Detailed Information for High School Counselors

Whether the student is bound for Ivy League or interested in pursuing a job immediately after graduation, CareerWay helps identify what jobs may match the student and allows them to conduct in-depth on-line research from respected sources at the click of a mouse. CareerWay helps the student to identify their own needs for a job, but also helps them to identify what skills, knowledge and abilities are important to each job as they prepare (and if they are bound for college, which majors they should pursue). Providing realistic job information helps the student to make educated, informed choices about their future.

Automation vs. Participation:

Students should be engaged in the career exploration process. CareerWay is designed to balance automated job matching information with active participation by the student. The student can spend as much or as little time as he/she wants researching jobs, taking assessments, and evaluating job-fit. CareerWay can be tailored to the student – they can take as many or as few assessments as they want to, or as you recommend. Through encouraging active participation, CareerWay helps facilitate educated and informed career choices where the individual has ownership of the final decision.

Gap Analysis Reports:

Through gap analysis reports, students can identify how well they fit a job and evaluate where they are willing to make trade-offs. No job will be a perfect match, but CareerWay helps students think critically through what things are the most important to them in a job, and provides them with information on how to develop any areas where they may have gaps. These reports help the student to identify where they should focus their training and experience as they prepare for the job.

Facilitates the Counseling Process:

CareerWay is an interactive career program; not a “career test” and is, therefore, flexible for each student. Counselors can introduce CareerWay at the beginning of the career exploration phase and encourage the student to complete multiple assessments as “homework” as they progress through their career search. Using CareerWay, counselors can make recommendations based on the student's needs and tailor the program for them.

As you demo the system, keep in mind that CareerWay is comprehensive. The number of assessments a student takes and the time spent using the system can be easily geared to the students current situation or learning style. Since it is likely that most high school students are early in their career search, they may be more interested in learning more about themselves now and building the knowledge and skills in the long term. Therefore, the following system features can be customized for high school students within each of the phases of the system:

EXPLORE

Filters:
Encourage students to make use of the filters tab to help narrow or broaden their career list.

• Students going immediately into the workforce after graduation should use the option
  "Show jobs that typically do not require a college degree or equivalent experience."

• Students going to college/vocational school after graduation should use the option
  "Show jobs that typically require a college degree and/or equivalent level of experience (2 years or more)."
  OR
  "Show jobs that typically require some type of degree or vocational training and/or equivalent level of experience."
  

Assessments: Focus students on assessments pertaining to "My Needs" rather than "Job Needs." The Interests, Motivations, and Preference for Activities are assessments that will aid students in discovering their personal needs from a career. Use the knowledge, ability, and skills assessments to help the student identify the areas to develop over the long term or to help those who are seeking immediate employment after graduation to find jobs that are a fit now.

Education: Student interested in particular career paths that require continuing education should utilize the "Related Training or Education" option under the education tab. This feature will help them find associated educational paths they may pursue to be a fit with the particular job of their choice.

DECIDE

The primary problem of many job and career seekers is the lack of concrete information regarding the reality of an occupation.

• Students may use click on "Suitability" link within Decide to get a better understanding of the critical aspects of the job of their interest.
• Job Outlook and Salary both also give students a "reality check."

Counselors can really make an impact at this stage. While students will ultimately decide on the career that's right for them, counselors may aid in the decision making process by playing "devil's advocate" and making the student think critically about their choice.

PURSUE

To help high school students prepare for the work force or apply to college, use the development resources to help close any gaps and the various worksheets to monitor progress. Options are available that speak directly to applying for college and applying for jobs.

Click here and visit our product demo to see how CareerWay works!