Celebrate Career Discovery Week

Deciding upon a career path can feel overwhelming, especially for high school students just beginning to imagine their journey beyond the classroom.

Trust us; we’ve ALL been there. ꜛ

To help high school students get a hands-on sense of some of the exciting career options available to them, the DOE and the Partnership for New York City are co-sponsoring New York City’s first ever Career Discovery Week, taking place February 10–14, 2020.

During this week, more than 6,000 high school sophomores from 142 NYC schools will have the opportunity to learn about job opportunities in a broad range of industries. As part of this week’s activities, students will have the chance to tour companies whose work relates to their school’s curriculum, dive deeper into a particular field of interest, and learn about employers’ real-world expectations.

Career Discovery Week activities include visits to media companies like Hearst to learn more about the publishing field; a tour of Macy’s corporate headquarters and showrooms; creative computing and technology lessons led by engineers at the global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC); and a tour of system operations, including a Q&A with pilots at JetBlue. More than 180 companies are hosting our students throughout the week, helping students explore their interests, connect those interests to careers, and ensure that they are building the skills to succeed in the workforce.

Throughout the month of February, high schools across the City are providing focused resources and opportunities to inform and excite students about all of the various career options open to them as part of Career Exploration Month. Those activities include panels of adult alumni talking about their jobs and career experiences, skills workshops to help students identify abilities particularly suited to different careers, and guest speakers from a range of industries and professions.

Leading up to Career Discovery Week, on Saturday, February 8, 2020, students and families attended the Summer Enrichment Program Fair. Offered as part of Career Exploration Month, this event held at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building offered career readiness workshops, information on internship opportunities, and more. All of these activities complement the year-round work of our 300 Career and Technical Education programs in 135 schools, which focus on developing skills suitable for particular professions.

Education doesn’t end at the classroom door, and thanks to Career Discovery Week and additional programs and activities just like these, New York City’s high school and middle school students are being exposed to innovative job and career opportunities that are just right for them. The DOE is committed to showing our students the breadth of what New York has to offer while preparing them to compete for the City’s best jobs and instilling in them the confidence to achieve their dreams.