80 hands-on career booths open Thursday at Peace Park for students from 14 local middle schools; five experience zones — covering AI, forensic science, barista skills, e-sports and more — let students explore by interest and aptitude
Mapo-gu will host the 14th MAP:Open Career Fair on Thursday, starting at 9:30 a.m., at Peace Plaza in Peace Park (251 World Cup-ro), offering middle school students hands-on exposure to 80 different careers.
Held under the slogan "Open Your Dreams, Connect Your Future," the fair is organized by the Mapo Career and Vocational Experience Support Center, with participation from 14 middle schools across the district.
A total of 80 career experience booths will be set up at the venue. This year, organizers scaled back booths focused purely on information delivery and expanded hands-on, participatory programs to deepen students' career exploration and boost satisfaction.
The booths are organized around the RIASEC vocational interest model developed by American psychologist John Holland, reflecting participants' interests, aptitudes, abilities and values. Based on the results of a Holland assessment taken in advance, students can explore careers suited to them across five themed zones: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social and Enterprising-Conventional.
The Realistic zone features careers that involve tools and equipment, including sports trainer, sound engineer, dairy product manufacturer and drone pilot.
The Investigative zone lets students experience careers built on observation, analysis and experimentation — among them renewable energy specialist, forensic investigator, brain researcher, wearable robot research and development engineer, and genetic analyst.
The Artistic zone offers creative-field experiences such as florist, webtoon artist, art therapy counselor, beatboxer and rapper, while the Social zone introduces careers centered on helping people and building relationships, including perfumer, animal-assisted therapist and play-based physical education instructor.
The Enterprising-Conventional zone covers careers that involve planning and coordinating people and information, with booths for newspaper reporter, water safety officer, new sports inventor and adaptive sports instructor, among others.
The booths are staffed by career mentors and partners including Hongik University's Bio-Health Convergence Business Group, the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters' Forensic Science Research Institute, the Mapo-gu Pharmacists Association and the Seoul Energy Dream Center, alongside other universities, public institutions and companies.
Beyond the career booths, students who complete various missions around the venue will receive snacks and commemorative gifts, adding a festive element to the day.
"I hope this becomes a time when young people discover, through direct experience with many different careers, what they love and what they are good at," District Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun said. "We will continue to create diverse opportunities so that schools and the community can work together to support young people in choosing their paths."
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