- Home
- About Us
- Programs & Services
- Career Education
- Events & Initiatives
- Careers in Action
Lights...Cameras...Careers in Action!
Calling all students and teachers! It is your time to shine...prizes are on the line!
Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas is hosting the 2023 Careers in Action student video contest for schools in our 19-county region! Prizes will be awarded to winning teachers for the best video within each of the five industry categories and divisions.
What is Careers in Action?
Careers in Action (CIA) is an opportunity for students to get "boots on the ground" experience, knowledge, and information from local employers in high demand industries, all while using their unique creativity to capture their experiences and knowledge gained through video creation. Sound interesting? See below for how to get started, rules, judging, and prizes for this year's Careers in Action video contest!
CIA 2023 Contest Guidelines (PDF)
Eligibility
- Participating schools must in the West Central Texas Workforce Development Area.
- Videos must be student-made with the sponsorship of a teacher from the participating school. The sponsor's role is to mentor the students through planning and production of the video and to review the video prior to submitting it to the contest.
- Teachers may submit up to 3 (three) of their top videos for consideration for prizes. Only one video may be submitted per student or student group.
Categories
- Video submissions will be divided into Middle School (6th-8th) and High School (9th-12th).
- Video Submissions will be grouped according to the industry they represent. The five industries are Emergency Services, Healthcare, Information Technology (IT), Manufacturing, and Skilled Trades.
- Students must pick one career within an industry to highlight in their video submission.
Subject
- Videos must contain the following:
- Introductory title frame, including campus name, sponsoring teacher's name, industry, career, and student(s) name(s).
- Essential knowledge, skills, and abilities the selected career requires.
- Information about the career's various pathways including applicable high school courses, CTE programs, Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs), and postsecondary education and training leading to certifications, licensures, and/or degrees,
- Closing frame including list of people involved in creating the video and credits to any participants from the selected career field.
- We highly encourage students to meet with a local employer to gain real-world knowledge of the selected career and include this perspective in the video.
- Submissions must not contain text or imagery that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous, or libelous; or contain text or imagery that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred, or harm against any group or individual, or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age.
Duration
- Videos must be between 2 - 3 minutes in length, from the beginning title frame to the end of credits.
- Any video outside of the time constraints will not be accepted.
Video Submission
- Videos must be submitted in one of the following formats:
- MPG
- MPEG
- MOV
- WMV
Deadline
- All videos must be submitted by Friday, March 10, 2023, by 4:00 pm CST.
- No late submissions will be accepted.
Originality & Permissions
- Videos must be original and unpublished works. Videos may not appear on any public website or be made available to the public during the contest's duration.
- Contestants will receive notification from Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas after the conclusion of the contest with further information regarding future use of contest videos.
- Videos may not have been previously submitted, distributed, aired, or have won any other award in any other competition.
- The video must not infringe upon or violate any laws or any third-party rights, including, but not limited to, copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary rights and must not lead to any cause of action including libel, defamation, privacy violation, contract breach or tort.
- Contestants must obtain all necessary permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers of moral rights and other approvals from third parties (including but not limited to all copyright holders and all individuals appearing in the video submission), necessary to use the video submission, in whole or in part, in any way, including without limitation, to reproduce, make derivatives, edit, modify, translate, distribute, transmit, publish, license, and broadcast the video submission worldwide, by any means.
- Any and all such permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers or moral rights and approvals but be attached to the contest entry form.
- Copyright-free, loyalty-free, and Creative Commons music is acceptable. However, be sure to attribute the original author in credits.
Judging
- A panel of independent judges will be selected to view and score the video submissions.
- Videos will be scored based on:
- Overall quality
- Inclusion of required content
- Effective delivery of message
- Creativity
- Entertainment value
- The decisions of the judges are final and binding, and not subject to appeal.
The People's Choice Award
- The People Choice Award Category will consist of WFSWCT staff-selected videos that meet the above criteria of judging.
- Once the videos have been selected by staff, they will be uploaded to the Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas Facebook page to be open to public voting.
- Public Voting will be considered as any interaction or engagement with the posted videos (i.e. Likes, Comments, Shares, etc.)
- The video with the most public interaction/engagement after the allotted voting time will be deemed the winner of The People's Choice Award and will be announced at the Red Carpet Premier.
Prizes
- Prize packages of up to $1,000 will be awarded for the best video within each of the five categories and divisions, and The People's Choice Award.
- All video submissions will also be eligible for the People's Choice award, regardless of prizes already earned.
- Winning submissions will be invited to a Red Carpet Premiere highlighting a selection of the winning videos. More details to come.
- Submitting Your Video
-
Q: What format should the video be submitted in?
- Videos must be submitted in a .wmv, .mov, .mpg, or .mpeg format.
Q: Can a professional video production company create our video?
- No, students are encouraged to explore video creation and produce their own videos.
Q: When do entries have to be submitted?
- Entries are due by 4 p.m. on Friday, March 10, 2023.
Q: Where do I submit the video file(s)?
- Please submit videos through our website submission form. If the file size is larger than 20 MB you will be prompted to select an alternative submission method.
Q: What will be done with the videos after the contest?
- Videos will be shared on Workforce's social media profiles, website, and through other marketing initiatives. They will also be used for CTE Month (February) and be made available to educators, parents, and students. Submitted videos will be considered the exclusive property of Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas.
Q: Do I need media releases for students participating in the contest?
- Yes, please ensure that video participants have releases filed with the school. The video submission form has a section that addresses the media releases and video rights once submitted. We have also provided our media release form if you would like to use it.
- Participation
-
Q: What is the purpose of this video contest?
- To promote awareness of career opportunities in the West Central Texas region and generate high-quality, local resources for use by students, parents, educators, Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas, participating businesses, industry associations, and the general public.
Q: Can students/teachers from a private school participate?
- Students from a licensed/accredited school are able to participate. However, they will require a teacher sponsor.
Q: What grades are considered middle school and high school?
- Middle school divisions will include 6th-8th grades and high school divisions will include 9th-12th grades.
Q: Can school-sponsored organizations submit videos?
- Yes! Formalized organizations such as Student Council, National Honor Society, FFA, etc. are able to participate. If you're not sure if your group is considered a "school-sponsored" group, please feel free to reach out with any questions.
- Red Carpet Premiere
-
Q: If our video is selected as a finalist but we are not able to attend will we still receive the prize money?
- Yes!
Q: When and where will the winners be announced?
- At the Historic Paramount Theatre on April 11 at 10 a.m.
- Video Content & Judging
-
Q: Who will be judging the videos?
- Local employers, representatives from sectors such as education, media, etc. and community members will serve as judges.
Q: What are the scoring criteria?
- Inclusion of required content:
- introductory title frame
- information regarding essential knowledge, skills, and abilities
- career pathway information (high school, post-secondary, and employment opportunities)
- local, regional, and/or state employers
- video credits
- fits within required length
- Overall quality
- Effective delivery of message
- Creativity
- Entertainment value
Q: What do you mean by "interview" an employer or person in the field of work?
- One important part of career exploration is engaging with people in the field. We strongly encourage students to visit with employers/people in the field in order to learn more about the work environment, opportunities for advancement, required knowledge, skills, and abilities, etc. Interviews will earn extra points!
Q: Do you have any resources that our students can reference for information?
- Yes! Check the bottom of the Careers in Action webpage for resources.
Examples of Previous Years' Entries:
Industry Options:
Emergency Services
Healthcare
Information Technology
Manufacturing
Skilled Trades