Now What? Career Pathways Guide Learners' Next Steps

When your students complete a learning program, do they feel they reached the end or are they already planning how to attain further credentials to enhance their careers?  

Either way, students should not wonder, “Now what?” They should know exactly what the next steps are—because you provided a defined career pathway for them before the learning experience began.

Career pathways are a series of connected courses and training options that lead to an industry-recognized certificate, license or degree. Increasingly utilized by community and technical colleges nationwide, career pathways:

• Pinpoint career education starting points – at the high school, technical college, or university level
• Outline courses learners need to qualify for specific jobs within a career arc
• Define how high school credits, credit for prior learning, and industry learning experiences move the learner along the path

Define the career pathway in WIDS

With the WIDS Career Pathway Module, you can easily define career pathways by connecting a series of courses and programs you’ve already designed in WIDS software or by creating the details as you go.  

Define the career pathways by:

• Designing a roadmap to assist the student as they transition from school to work
• Illustrating where students can earn credit for prior learning to reduce overall credit load and cost
• Defining delivery models used throughout the pathway: in-person, online, hybrid, clinical experiences, etc.

‍Guide learners through the career arc

And you can include all the details learners need to be guided through the entire career arc by:

• Pinpointing critical student support offered throughout the pathway: financial aid, tutoring services, job placement services, etc.
• Outlining industry support: industry specific skills competitions, student organizations, industry-related job opportunities, internships, etc.
• Identifying “job-out” points where students can opt to gain work experience along the career arc – then return later to earn further credentials. 

Illustrate the learning experience using reports

‍Once a pathway is built, you can efficiently generate reports to illustrate the learning experiences related to the career arc for:

• parents
• students
• employers
• marketing departments
• other stakeholders 

Now what?

Help learners determine what they want to achieve now and in the future. Contact WIDS to learn more about developing career pathways.  It may be just the inspiration your learners need.

WIDS (Worldwide Instructional Design System) is a nonprofit organization that provides curriculum design software, consulting, and training services.