Career Prep (WA Only)
Description
Career Prep is currently a middle school national TSA event. Washington TSA will run Career Prep as a high school event also. Students have to research an entry-level career, and write a cover letter and resume as if they have just graduated from college/high school/tech school with whatever training is required for the position they are applying for. Then, semifinalists will do an interview as well. This is one of the most useful skills TSA students will use for a lifetime.
This event incorporates elements of leadership, career research, resume development and interview skills in a real-world application.
2025-26 Competitive Event Guide
NOTE: Select an entry-level job in one of these fields
2025-26 Careers
Select a career from one (1) of the following:
Resource Extraction
Conservation & Land Management
Ecological Research & Development
Clean & Alternative Energy
Environmental Protection
Utilities
Hasset Kassa, Edmonds-Woodway HS, 2025 1st Place
Event Resources
EVENT EXAMPLES
Click on the links to the right to view some past entries for this event!
Event Deadlines
January 22, 2026
Students submit cover letter and resume (in that order) as a single pdf document for scoring.
March 2026
This is an early entry event!
Entries are due by 5:00 pm PST on March 19, 2026.
Semifinalists will interview as if applying for the position they chose.
Washington TSA Rules
To compete, students must:
Belong to a currently affiliated TSA chapter
Be registered (by their TSA advisor) for competition by December 19, 2025 ($35)
Compete in the January 22, 2026 virtual competition (see individual event pages for details)
Be selected as a top competitor in their event(s) and invited to participate at State
Number of competitors is dependent on specific event
Qualifying competitor lists will be published by February 8, 2026
State Conference registration week February 23-27, 2026 (see state conference page for details)
At the state level, 3 individuals per chapter may compete. Students cannot qualify for Nationals in this event.
Additional Information
Event Coordinator: Jennifer Smith, jsmith@washingtontsa.org
Event Manager: Kari Potter, kpotter@washingtontsa.org
