A–B. Health and Safety; Technological Development, Impacts, and Careers · Technology Fundamentals, Safety and Connections

Careers in Technology and the Skilled Trades, and Your Transferable Skills

B3.1 B3.4About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe roles, responsibilities and opportunities in current and emerging careers across the broad-based technology areas and the skilled trades.
I can name Ontario's seven transferable skills.
I can evaluate my own transferable skills with evidence and connect them to careers.

Words to know

role
A job or position.

responsibilities
The duties a person carries out in a role.

skilled trade
A career that requires specialized hands-on skills, usually learned through an apprenticeship.

technologist
A worker, often college-trained, who applies technical and scientific knowledge to design, test and manage systems.

emerging career
A job that is new or growing because of new technology or new needs.

transferable skills
Skills used in many jobs and in life, such as communication and problem solving.

entrepreneurship
Turning ideas into a business or new product or service.

Hook: who keeps the lights on?

Picture an ice storm: freezing rain coats power lines in your region. Within hours, power line technicians are working in bucket trucks, electricians are fixing damaged service connections, dispatchers use computer systems to plan repairs, heavy equipment operators clear fallen trees, and communications staff post updates. A storm reveals how many skilled people keep a community running.

In this lesson you will explore roles, responsibilities and opportunities in careers across the broad-based technology areas and the skilled trades, and evaluate the transferable skills you are already building.

Roles, responsibilities and opportunities

A role is the job or position (for example, automotive service technician).
Responsibilities are the duties of that role (diagnose problems, repair vehicles safely, explain repairs to customers, keep records).
Opportunities are where the career can lead: specializing, supervising, teaching, inspecting, starting your own business, or working in other provinces or countries.

Technology careers are often grouped by training: skilled trades (learned mostly on the job through apprenticeship), technician and technologist careers (often through a college diploma), professional careers (often through a university degree, such as engineering, architecture or nursing), and entrepreneurs who start businesses. Many people move between these over a career.

Area	Example careers
Communications technology	graphic designer, video editor, broadcast technician, photographer, printing press operator
Computer technology	network technician, software developer, electronics technician, cybersecurity analyst
Construction technology	carpenter, electrician, plumber, refrigeration and air conditioning systems mechanic, heavy equipment operator, civil engineer
Green industries	arborist, horticultural technician, farmer, forestry technician, landscape architect
Hairstyling and aesthetics	hairstylist, barber, esthetician, salon owner
Health care	personal support worker, registered practical nurse, registered nurse, paramedic, medical laboratory technologist
Hospitality and tourism	cook, baker, event planner, hotel manager, tour guide
Manufacturing technology	machinist, welder, industrial mechanic (millwright), tool and die maker, CNC programmer
Technological design	CAD drafter, architectural technologist, industrial designer, engineer
Transportation technology	automotive service technician, truck and coach technician, auto body repairer, aircraft maintenance engineer

A sample of careers in each broad-based technology area. Each area includes trades, technician and professional careers.

Current and emerging careers

Some careers are growing because of new technology and new needs: electric vehicle technicians, solar and wind energy installers and technicians, heat pump installers, robotics technicians, cybersecurity analysts, data and AI specialists, drone operators, 3D printing technicians and building energy auditors. Many of these build on traditional trades: a solar installer is often a licensed electrician who added new skills.

Reliable career information is available from the Government of Canada's Job Bank (wages and job outlooks by region) and from Skilled Trades Ontario (descriptions of more than 140 trades).

A single trade can open many doors. A licensed electrician can specialize, teach, inspect or run a business.

Transferable skills

Transferable skills are skills you can use in many different jobs and in life. Ontario's curriculum names seven:

Critical thinking and problem solving: figuring out why an engine will not start or why a design failed.
Innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship: coming up with new ideas and turning them into products, services or businesses.
Self-directed learning: setting goals, managing your time, learning new skills on your own.
Collaboration: working well in a team, such as a kitchen brigade or a construction crew.
Communication: explaining a repair to a customer, reading drawings, writing a report.
Global citizenship and sustainability: thinking about how your work affects people and the planet.
Digital literacy: using technology safely and well, from CAD to diagnostic scanners.

Employers in every technology area say these skills matter as much as technical skills, because technology changes and workers must keep learning.

The seven transferable skills you build in school go with you into any career.

Worked example

Let's evaluate transferable skills

Maya, 14, likes fixing bikes, enjoys explaining things to younger kids at her coaching job, is good at math and is curious about electric vehicles. Evaluate her transferable skills and match them to careers.

Gather evidence: fixing bikes shows critical thinking and problem solving; coaching shows communication and collaboration; teaching herself repairs from videos shows self-directed learning; math is a foundation for many trades and technology jobs.
Rate honestly: strong: problem solving, communication. Growing: digital literacy (she has not used diagnostic software yet), collaboration on large teams.
Match to careers: automotive service technician or EV technician (problem solving, interest in EVs, explaining repairs to customers); bicycle mechanic or shop owner (entrepreneurship); with more school, an electrical or automotive engineering technologist.
Plan to grow: take a transportation technology course in Grade 10, practise with diagnostic apps, look for a co-op placement at a garage, keep up math.

Maya's strongest skills match transportation careers, especially emerging EV work. Evaluating skills with evidence shows both strengths and a plan to grow.

Just for fun

Why are electricians so good at making friends?

They always know how to make a connection.

Hands-on activity

Career interview and skills self-assessment

You need: paper, a pencil, an adult who works in any technology area or skilled trade (in person, by phone or video), 30 minutes.

Interview the worker: What is your role? What are your main responsibilities on a normal day? What training did you need? What opportunities could your career lead to? Which transferable skills matter most in your job? What technology has changed in your work?
Record their answers and identify which of the seven transferable skills they mentioned.
Self-assessment: make a table with the seven transferable skills. For each, rate yourself (beginning, developing, strong) and give one piece of evidence from school, home, sports, clubs or jobs.
Choose two careers from this lesson that match your strongest skills. Explain the match.
Name one skill you want to develop this year and one action you will take.

Your turn

What is the difference between a role and its responsibilities?

Name two careers in construction technology.

Name three emerging technology careers.

List Ontario's seven transferable skills.

Give one opportunity a licensed electrician might have later in their career.

Where can you find reliable information about wages and job outlooks in Canada?

More practice: warm-up

Which area includes the career of arborist?

Which area includes the career of paramedic?

What is a transferable skill?

Which transferable skill is shown by explaining a repair to a customer?

Which area includes CAD drafters?

More practice: on your own

Explain how a hairstylist uses at least three transferable skills.

Why do employers value transferable skills as much as technical skills?

Choose one traditional trade and explain how it connects to an emerging career.

Describe the roles of three different workers who would help restore power after an ice storm.

Give evidence of one transferable skill you have shown outside school.

Challenge

Compare two careers from different technology areas: their roles, responsibilities, training and opportunities. Which suits you better and why?

A student says, "I'm not good at anything technical, so technology careers aren't for me." Use transferable skills and the range of careers to respond.

Evaluate your own top two transferable skills with evidence, and explain how each would help in one current and one emerging career.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is a responsibility of an automotive service technician?

Which career belongs to manufacturing technology?

Which is an emerging technology career?

Which is not one of Ontario's seven transferable skills?

Explaining a repair clearly to a customer shows mainly...

Which source gives Canadian job outlooks and wages?

For parents and teachers

Career conversations are one of the most valuable things families can do with a Grade 9 student. Share your own path, including changes and surprises, and connect your teen with people in different trades and technology jobs for the interview.

Encourage evidence-based self-assessment: "I'm good at problem solving" is stronger with "because I fixed the bike chain myself." Avoid steering by stereotypes (for example, assuming trades are only for some students, or certain careers only for boys or girls); every career in this lesson is open to everyone.