Career Café: Location, Location, Location!

Career Café is an opportunity for students to learn about careers from individuals in their community. One of my biggest success as a school counselor has been starting a Career Café at my school. Students absolutely love Career Café, it is a blast to host, and it meets ASCA Student Standard in the Career Domain. Career Cafe can also be geared toward any level - elementary, middle, or high school!

I have gotten tons of inquiries and questions about hosting a Career Café. I am creating a series of posts to explain Career Café in greater detail and provide you with the tools you need to start a Career Café at your school. 


First up...

Location, Location, Location
The first step in preparing to host a Career Café at your school is determining a location for the Career Café. When thinking about a space, you want to determine how many students you will be able to accomodate in the space.

When I first started hosting a Career Café, it was held in my co-counselor's office, a HUGE classroom. Utilizing tables, chairs, beanbag seats, and carpet space there was enough room to accomodate about 20+ students at a time. 

Students at Career Café in my co-counselor's previous HUGE classroom/office. 
The speaker was a branch manager from a local bank. 

This past year, I hosted Career Café in the school library. I was able to accomodate approximately 30 students at a time. This setting was a little more comfortable for students.

Students at Career Café in the school library.  
The Career Café speaker was a police detective. 

When choosing a location, think about how you will set up the space for the actual presentations. Some presenters may want to use a whiteboard or SmartBoard for the presentation. The presenter may also want to use a PowerPoint or show visual aids. 

Also, make sure the space is a place where students can eat lunch (if you decide to host Career Café during lunch).

It is completely OK to start Career Café off in a small space and make it larger as you go! Finding a space that works for your students, presenters, and you is the first step to creating a successful Career Café. 

Suggestions of where to host a Career Café include:
  • classroom
  • school library
  • large group instruction room
  • large conference area
  • science lab
Have you hosted a Career Café? What locations would you recommend for hosting a Career Café?


Comment below, tweet, contact Danielle, or share on the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page!

Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources. Connect with Danielle via email, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.

Popular posts from this blog

Take What You Need, Give What You Can Sticky Note Board

Image
Last year, I saw a lot of "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" Bulletin Boards popping up everywhere. I decided to fuel my new found love of printing on sticky notes and make a sticky note version. The idea behind the "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" board is that you take a positive message that you "need" to hear or "give" (write) a positive or uplifting message for someone else to take. I displayed the "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" sticky note board on a window near the school counseling office. A traditional bulletin board could also be used to display this sticky note board.  I created 18 different positve messages to print on sticky notes for the "Take What You Need" side of the board. To make this "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" sticky note board, you will need the following items: A printer Printer paper to print the sticky...
Read more

Spring Mindfulness Bulletin Board with QR Codes

Image
I created this colorful, interactive, spring bulletin board for our March & April PBIS theme, mindfulness. I made this bulletin board interactive for students by adding QR Codes with different mindfulness activities. Since most things need to be touch-less right now, I thought using QR Codes would be an easy way for students to access some mindfulness activities. If you are not familiar with QR Codes, QR stands for Quick Response. QR Codes are scannable with a smart device camera (iPad, tablet, or smart phone). you can easily make your own QR codes by using a QR Code generator. You can link the QR Code to a website or online document. When the user scans the QR Code they will be directed to the link. I used  QR Code Generator  to create the QR Codes.  I got the idea for this bulletin board while looking for mindfulness resources. I stumbled upon a New York Times article about "Pinwheel Breathing." This sent me down a rabbit hole of brainstormin...
Read more

FREE Career Interest Games and Inventories on VA Career View

Image
I have been searching for fun and interactive career activities to facilitate with students this year. I rediscovered  Virginia Career View , which has a wealth of computer based and printable career activities. I have used this website many times, but each time I visit I am surprised by how truly awesome this site is. In the K-5 Section of  Virginia Career View  there is an interactive game called  Career Town ! I used the  Career Town  game with some 5th grade students last year and they loved it. Career Town has three levels with different games to learn about jobs on each level.  The  Career Town  has an educators guide  for each "level' of the game. The  educators guide  has ideas of how you can utilize the game to meet standards and includes ideas for extension activities.  In the 6-8 Grade section, there is a career cluster assessment activity called "Who R U?" . It is web-based. The Vi...
Read more