1 - Getting Started ~5 mins
Today is about mapping the world of work into broad fields, not locking yourself into one job title yet.
People often jump straight to a single job: doctor, coder, teacher. A career field is wider: it groups many related roles that share skills and qualifications. Today you will sort real examples, see how one skillset can open three different fields, then shortlist 3–5 fields that actually fit you right now.
2 - Key Terms ~5 mins
Three terms you will use for the rest of this lesson and the ones that follow. Read them once, then keep them open while you sort and shortlist.
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Career field: a broad category of work made of many related job roles that need similar skills and qualifications | This is the level you shortlist today: wide enough to explore, clear enough to research | Healthcare, built environment, hospitality, software and ICT |
| Job role: one specific job with named duties and an entry route inside a field | You will research a single role later; today you only need to tell it apart from the field | Occupational therapist, quantity surveyor, hotel receptionist |
| Skillset match: how your skills, aptitudes and interests line up with what a field tends to ask for | Your shortlist sentence should name a real link, not just "it sounds interesting" | Someone strong with people and languages might match education, social care or tourism |
3 - Field or Role, Then Your Shortlist ~35 mins
First, sort the cards. Each card is either a career field (broad) or a job role (specific). Drag it into the column you would defend. Some will feel close; put them where you can argue the case and be ready to say why.
When the class has sorted, check the model together. The rule is simple: if many different jobs could sit under the same label, it is a field. If it names one person's day-to-day job, it is a role.
One skillset, three fields. Your teacher will work this through with you. Imagine one student with three strengths: analytical thinking, people skills, and fluent Irish. That same mix can open different fields:
- Healthcare: roles such as speech and language therapy or occupational therapy in HSE and health and social care settings, where analysis and people work sit together
- Education: primary or post-primary teaching through Teaching Council routes, especially where Irish is an advantage
- Public service and community: civil service or local authority casework and customer-facing roles that need careful judgement and bilingual communication
One skillset, three fields. That is why you shortlist fields before you pick a single job title.
Your portfolio build. Create (or open) a document called Career Fields Shortlist in your Strand 1.2 Digital Portfolio folder (blank Google Doc or Word file, or your teacher's template). Use two headings: Field and Why it fits me (skill, aptitude or interest). Keep this document: you will add to it in later lessons, it is where your job-role research will go, and it is one of the pieces you can draw on for Portfolio in Action, the assessment your portfolio work feeds into.
List 3–5 career fields that interest you right now. For each field write one sentence on why it fits you, linking to a skill, aptitude or interest you already know about yourself. If you made an Interests, Aptitudes or Skills Audit document earlier in this strand, the notes you wrote about yourself there are a good place to look. Do not list job titles alone. If you only have two fields you can stand over, write two and name what you still need to find out before you add a third.
Career field or job role?
4 - Think About It ~8 mins
Talk these through with the person beside you, or think them through quietly.
- Where did you nearly put a job role on your shortlist instead of a career field? What would change if you kept the wider field open for another few lessons?
- Which of your shortlisted fields has the strongest skillset match right now, and which one is mostly curiosity with less evidence behind it?
If you want a portfolio note later, add two lines under your shortlist naming your strongest match and your most curious field.
5 - Take It Further ~4 mins
Optional stretch: pick one field on your shortlist and open CareersPortal.ie. Find that field (or a close cluster) and lift three different job roles from the roles listed there. Add them as a short bullet list under that field in your Career Fields Shortlist document. Next lessons will research one role properly; this just keeps the field wide.
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