Career Planning with CareerZone Career Development and Youth Initiatives Office New York State Department of Labor

Learning Objectives Identify the basic components of the CareerZone system. Explain how CareerZone supports the NYS Education Dept. Career Plan model. Access and comfortably navigate the CareerZone portfolio module and explain it to others. Facilitate CareerZone Activities with others Explain the importance of Career Planning and Management By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Shift Happens… Shift Happens….. In the past… In the New Economy… People will have 12-14 jobs in a lifetime. People had 1-2 jobs and retired with a gold watch. Good jobs were available with a high school degree or less. Learning was a formal process that ended with a degree. Moving from Career Choice Job Security Jobseekers need strong skill set to compete in the labor market. Life-long learning is a necessity of the workplace for all types of workers. The old paradigm of a career as a long term job is no longer realistic Did you Know 3.0 to Career Management for life Personal freedom and control

WOW! Unemployment Did you Know?

The New Career Management Paradigm Career management is not so much about making the RIGHT occupational choice….. as it is about equipping individuals with the skills to make the “CONTINUAL” choices necessary throughout their lives…. What do you want to be when you grow up? Replaced with: WHO are you right now? What do you love to do? What are your interest, skills, and talents? How does it all relate to the world of work?

At one time or another we have all dreamt of what we wanted to be when we grew up. Some of us wanted to be while others wanted to be Superheroes

Or Super Stars!!

Where will I be? Dreaming is what helped us visualize where we saw ourselves 20 or 30 years from childhood and it is part of the process of building our future lives.

A Dream... .is just a wish… without a plan! Career Planning is Critical

Graduates with a Career Plan… Are more certain of their career direction According to the 2002 Final evaluation report of the NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION Department Career plan Training Initiative……

Graduates with a Career Plan… Are more confident in their ability to secure meaningful employment

Graduates with a Career Plan… Where employed: more often have jobs related to current educational programs and their long-term career plan goals

Importance of the Career Plan Process Motivate youth to achieve high standards Reduce drop out rates Reduce the number of at risk youth Discover the connection between school and work The career plan performance indicator demonstrates the importance NYSED places on the implementation of a career plan process for all students. Focused students with good skills = self sufficient and successful adults. Research shows that when students see the connection between what they are learning and their present/future goals, motivation increases. When motivation increases, drop-out rates and number of a- risk students decrease. The need for alternative education programs is eliminated. Students will not be able to successfully complete the career plan documents unless CDOS learning experiences are taking place at the elementary, intermediate, and commencement levels and opportunities are provided for self-reflection. All too often students are not aware of the skills and knowledge they possess in order to sell themselves to perspective employers and post secondary institutions. The Career Plan Process enables students to document what they know and can do so they can demonstrate their readiness for further education and work. Planning process enforces decision making skills needed throughout life. Plan is ever evolving -- changes as student learn more about themselves, their interests, aptitudes, and the world of work. Students learn to re-evaluate their plan of action -- never locked into a career. Career decision are made from choices resulting from a lifetime of experiences that begin at the K level. Students need to have a good idea of who they are and what they enjoy doing before they attend college. They need to arrive with a plan or their lack of one may add time and money to the cost of college. College today is too costly to be a place to plan for the future. For many students the sole goal of education is graduation. They have little or no concept of what their education will mean to them, what to do with it and what comes next.

Career Development Research “There is a consensus in the literature that career development is a life long process that begins as early as four years old.” (Seligman, Weinstock, & Heflin, 1991; Super, Savickas, & Super, 1996). Research suggests that students who drop out of school at age 16 have psychologically disengaged from school as early as Grade 3 (McWhirter,1998).

Pathways to Prosperity “ In the U.S. our goal should be to assist every young adult beginning in middle school to develop an individualized plan that would include career objectives.” Young adults simply can’t chart a course if they don’t have a goal. Pathways to Prosperity Report Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2011 MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF PREPARING YOUNG AMERICANS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY “A must-read paper that focuses on the need to develop meaningful career training as a part of comprehensive school reform. Career training has been ignored for far too long, but is essential if we’re going to address the “career-ready” piece of the puzzle that, along with the “college-ready” piece, is now all the buzz.” http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/features/2011/Pathways_to_Prosperity_Feb2011.pdf

College Prep is Not Enough  

…But We Expect 100% Youth Participation in the Workforce Youth need to be able to answer the questions: Who am I? Where do I want to go? How do I get there? Developing a career path is an ongoing process in which one is confronted with “windows of opportunity” that need to be recognized and evaluated. It is important for your youth to understand and recognize that the more they know how their skills and interests relate to the labor market information they are assessing, the better career decisions they will make throughout their lives.

A CareerZone Snapshot: Over One Million Students Served The CareerZone system serves as the foundation for career development programs across New York State. Youth quickly and easily connect to information on over 800 occupations, 450 career videos and career plan tools. This award-winning CareerZone site can be accessed at no-cost to users and has been adopted by California and Pennsylvania. - During the most recent 12 month period CareerZone received 1,415,331 visits 24,929,470 page views 17.61 pg/visit

Knowledge of Self: Assess Yourself Feature Most youth need assistance connecting to information to plan for high school or college transitions. This activity is called ‘Assess Yourself’ and is a widely used assessment of occupational interests to help youth explore occupational opportunities. Who Am I? 10

Knowledge of World of Work: The Occupational Profile There are over 800 occupational profiles to explore in CareerZone. From this screen, youth can access a wealth of information on daily tasks, skills, education and training, wages, and up-to-date job postings. Over 450 occupations also have a short career video to view. Where

Connecting Knowledge of Self to the World of Work Connecting Knowledge of Self to the World of Work The CareerZone Portfolio This is the heart of the website where youth can interact with the CareerZone Portfolio to document what they know about themselves, what they have learned about the world of work and make informed decisions about career opportunities. Information can be saved and printed as a Career Plan or resume.

The Career Plan Career Plans are an important mechanism to add relevance and meaning to learning experiences across subject areas The New York State Career Plan records a student’s knowledge and skill attainment.  It documents a history of achievement that students build from elementary school to high school  The Career Plan is an effective graduation planning tool for all students According to the New York State Education Department http://www.p12.nysed.gov/cte/careerplan/ There is also an adult version….Career Planning/Management is an ongoing process

NYSDOL can provide: Use of the CareerZone and Portfolio System at no-cost to user Access to lesson plan/career activity database Career development and technical assistance “New” CareerZone User’s Guide

Resources/References Final evaluation report of the NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION Department Career plan Training Initiative (2002) www.CareerZone.ny.gov www.labor.ny.gov/youth Youth Office Contact: 1-877-226-5724 School Counselor Article: Education-Career Planning and Middle School Counselors In this article, the authors emphasize a comprehensive and developmental view of education-career planning, with special emphasis on middle schools. Research findings that underscore the need for effective education-career planning are presented.

If You Can’t See It, You Can’t Be It! Lack of exposure and experiences prevents youth and children from learning about the numerous opportunities in the world of work. There are over 800 different occupations in the U.S.  This number does not take into account occupations related to the military or the number of occupations worldwide.