Career Odyssey Career Exploration Game, Grades 6-Adult

Career Odyssey® is a board game specifically designed to help students explore careers that may be good matches for their talents and interests. Students develop insight into their own talents and interests and then try to match them to careers.

Players fill out a brief “Talents and Interests” card that asks then to select two talents out of six that are most descriptive of themselves. The talents are based on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, but the names are simplified. Players also specify work preferences, such as working mostly alone or mostly with others.

The game contains 100 career cards, divided into twelve major career areas. The cards describe talents required for success in the career and how the career relates to the same job preference dimensions described on the cards filled out by the players. Players then navigate around the board trying to collect career cards that are similar to their own card. The game is made more interesting by players’ ability to trade and sell cards to each other. Players earn play money based on the degree of match between their own card and the career cards they collect.

During the post-game discussion, the teacher asks players to review the cards that they collected in order to determine what those careers have in common, whether they make sense for the players, and what kinds of advanced education will be required. The career cards also have information on employment numbers, job growth, average salary, etc.

SCANS Skills Addressed:

• Foundation Skills: Thinking Skills, Personal Qualities, Basic Skills
• Workplace Competencies: Systems, Information

Learning Objectives:

Learn that a good career choice should meet three criteria: You are good at it, You enjoy it, You are earning enough to have a life style that satisfies you.

Learn earning potential and job outlook for various careers.

Develop self-perception of talents and preferences for different kinds of jobs.

Explore several careers that may be good matches for talents and interests.

Develop a list of careers into which students can look more closely.