• Welcome to the Career Center

    Advice

    Think of Career Related Learning Experiences as assignments you give yourself. Develop a hypothesis about a career field and design an experiment to find out if you will like a particular job. Use your research skills to learn about an occupation or industry which interests you. 

    Your challenge is to engage with a business or non-profit organization with the purpose of exploring a possible career path for yourself. This should be a bit of a stretch and a challenge for you - get out of your comfort zone! The excellent career adventure which awaits you might teach you that you don’t like certain aspects of an occupation or you might get some excellent career advice from the adults you meet. Either way, you will have learned something useful.

    PPS requires students to reflect and write about two CRLEs but you may do dozens of them! Be curious about the world of work and get answers so you can make good decisions about your future. 

      

    What is a CRLE?

    Career-Related Learning Experiences (CRLEs) are structured educational experiences that connect learning to the world beyond the classroom. Some CRLEs happen at school and are arranged by your teacher. Community organizations and industry groups sponsor career days, mentor and internship programs too. Many students arrange their own half or full day job shadows by asking a neighbor, family friend or a friend's family member to host them. Some examples of CRLEs are:

     

    Exploring Careers On Your Own

    Did you ever tag along with a parent for Take Your Sons & Daughters to Work Day when you were little? Maybe you received a tee-shirt or a coloring book and there was probably chocolate milk after the company tour. You just had to show up! Going out into the world of work for your own half-day job shadow or 30 minute information interview with a non-family member will require pre-planning on your part. Being prepared is the best way to show appreciation to the adult(s) who agreed to meet with you. 

    What can you do to get ready for a job shadow or information interview? Look up your host's occupation in Oregon CIS and study topics like Specific Work Activities, Working Conditions & Preparation. Visit their company's website to better understand their services or products. Consult this list of questions and add your own. Consider what you will wear to fit in in the workplace. Plan your trip, calculating when to leave home or school to be on time. Will you need to allow extra time to find parking? Check out TriMet's TripPlanner tool to help you make streetcar, bus or MAX connections. 

     

    More Resources

    Job Shadowing Tips Checklist for Teens 

    Tips for a Successful Job Shadowing Experience

    Be inspired by these job shadow stories of University of Oregon business students.

     

    Calling Parents & Alumni!

    Think about becoming a Cardinal Career Consultant. Are you willing to host a LHS student at your workplace for a job shadow? Are you open to invitations from teachers to be on a panel or speak to their class? Does your organization ever hire interns or part-timers? PPS Career Coordinators use the district's PartnerConnect database to identify local professionals like you. Learn more and register yourself and/or your company here. 

      

  •   College & Career

      

    CRLE Reflection Assignments

    Please avoid the following common gross errors when completing the assignment:

    • writing one sentence when asked to write two paragraphs
    • writing about paid employment 
    • writing about a one-time  "good deed" type of community service (picking up litter for SOLV, donating blood, repacking donated food at the Oregon Food Bank, etc.) rather than a prolonged volunteer activity that introduced you to an occupation (e.g. coaching Little League, interacting with patients at a hospital, working on a political campaign).

    Class of 2019   CRLE Reflection #1 and CRLE Reflection #2

    Class of 2020   CRLE Reflection #1 and CRLE Reflection #2

    Class of 2021   CRLE Reflection #1 and CRLE Reflection #2

    Class of 2022  CRLE Reflection #1 

    (9th grade CRLEs are usually teacher-directed. Later in high school you can write a reflection about a CRLE you initiated because of your interest in an occupation or industry.)