________
Address ______________________________________________________________________
Email ________________________________________________________________________
Career Field ___________________________________________________________________
Specific Job Title _______________________________________________________________
Company _____________________________________________________________________
Audio/Visual Requests for Career Day ______________________________________________
Presenter Information
Name ________________________________________________________________________
Phone _____________________________________Cell_____________________________
Address ______________________________________________________________________
Email ________________________________________________________________________
Career Field ___________________________________________________________________
Specific Job Title _______________________________________________________________
Company _____________________________________________________________________
Audio/Visual Requests for Career Day _______________________________________________

We look forward to your participation in our Murray High School Career Day on Thursday, November
19 th . Please arrive at Murray High between 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM and park in visitors parking near the
west front entrance of the school. Access this parking through the south parking lot off of State Street
just south of the 53 rd South intersection.
You will enter the west doors where a student will direct you to check in. You will then be escorted to
your assigned room. You will remain in the assigned room, and the students will rotate to their sessions.
Students have signed up for the sessions they wish to attend.
You will be presenting to three groups of students. Here is your schedule:
Speakers arrive at MHS 8:30 – 8:45 A.M.
SESSION #1: 9:06 – 9:31 A.M. (25 minutes)
SESSION #2: 9:37‐ 10:02 A.M. (25 minutes)
SESSION #3 10:08‐ 10:33 A.M. (25 minutes)
Please ignore the class bells that ring and excuse your session based on the time outlined.
A teacher will be in the class to take roll and monitor the session.
IN YOUR PRESENTATION PLEASE COVER SOME OF THE FOLLOWING:
Introduce yourself
Give an overall description of your career
Tell what you are passionate about in your career/what motivated you to pick your career
Explain the schooling/degree or training required
Explain how you use math, English, computer skills, etc. in your career (It is useful for students
to see how subjects they are learning in school connect to future career choices)
Explain daily duties/work environment
Talk about the pros and cons of your career
Conduct questions and answers at end of session
Bring a visual aid or “tool of the trade” if possible to show students, something that will be
spark interest in your profession or help illustrate an aspect of your career. This may be a
piece of equipment, a powerpoint presentation, etc.
If you need any audio‐visual equipment, please contact Christy Waite at 801‐264‐7460 or
cwaite@murrayschools.org.by Friday, November 13. If you have anything other than a PC, please
bring the appropriate VGA adapters with you.
Thank you for being willing to share your expertise with our students. We look forward to seeing you on
November 19 th .
Sincerely,
MHS Career Day Committee
Christy Waite Debbie Hymas Joan Anderson Rob Couraud Maria Prestwich
TEAM Coord. Career Center Coord. WBL Coord. CTE Coord. PTA Rep.801‐264‐7464
801‐264‐7460 801‐264‐7460 801‐264‐7460 801‐265‐1137

CAREER DAY SPEAKERS
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Name
Student ID#
1 st period teacher: Subject:
For TEAM class on November 19 th , students will have the opportunity to attend three
breakout sessions to hear presentations on career fields that interest them. Students will
be required to attend the speakers they have been assigned to and roll will be taken.
Directions: Please read through the list of career fields and select your top four choices.
List the number of your four choices below. You will be attending three of your choices
on our Career Day on November 19 th , so make sure to pick what interests you or what
you might want to explore, not what your friends pick!
# Career Field # Career Field
1 Accounting 30 Health Care Jobs
2 Advertising & Marketing 31 Homemaking
3 Architecture & Design 32 Insurance
4 Artist 33 Interior Design
5 Attorney/Law 34 Internet Retail/E-Commerce
6 Author/Writer 35 Journalism
7 Auto-Mechanic 36 Landscape Designer
8 Aviation 37 Law Enforcement/Police
9 Banking & Finance 38 Military/Air Force
10 Biomedical/Biotech 39 Military/Army
11 Building & Construction 40 Military/Marines
12 Business Executive 41 Military/Navy
13 Computer Programming 42 Non-profit/Public Service Sector
14 Cosmetology/Hair Stylist 43 Nursing
15 Criminal Investigations 44 Pharmacy
16 Culinary Arts 45 Physics/Physicist
17 Dental Hygiene 46 Photography
18 Dentistry 47 Physical Therapy
19 Dietician/Nutritionist 48 Physician/Medical Doctor
20 Electrician 49 Radio Disc Jockey
21 EMT-Emergency Medical Technician 50 Real Estate
22 Engineering 51 Secretary/Administrative Assistant
23 Entrepreneur 52 Social Work/Psychology
24 Event Planner 53 Careers Related to Sports
25 Film Production 54 Teaching/Education
26 Fire Science/Fire Fighter 55 Theater/Performing Arts
27 Forestry/Wildlife 56 TV/New Anchor/Reporter
28 Government & Politics 57 Travel & Tourism
29 Graphic Design 58 Veterinarian
59 UNDECIDED
1 st Choice 2 nd Choice 3 rd Choice 4 th Choice

Careers Represented at MHS Career Day
(This is a fairly standard list which varies slightly from year to year)
Accounting
Architecture
Artist
Attorney/Law
Author/Writer
Auto Mechanic
Aviation
Advertising
Banking/Finance
Broadcasting/News Anchor
Business Executive
Building/Construction
Biotech/Biomedical
Computer Programming
Cosmetology
Criminal Investigations
Culinary Arts
Dental Hygiene
Dentist
Dietician/Nutrition
Electrician
EMT/Fire Science
Engineering
Event Planner
Entrepreneur
Film Production
Forestry/Wildlife
Government/Politics
Graphic Design
Healthcare Jobs (wide variety presented)
Interior Design
Journalism
Landscape Architecture
Nursing
Pharmacy
Photography
Physical Therapy
Physician
Radio DJ
Real Estate
Restaurant business
Social Work
Sports Related Careers
Teaching/Educator
Theatre/Performing Arts
Travel/Tourism
Veterinarian/Vet Tech