Career Clusters Research Project
The purpose of this activity is to help you:
- Learn how careers can be grouped together into clusters based on common characteristics
- See how these career clusters can be used to discover and explore new career possibilities
- Learn about some of the commonly used ways of grouping occupations
Go to www.careercruising.com. Enter your personal My Plan username and password in the spaces
provided, and click on Log In.
Log in to Career Cruising and click on Careers, then click on the 16 Career Clusters tab.
Select a cluster that interests you, and then click on the Related Careers tab.
(Optional: To further filter your results, you can select the level of education that you are planning on pursuing—
high school, 2-year college or technical training, or 4-year college/university).
Scroll through the list and click on a career that interests you.
Career:
Interior Design
1. Read the Job Description and Working Conditions. Answer the following questions:
What do people in this career do?
Designers are often hired by people who want to redo their living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, or bathrooms, but that’s not all they do. Restaurants, banks, business offices, and doctors’ offices are other examples of spaces interior designers transform. Even automobile and aircraft manufacturers rely on designers’ skills to make the most of limited spaces.
What are the working conditions like for people in this career? (e.g. Where do they work? What are their
typical work hours? What challenges do they face?)
Self-employed designers tend to work longer and more irregular hours. Although the need to retain clients and bring in steady money often keeps them busy, their vacation schedule is much more flexible. Some take 40, 50, or even 60 vacation days a year, although for the self-employed, this is unpaid time off.
2. Click on Earnings and Sample Career Path. Investigate the following:
What salaries do people in this career earn?
Earnings for interior designers can vary widely depending on experience, reputation, and location. Established designers in major cities generally have the highest incomes.
How do their job responsibilities change as they gain more experience and seniority (i.e. as they move
along the Sample Career Path)?
Interior designers start by consulting with their clients about their needs and vision for the design project. Designers get a sense of their clients’ taste, lifestyle, and budget during this interview process.
Click on Related Careers. Click on a career that interests you.
Career:
3. Read the Job Description and Working Conditions. Answer the following questions:
What do people in this career do?
Self-employed designers tend to work longer and more irregular hours. Although the need to retain clients and bring in steady money often keeps them busy, their vacation schedule is much more flexible. Some take 40, 50, or even 60 vacation days a year, although for the self-employed, this is unpaid time off.
What are the working conditions like for people in this career? (e.g. Where do they work? What are their
typical work hours? What challenges do they face?)
4. Click on Earnings and Sample Career Path. Investigate the following:
What salaries do people in this career earn?
How do their job responsibilities change as they gain more experience and seniority (i.e. as they move
along the Sample Career Path)?
SUMMARY – YOUR VIEWS
5. Now that you have learned a little about these two related careers, answer the following questions:
What is similar about the two careers?
Which career do you think you would like more and why?
