Career Panels Best Practices

Pre-Panel
Pre-Panel

Planning the Panel

  • Identify a time and date for your career panel 
    • During the summer months, panelists may be most available Monday-Thursday. 
    • Determine whether your event will be in-person or virtual. If you are hosting a virtual panel, send any necessary links in advance. 
  • Invite a group of professionals to discuss their careers with students. Be sure to let them know if the panel will be in person or virtual.
    • Ideally, students will be able to hear from at least three professionals who come from a variety of  backgrounds, experiences, and career fields
  • Prepare panelist/s with the type of information they would like them to address and the approx. amount of time you would like them to speak for. 
  • You might share with them: questions to consider as a panelist or ask them to provide a few sentences of introduction that you or a student can read.

Supporting Student Voice

  • Introduce the students to the types of career/s that will be present before the panel
  • Give students opportunities to develop questions for the panelists. You might share common questions to ask a panelist, have students fill out the first column of Career Panel Graphic Organizer, or have students build their own questions in this activity
  • Students might write an introductory script or read information that panelists provide to introduce panelists.
  • You might assign specific students to ask questions during the panel
During the Panel
During the Panel

During the Panel

  • Introduce the speakers and/or have an assigned student/s introduce the speakers
  • Support in moderating the speakers ensuring that all panelists can present. As moderator, you might ask panelists questions, giving each panelist time to respond, or call on assigned students to ask questions they prepared ahead of time
  • Facilitate students asking questions by giving time for assigned students to ask questions or allotting time for Q&A during the panel
  • You might have students take notes on what they are hearing using this graphic organizer Career Panel Graphic Organizer or this Q and A Graphic Organizer, or any other note catcher you develop.
Post-Panel Activities
Post-Panel Activities

Post-Panel Activities