Students build the self-advocacy, problem-solving, decision-making, and workplace communication skills needed to prepare for real job-search and employment situations. Through workplace simulations, résumé and application support from a local workforce development center, reflection, revision conferences, and mock interviews, they create a Personal Career Portfolio and a self-advocacy/problem-solving toolkit that show how they handle workplace challenges. The experience culminates in a public exhibition and portfolio defense where students explain their strengths, career interests, workplace readiness, and growth to an authentic audience. This project helps students connect personal goals to career pathways while meeting workplace, communication, collaboration, and leadership expectations.

Students will identify their strengths, interests, support needs, and career goals, then use self-advocacy, problem-solving, and decision-making strategies to respond to realistic workplace situations and explain their choices. Students will demonstrate workplace readiness by practicing attendance, punctuality, teamwork, safety, professional communication, following directions, accepting feedback, and completing tasks responsibly during simulations and partner-supported activities. Students will research career options, complete a resume and job application, prepare for and participate in mock interviews with a local workforce development partner, and revise their work using reflection and conference feedback. Students will curate and defend a Personal Career Portfolio and self-advocacy/problem-solving toolkit for an authentic audience, clearly communicating what they have learned about workplace expectations and employment readiness.

Students will create a Personal Career Portfolio that includes a strengths and interests profile, self-advocacy profile, workplace expectations evidence, career research, job skills checklist, resume, completed job application, interview preparation materials, mock interview reflection, and personal career goals. Throughout the project, they will also build a problem-solving and self-advocacy toolkit with workplace scenario cards, response strategies, and reflection notes, plus short artifacts from simulations such as decision-making responses, teamwork evidence, and feedback revisions. Midway products include revised portfolio pieces from teacher or transition specialist conferences and updated goals tied to self-advocacy, problem solving, and decision making. The final public products are the completed portfolio, the toolkit, and a portfolio defense/exhibition presentation shared with school staff, families, community members, and a local workforce development center partner.

Open with a “My Future Starts Here Showcase” where students rotate through quick, hands-on stations to sort strengths, interests, support needs, and preferred job tasks, then respond to short workplace scenario cards that require speaking up, solving a problem, or making a decision. Invite a local workforce development center partner, school staff, or transition specialist to join the final station for brief conversations about what employers notice first and to preview the mock interview, portfolio defense, and exhibition. Students close by sharing one personal career goal and one workplace skill they want to strengthen, then begin a first reflection entry that becomes the opening artifact in their Personal Career Portfolio.

Host a Career Readiness Showcase where students present their Personal Career Portfolio and self-advocacy/problem-solving toolkit to an authentic audience of families, school staff, administrators, transition specialists, community members, and a local workforce development center partner. At student-led display stations, each learner shares their career interests, strengths, résumé, completed job application, workplace behavior learning, and selected scenario cards that show how they would handle common workplace challenges. Build in a brief portfolio defense in which students answer questions from teachers and partners about how they use self-advocacy, problem solving, and decision making in workplace situations. End with audience feedback forms and student reflection notes that can be added to the final portfolio.