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MnCareers Parent Guide
The MnCareers Parent Guide has information and activities to help students understand the realities of today's labor market.
Parents, guardians, and mentors can use the free PDFs to take an active role in their child's career exploration and college-readiness activities. The guide is split into seven PDFs filled with fun resources and activities for parents and children to complete together. The first PDF is Parent Guide Intro & Table of Contents (170KB, .pdf). Click "Expand all" below to see the contents of the other PDFs.
Activities in the guide are appropriate to use with middle school, high school, and college students. The guide corresponds with content in MnCareers.
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Career Planning & Perspective
Download the Career Planning & Perspective (316KB, .pdf) section. Activities include:
- Career decision-making
- Parenting career questions 101
- Conversation starters
- Career planning suggestions
- Career planning myths
- Educational planning myths
- Parent primers
- Parents as partners
- The big picture: Labor market trends
- Today's job market
- Soft skills demand
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Career Fields, Clusters, & Pathways
Download the Career Fields, Clusters, & Pathways (630KB, .pdf) section. Activities include:
- Minnesota career cluster initiatives
- 16 career clusters
- Using clusters with MnCareers, MCIS, and ISEEK
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Goal Setting & Encouraging Development
Download the Goal Setting & Encouraging Development (390KB, .pdf) section. Activities include:
- Parents can help
- Teachable moments
- My child is NOT interested?
- 10 tips for talking to teens
- General tips for encouraging teens
- Plan B: Planning for the unexpected
- How parents can help develop goals
- How parents can help develop self-confidence
- How parents can help develop abilities
- How parents can help develop skills
- Picture positive
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Preparing for Higher Education
Download the Preparing for Higher Education (245KB, .pdf) section. Activities include:
- Junior & senior year timelines
- Preparation for higher education
- College testing information
- Countdown to college
- Financial aid and college terms
- Careers in the military
- Activity: Military recruitment
- Registered apprenticeship
- AmeriCorps
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Career Tools & Resources for Parents
Download the Career Tools and Resources for Parents (245KB, .pdf) section. Activities include:
- MCIS (Minnesota Career Information System)
- ISEEK
- Why use labor market information?
- CareerOneStop
- GetReadyForCollege.org
- BestPrep
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network)
- The RealGame Series
- No Child Left Behind
- Minnesota PTA
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Parent & Student Activities
Download the Parent & Student Activities (659KB, .pdf) section. Activities include:
- Worksheet #1: Employability skills activity
- Worksheet #2: SCANS skills activity
- Worksheet #3: Me, Inc.
- Worksheet #4: Begin the exploration
- Worksheet #5: Assessing interests
- Worksheet #6: Career planning list
- Worksheet #7: Where are the jobs?
- Worksheet #8: Future options
- Worksheet #9: Career goals
- Worksheet #10: Adult interview
- Worksheet #11: Schools and programs
- Worksheet #12: Application checklist
- Worksheet #13: Program evaluation chart
- Worksheet #14: Career research
- Worksheet #15: Future careers
- Worksheet #16: Building your money smarts
- Worksheet #17: Want it all vs. need it all
- Worksheet #18: Show me the money!
- Worksheet #19: Budgeting basics
- Worksheet #20: Create a personal budget
- Worksheet #21: Keeping track of your money
- Worksheet #22: Spending habits tips: How to stay on budget money management mistakes to avoid
- Worksheet #23: Saving basics
- Worksheet #24: Simple vs. compound interest
- Worksheet #25: Look to the future
- Worksheet #26: Paying for college
- Worksheet #27: How much does college really cost?
