Detailed Information for University Counselors

Whether a student is at the beginning of their college experience or near completion of their degree, CareerWay can help match students with the ideal career for them. CareerWay helps the student to identify their own needs for a job, and also helps them to recognize what skills, knowledge and abilities are important to each job as they prepare to pursue a job. In addition, students may conduct in-depth on-line research from respected sources at the click of a mouse and are provided with realistic job information to help them 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.” Advisors or 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. CareerWay can help advisors direct students to applicable training or college majors and can also help students as they prepare for their career and apply for jobs.

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 a student's current situation or learning style. Students at the start of their education are likely to be more interested learning more about themselves to help them choose a major. In comparison, students later in their career search, are likely to be more interested in learning how to apply their education in a career and discovering any gaps they may have in their knowledge and skills in order to pursue the job of their choice. In both cases, the following CareerWay features can be customized for university students within each of the phases of the system:

EXPLORE

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

• Students' should use the options:
  "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."
• Those who have interests in particular industries should choose specific job families within the filters option.

Assessments:

• For students early in their career search (e.g. freshman) - 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. Then direct students to complete the knowledge, abilities and skills assessments to identify gaps and better target their education and experiences.
  
• For students nearing graduation (e.g. seniors) - Focus students on assessments pertaining to "Job Needs." The Knowledge, Abilities, and Skills are assessments that will aid students in discovering how these personal attributes may fit a career.

Education:

• For students early in their career search - These student should utilize the "Related Training / Education" option under the education tab. This feature will help them find educational paths (training programs, areas of specialization, or college majors) associated with the jobs of their interest. These educational paths will help students in their educational planning to match the particular career of their choice.
  
• For students nearing graduation - These student should utilize the "Related Jobs: Training / Educational Area" option under the education tab. This feature will help them find assorted jobs associated with their education, major, or specialization.

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.
• This may be a great tool within counseling sessions for advisors to help students gain a practical and outlook regarding various careers.

PURSUE

Both college students transitioning in the workforce and students preparing for continuing education will want to utilize the "Researching" and "Applying" features offered in this phase of the system as well as the various worksheets to monitor progress.

In addition, students applying for jobs should examine the information on "Networking" and "Interviews" as well as the "Development Resources" feature to help close any knowledge, skill, or ability gaps they might have.

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