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Career Research Projects for High School Students

Immersive projects are a great teaching tool to get students excited about a potential career path.

As a teacher or homeschooler of high school students, you know the importance of in-depth, hands-on instruction. The more your students see how to apply their career planning and exploration skills, the better. Check out these career research projects for high school students that you can use in your classroom immediately! You can head to our careers curriculum center for lesson plans and more materials you can use as well.

Career Research Projects – Essays and Written Products

Sometimes, the best approach is the simplest. These projects require students to research and type up essays or written reports.

• Career Research and Readiness Project: In this project , students take a personality assessment to see what kinds of careers they may enjoy. They research the job application and interview process, narrow their search to a few career choices, and then set SMART goals to help them achieve their dreams. 
• Career Research Project Paper: Students will like this project’s   simple, straightforward instructions and layout. The components are broken into manageable chunks, letting your high schoolers tackle the project in parts. By the end, they will produce a well-researched essay highlighting their career. 
• 3-Career Research Report: In this project , students choose three careers to focus on and create a written report. They learn MLA documentation, write business letters to organizations, take notes, and go through the formal writing process. This project has everything your students need to develop their career research reports with a rubric, parent letter, works cited page instructions, and more.
• STEM Careers Research Poster and Brochure: Students conduct comprehensive research in this project , using what they learn to create several items showing their knowledge. They research and learn about a specific career and make a posterboard presentation. Then they can create a brochure, present their findings to the class, and answer any questions that classmates and others may ask.
• Job Research Project: In this project , students first do research on any career they want. They must look up the various requirements, necessary skills, salary, and other details about the profession. They end with a thorough essay about their career, hopefully armed with the knowledge to help them in the future. The project is customizable to adapt to multiple grades, so your high school students will all benefit from the project. 

Career Research Projects – Digital Presentations

Fusing technology and research, these projects allow kids to show their knowledge through technology. Students create digital presentations and share them with the class using PowerPoint, Google Slides, and other formats.

• Career Research Project: This project works with many grades, and teachers can customize it to fit their students’ levels. They use PowerPoint to make a comprehensive slide show to demonstrate their knowledge. It breaks down career research into ten slides (you can add more as needed), and students will have a solid understanding of their future career path by the end of the assignment. 
• Career Presentation Project: In this project , high schoolers need to research career clusters, narrow their choices down to only one profession, and find many details about it. They look up median salary, entry-level pay, education requirements, required skills, and any additional benefits or perks that would attract potential applicants. They put all this information into a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation.
• Career and College Exploration Project: This project is broken down into clear and detailed descriptions for each slide of the presentation. It differs from other projects on the list because it weaves college research into the assignment, showing students the connection between education and careers. With 22 slides to complete, students will have an in-depth understanding of their chosen careers and how to navigate school and plan for future success.
• Career Exploration Project: This project is unique as it takes a realistic approach to career exploration, requiring students to find the pros and cons of three potential careers. They see that every job has perks and drawbacks, and part of pursuing a specific one comes down to their personal preference. The project includes a detailed outline, so students know precisely what to research and have on each slide of their digital presentation. Presenting their findings is a significant part of their grade, which helps strengthen their accountability, quality of work, and public speaking skills.
• Life Skills Career Research Project: This project is an excellent blend of hands-on production and digital skill-building, letting students show their findings in multiple formats. They research a career, finding things like education/training requirements, job responsibilities, drawbacks, benefits, opportunities for advancement, specific places of employment, and salaries. Students need to create a functional resume and attach it to the project. They use Google Drive to design poster components and can submit the project digitally or on a poster board.

Career Research Project for Principles of Business Management & Entrepreneurship: Home

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• How do I get started with the basics in NoodleTools ?
• How do I create a   Works Cited ,  Reference page or Bibliography for my project? 
• How do I add or edit an annotation ? 
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• How do I create an outline ?
• How do I create in-text or parenthetical citations and footnotes ?
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Your Assignment & Rubric for Grading

Guidelines for Career Research Project  ​ - This is your guide to what goes into the project. Follow it closely to ensure you include all requirements in your final project. You may also use the NoodleTools Links  in this guide ( at left ) to take notes, generate in-text citations, and create a list of your sources cited in MLA style ( see guide at bottom right on this page ). Please use NoodleTools to properly cite all images, database articles, websites, personal interviews, etc. Essentially, anything that is not your own words, thoughts or work must be cited whether you use direct quotes or paraphrase. 

Rubric for Career Research Project   - Periodically revisit the rubric to ensure you are meeting the highest standards for your research, writing, documentation of sources, mechanics and formatting. 

Student Brochure Sample  

How to Avoid Plagiarism LibGuide

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to "plagiarize" means:

• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
• to use (another's production) without crediting the source
• to commit literary theft
• to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.

Source:  P.org  sponsored by  Turnitin

The librarian is always happy to help you!

MLA Citation Style Resources

Citation Helper LibGuide: MLA, APA & Chicago  - This guide includes information about citing your sources, including MLA, APA and Chicago / Turabian citation styles.

• Next: Career Pathway Websites & Databases >>
• Last Updated: Dec 11, 2023 7:52 PM
• URL: https://fcps.libguides.com/career_research

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, creating and using rubrics.

A rubric is a scoring tool that explicitly describes the instructor’s performance expectations for an assignment or piece of work. A rubric identifies:

• criteria: the aspects of performance (e.g., argument, evidence, clarity) that will be assessed
• descriptors: the characteristics associated with each dimension (e.g., argument is demonstrable and original, evidence is diverse and compelling)
• performance levels: a rating scale that identifies students’ level of mastery within each criterion  

Rubrics can be used to provide feedback to students on diverse types of assignments, from papers, projects, and oral presentations to artistic performances and group projects.

Benefitting from Rubrics

• reduce the time spent grading by allowing instructors to refer to a substantive description without writing long comments
• help instructors more clearly identify strengths and weaknesses across an entire class and adjust their instruction appropriately
• help to ensure consistency across time and across graders
• reduce the uncertainty which can accompany grading
• discourage complaints about grades
• understand instructors’ expectations and standards
• use instructor feedback to improve their performance
• monitor and assess their progress as they work towards clearly indicated goals
• recognize their strengths and weaknesses and direct their efforts accordingly

Examples of Rubrics

Here we are providing a sample set of rubrics designed by faculty at Carnegie Mellon and other institutions. Although your particular field of study or type of assessment may not be represented, viewing a rubric that is designed for a similar assessment may give you ideas for the kinds of criteria, descriptions, and performance levels you use on your own rubric.

• Example 1: Philosophy Paper This rubric was designed for student papers in a range of courses in philosophy (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 2: Psychology Assignment Short, concept application homework assignment in cognitive psychology (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 3: Anthropology Writing Assignments This rubric was designed for a series of short writing assignments in anthropology (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 4: History Research Paper . This rubric was designed for essays and research papers in history (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 1: Capstone Project in Design This rubric describes the components and standards of performance from the research phase to the final presentation for a senior capstone project in design (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 2: Engineering Design Project This rubric describes performance standards for three aspects of a team project: research and design, communication, and team work.

Oral Presentations

• Example 1: Oral Exam This rubric describes a set of components and standards for assessing performance on an oral exam in an upper-division course in history (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 2: Oral Communication This rubric is adapted from Huba and Freed, 2000.
• Example 3: Group Presentations This rubric describes a set of components and standards for assessing group presentations in history (Carnegie Mellon).

Class Participation/Contributions

• Example 1: Discussion Class This rubric assesses the quality of student contributions to class discussions. This is appropriate for an undergraduate-level course (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 2: Advanced Seminar This rubric is designed for assessing discussion performance in an advanced undergraduate or graduate seminar.

See also " Examples and Tools " section of this site for more rubrics.

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STEM Career Research Project for Middle School

• December 18, 2022
• Engineering , STEM
• Career Exploration , Engaging Lessons , Real World Connections

How do you inspire future scientists and engineers? Do your students know what careers are STEM careers and what it means to have a career in STEM? You can answer these questions and more with this multi-day STEM career project !

STEM Career Research Project

In this project, students will choose an engineering career to research. They will discover the job roles and responsibilities, possible work environments, education requirements, average salaries, helpful skills and traits, and projected job growth in that field. Then students will imagine a company that is looking to hire a person in that career field. They’ll examine real-world job postings and then design and create a “help wanted” poster for their chosen career. Next, students will present their work and learn about other careers in a gallery walk activity. Finally, they’ll complete an independent reflection activity.

This STEM career research project is independent and low-prep. Grab this resource today! You will save your prep time, and know your students will be engaged and inspired while learning about STEM careers.

What’s included in the STEM Careers Research Project?

This no-prep project includes everything you need for 3-5 days of engaging STEM activities, including: 

• Printable PDF, Google, and Easel versions of the student activities and worksheets
• A webquest that guides students to choose and research a STEM career
• Detailed guidelines and  templates for the “Help Wanted” job advertisement project
• A graphic organizer for capturing student learning during the Gallery Walk activity
• An independent reflection worksheet to be completed at the end of the project
• Embedded links to quality background research websites
• Detailed teacher notes for easy facilitation
• An easy-to-use grading rubric

What materials do you need?

You only need to provide printed or digital copies of the student worksheets and devices with internet access for research. 

How can you use the STEM career project in your classroom?

You can use the research project as a week-long study of STEM careers. You will open your students’ eyes to career options that they may have never before considered. This is a great introductory activity for your STEM class, and it can be used to celebrate National Engineering Week in February.

This STEM career project is also perfect for giving yourself a bit of a break when you are feeling burnt out or feeling frustrated with challenging student behaviors. For example, you could use the project to keep students engaged before a school holiday. You can also use the project to keep students learning when you have unusual schedules or low attendance due to field trips, testing, assemblies, or other interruptions. Or, you can leave the low-prep project as a multi-day STEM sub plan.

Looking for other STEM Career activities?

If you’d like more ideas for inspiring your students and teaching them about STEM careers, check out this blog post on exploring STEM careers !

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A Career Research Project for Middle School

• Kellie Hayden
• Categories : Lesson plans for middle school social studies
• Tags : Teaching middle school grades 6 8

At the middle school level, students should start thinking about what they really want to do so that they can start preparing for that career. Students will complete a career inventory, research three careers and present the information in the project to the class.

Career Inventory

Now that students have been in the school system for several years, some may have decided that they really don’t want to go to college for more than eight years to be a doctor. However, some do not know what they want to do.

Some schools use printed career inventories and these can become part of this project. However, there are many free career inventories online that student can complete. Teachers should try them out before asking students to go online. Many websites ask for email addresses to send the results. The teacher could have all the students give the teacher’s school email address so that all the results go to the teacher first. However, teachers should follow their school Internet policies when completing this project.

Once the career inventories are completed, students should have a list of possible careers that they might be interested in researching. Students should select three careers on which they would like to complete additional research.

Career Research

Now that students have three possible careers, they can start researching those jobs. They need to find out the following for each career:

1. Career Preparation

• Amount of years of college and or job training needed: on the job training, one year certificate, Associate’s Degree, Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree or Doctorate Degree.
• Amount of training time on the job before a full salary can be earned.

2. Job Description

• Describe the day-to-day duties and tasks that are required of the job.
• Describe equipment and/or technology that will be used on the job.
• Describe the setting for the career, such as a hospital, ship, office building, outdoors, etc.
• Explain the parts of the country where a student can find this job.

3. Pay or Salary

• Describe a starting salary or rate of pay per hour for this job (sometimes students find a top salary that is unrealistic for a beginning worker).

When students have found the information for three careers, they need to prepare a report that they will share as a presentation. First, they need to decide what career they like best from all of the information. Then, they need to report on why this career is the best fit for them. They should give the facts about the other jobs and why the other two jobs are not a good fit for them. They also need to find a visual aid, such as equipment/technology used on the job, uniform worn, place of work, etc.

Presentation and Assessment

Once students have written up their reports on their top choice for a career, they need to write it out on note cards. Students need to practice presenting their reports as homework. Then, they will present their information to the class.

To assess the presentation, teachers can use a rubric. The criteria for the rubric could be as follows: career information and facts, voice, eye contact, and visual aids. Teachers can have students write out their report in a final copy format and assess that as well.

This project is one that students will see has a real-world application. Most will be very excited to be thinking about their future and what they really want to be when they grow up.

This post is part of the series: Help Your Students Set Future Goals & Plan for Careers With These Lesson Plans

It’s never too early for students to think about what they will do once their graduation cap is tossed in the air and high school is behind them. Help your students prepare for and think about their future with these lesson plans meant to motivate and inspire.

• Help Your Students Reach For the Stars With a Classroom Goal Tree
• Project for Middle School Students to Research Careers
• A Lesson on Goal Setting for Students: A Vital Skill for Success

15 Free Rubric Templates

By Kate Eby | August 30, 2018

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Often found in the education sector, a rubric is a tool for scoring performance based on specific criteria. However, businesses also use a rubric to measure things like employee performance and to evaluate the success of a project or product. Below you’ll find a range of free, customizable rubric templates for business and academic use. Save time and create an efficient grading process with easy-to-use, printable rubric templates.

Project Management Rubric

Evaluate project managers’ performance with this Excel rubric template. Enter the stages of a project or important objectives and milestones. Then use the rating scale to judge and provide a basic description of the management of those stages. This template can also be a useful self-evaluation tool for project managers to learn from and inform decision making on future projects.

Download Project Management Rubric

Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet

Business Plan Rubric

Break down your business plan into sections and use this rubric to evaluate the strength of each part. Is your mission statement merely sufficient, highly advanced, or somewhere inbetween? Is your market analysis thorough, or does it need to be fleshed out? Use this template to identify weak points and areas for improvement in your business plan.

Download Business Plan Rubric

Job Interview Rubric Template

Use this rubric template to evaluate job interview candidates. Add your own criteria based on the applicant’s resume, references, skills, experience, and other important factors. The template includes a scoring scale with four levels as well as an additional column for criteria that the job candidate is missing or that are not applicable.

Download Job Interview Rubric Template

Excel | Word | PDF

Employee Performance Rubric

Create a rubric for ranking employee performance in selected areas, such as customer service, teamwork, leadership, time management, attendance, and other criteria. This template provides a simple way to create a comprehensive evaluation tool that you can use for multiple employees. This system of measurement helps support a fair evaluation process and provides an overview of an employee’s performance in an organized format.

Download Employee Performance Rubric

Excel | Word | PDF  | Smartsheet

Product Rubric Template

Before investing in a new product, use this rubric template to determine how it aligns with your business objectives. You can rank and compare several products to get an idea of which one may offer the best return on investment. This rubric template is available as a Word or fillable PDF file, making it easy to print and use in a team meeting or brainstorming session .

Download Product Rubric Template

Marketing Plan Rubric

Evaluate all the elements of your marketing plan, from research and analysis to strategy and action items. Make sure your marketing plan can stand up to scrutiny and deliver results. Use this rubric template to add up points for each category and calculate a total score. The scoring system will indicate the overall strength of the marketing plan as well as which sections you need to refine or develop further.

Download Marketing Plan Rubric

Excel | Word  | PDF

Group Project Rubric Template

This teamwork rubric allows teachers to assess how a group handled a shared project. Evaluate both process and content by including criteria such as supporting materials used, evidence of subject knowledge, organization, and collaboration. The template offers a simple layout, but you can add grading components and detailed criteria for meeting project objectives.

Download Group Project Rubric Template

Art Grading Rubric Template

Create a rubric for grading art projects that illustrates whether students were able to meet or exceed the expectations of an assignment. You can edit this template and use it with any grade level, student ability, or type of art project. Choose your grading criteria based on what you want to evaluate, such as technique, use and care of classroom tools, or creative vision.

Download Art Grading Rubric Template

Science Experiment Rubric

Evaluate science experiments or lab reports with this scoring rubric template. Criteria may be based on the scientific process, how procedures were followed, how data and analysis were handled, and presentation skills (if relevant). Easily modify this rubric template to include additional rows or columns for a detailed look at a student’s performance.

Download Science Experiment Rubric

Poster Rubric Template

This Google Docs rubric template is designed for scoring an elementary school poster assignment. Include whatever elements you want to evaluate — such as graphics used, grammar, time management, or creativity — and add up the total score for each student’s work. Teachers can share the rubric with students to inform them of what to aim for with their poster projects.

Download Poster Rubric Template

Excel | Word | PDF | Google Docs

Research Project Rubric

Use this template to create a research project, written report, or other writing assignment rubric. Assess a student’s analytical and organizational skills, use of references, style and tone, and overall success of completing the assignment. The template includes room for additional comments about the student’s work.

‌ Download Research Project Rubric — Excel

Oral Presentation Rubric Template

List all of the expectations for an effective oral presentation along with a point scale to create a detailed rubric. Areas to assess may include the thoroughness of the project, speaking and presentation skills, use of visual aids, and accuracy. Use this information to support the grading process and to show students areas they need to strengthen.

Download Oral Presentation Rubric Template

Grading Rubric Template

This grading rubric template provides a general outline that you can use to evaluate any type of assignment, project, or work performance. You can also use the template for self-assessment or career planning to help identify skills or training to develop. Quickly save this Google Docs template to your Google Drive account and share it with others.

Download Grading Rubric Template

Blank Rubric Template

Add your own information to this blank, editable template to create an evaluation tool that suits your particular needs. You can download the rubric as a Word or PDF file and start using it immediately. Use color or formatting changes to customize the template for use in a classroom, workplace, or other setting.

Download Blank Rubric Template

Holistic Rubric Template

A holistic rubric provides a more generalized evaluation system by grouping together assignment requirements or performance expectations into a few levels for scoring. This method is different from analytic rubrics, which break down performance criteria into more detailed levels (which allows for more fine-tuned scoring and specific feedback for the student or employee). This holistic rubric template offers a basic outline for defining the characteristics that constitute each scoring level.

Download Holistic Rubric Template

What Is a Rubric Template?

A rubric is a tool for evaluating and scoring performance based on a set of criteria, and it provides an organized and consistent method for evaluation. Teachers commonly use rubrics to evaluate student performance at all levels of education, from elementary and high school to college. They can also be used in business settings to evaluate a project, employee, product, or strategic plan.

How to Make a Rubric Template

A variety of options exist for creating rubrics, including software, online tools, and downloadable templates. Templates provide a simple, reusable, and cost-effective solution for making a basic rubric. After downloading a rubric outline template, you can add your own criteria, text, and increase the number of rows or columns as needed.

All rubrics typically contain some version of the following elements:

• A description of the task to be evaluated
• A rating scale with at least three levels
• The criteria used to judge the task
• Descriptive language to illustrate how well the task (or performance, item, etc.) meets expectations

The rating scale on a rubric is often a combination of numbers and words (language often ranging from low to high, or poor to excellent quality). Using descriptive language allows for a thorough understanding of different elements of a task or performance, while a numeric scale allows you to quantitatively define an overall score. For example, level one may be worth one point and could be described as “beginner,” “low quality,” or “needs improvement;” level two could be worth two points and described as “fair” or “satisfactory.” The scale would continue up from there, ending with the highest level of exemplary performance.

Each of the criteria can be expanded upon with descriptive phrases to illustrate performance expectations. For example, if you were to evaluate an employee, and one of the criteria is communication skills, you would elaborate on each potential level of performance, such as in the following sample phrases:

• Level 1: Rarely shares ideas or exhibits teamwork during meetings or group projects.
• Level 2: Occasionally shares ideas or exhibits teamwork during meetings.
• Level 3: Often shares ideas or exhibits teamwork during meetings or group projects.
• Level 4: Frequently shares ideas or exhibits teamwork in meetings or group projects.

The above copy is just one example phrase with four different qualifiers, but several sentences may be required to demonstrate different aspects of communication skills and how well they are performed in various situations.

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