• Approaches to investigation: reflect on what you are good at, what you like, what you are passionate about, and what is important to you; ask for feedback from teachers, coaches, mentors, peers, Elders, Métis Senators, knowledge keepers, knowledge holders, and/or employers; take an aptitude/career assessment inventory 
• Personal profile options: a vision board that reflects their wishes and goals; a graphic organizer that maps “who they are” – their interests, values, skills, strengths, and areas to be developed; a digital portfolio that includes reflections on their investigations and learning; a practice profile to prepare for future use of career-oriented social networking sites; a classroom-based personal blog

• What kinds of experiences have allowed you to explore and develop new skills or challenge your perceptions about yourself? How can these experiences and insights inform your personal profile? 
• How might cooperative education or other forms of experiential learning help you to discover more about your interests?
• How reliable do think personality and career assessments are? How closely did the results of the assessment you completed reflect what you believe about yourself and your future? Were some of the results inaccurate? Were some surprising? Did they help you see yourself in a new way? 
• How might a person’s cultural and/or socio-economic background affect the way they see themselves? How is your background reflected in how you see yourself? 
• What are some of your strengths, gifts, and talents? How do you know? Do you think any of these are transferable skills? 
• Have you ever found that another person’s perception of you was quite different from your own perception of yourself? How did you respond to their feedback? How do you decide when others’ feedback is valid? 
• What are some social, political, or environmental issues and/or challenges you feel strongly about? What contributions do you want to make to your local, regional, and/or global communities? 
• Do you require accommodations in school and in the workplace? What is the best way to share this information with others? How do you advocate for yourself so that your needs are understood and respected? 
• How might developing a personal profile help you to better understand what you want to do in school and in life?

Teachers can: 

• reinforce the idea that everyone has strengths, skills, and aptitudes and that additional skills can be learned and developed over time; 

• provide students with access to selected skill assessment and career resources, such as the Career Quiz found on Ontario’s labour market website, to help them articulate and assess their abilities; 

• emphasize to students that personality and career assessments can have varying results and may not be an accurate reflection of their skills and interests. (Where the student feels they are accurate, they may be useful in identifying areas for growth.) Ask students to reflect on any biases or assumptions that may be a part of the assessment tool itself, and emphasize the importance of personal reflection about the results; 

• encourage students to record their notes, observations, and reflections in their Individual Pathways Plan (IPP).

Other factors to consider: family values and parental expectations; the influence of friends and of the communities to which one belongs; cultural identity; gender or gender identity; financial circumstances; potential future earnings; systemic and structural barriers and opportunities; personal preferences with respect to career/life balance; local and/or global work trends; local and/or global needs and challenges

• What influence might your personal perspectives and cultural world view have on your education and career choices? 
• How might the wishes of your family affect your choice of personal career/life goals? What can you do to help your family understand your personal career/life goals? 
• How might your cultural and/or social affiliations influence your choice of personal career/life goals? 
• How can you persevere, stay positive, and get support when certain factors and conditions present challenges to attaining your goals?
• Have you been influenced by people you know and admire when making your education, career, and community activity choices? What can you learn from these people when considering the choices that are available to you? 
• How might broad industry trends or the needs of your local community influence your career choices? 
• Why might you have to balance your interests or passions with practical considerations? How might you do this? 
• Having considered the factors and circumstances that might be influencing your choice of goals, how would you describe their relative weight when it comes time to narrowing down your goals? How might achieving your goals influence some of those factors or circumstances later on?

Students may find the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals website or the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a useful source of information about global needs.

• Impact of a social media presence: an online presence and effective use of key social media and online employment platforms make individuals accessible to prospective postsecondary institutions and employers; a well-considered and well-maintained public profile on a career-oriented social media site can enhance their identity and influence prospective postsecondary institutions and employers; following a carefully selected group of people online can provide students with useful information; a negative “digital reputation” could have a negative impact on their career/life opportunities 
• Information privacy: protecting their social insurance numbers (SINs) and personal identification numbers (PINs); using secure passwords

• Your digital footprint includes your online history – everything you leave behind as you use the Internet. How might your digital footprint influence your employer’s, or a potential employer’s, opinion of you? What are some important factors to keep in mind when online? 
• A “passive” digital footprint is when you leave a trail of data unintentionally, such as when you are searching the Internet or shopping online. What does an “active” digital footprint refer to? 
• How can knowledge of your privacy rights and responsibilities, as well as of the privacy and information-sharing policies of the site you are using, help you decide what personal information to share online? 
• How can you build an online personal brand that supports your job search while also managing your personal information and protecting your privacy online? 
• Why might prospective and current employers want to know your social media handles or public usernames? 
• If your public profile on a career-oriented social networking site is incomplete, inaccurate, or dated, what message might you be sending to prospective employers? Why is it important to keep your profile up to date? 
• Before deciding to follow specific individuals or organizations on social media, why is it important to research who they are and determine what effect following them might have on how others perceive you? How might following them reflect negatively on you or your values? 
• How might you consider changing your social media presence or your “digital reputation” to better align with your future education and career/life plans?

Traditional and online networking: seeking advice or support from members of their extended family and/or community; attending job fairs, trade shows, and conferences; using a social media networking site to connect with individuals in their area of interest and market their skills; joining a professional networking group in their area of interest; selecting experts in their field of interest and following them online

• When choosing a social networking site that suits your interests, what are some important factors to consider? 
• How might visiting college or university campuses, attending job fairs, and meeting with employers who might have apprenticeship opportunities broaden your social network? 
• How might cooperative education or other forms of experiential learning put you in touch with individuals in your chosen field of study or area of work? 
• How might community involvement or volunteerism help you to build a network? 
• We often rely on publicly advertised jobs when we are looking for work. What are some of the benefits and challenges of finding out about jobs through the unadvertised (“hidden”) job market?