Career Assessment Tools: Listen to Your
"Internal Job Description"


Career Resources

Check out Explorer Posts for hands-on career opportunities!

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When preparing for a future career keep these in mind:

Work situations and skills needed for employment are constantly changing.

  • Almost half of the working population expects to change jobs in the next three years.
  • Retraining and upgrading skills will be a requirement for maintaining employment.
  • Two-thirds of the jobs created today will require education beyond high school.
  • The worker of tomorrow must be able to work as a team member, communicate, solve problems, use technologies, adapt to change and be drug-free.
  • Career development is a lifelong process.

Parents when helping your teenage prepare for future employment you can:

  • Help your child make independent decisions.
  • Encourage exploration of all kinds of post-secondary education opportunities.
  • Involve yourself in your child's future planning.
  • Give certain economic responsibilities.
  • Encourage job awareness.
  • Be flexible as the decision-making process evolves. It takes patience and numerous modifications.

We encourage you to check out these links as well as the OCIS website to assist in exploring careers:

Education Planner (www.educationplanner.com/ ) Provides information regarding choosing a career with career and self-assessment quizzes and choosing a college major or educational program.

Occupational Outlook Handbook (stats.bls.gov/oco) This is provided by the Federal government, it describes what workers do on their job, working conditions, training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects.

Occupational Information Network (http://online.onetcenter.org) Provided by the U.S. Dept. of Labor this is an interactive database of detailed information on thousands of occupations. Try the "Skills Search" to find occupations that match your abilities.

CareerOneStop (http://www.careeronestop.org) Provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, includes: America's Career InfoNet which provides labor market information and videos regarding career. America's Job Bank is the nation's largest online job search database. America's Service Locator helps you find job training, education opportunities, and other workforce services.

Career Key (www.careerkey.org) Provides information regarding career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major or educational program. Also for a minimal charge you can take The Career Key test.

Career Voyages (www.careervoyages.gov) Provides information about finding a job, choosing a college, jobs in demand, career videos and other helpful career information.

America's Career Resource Network (www.acrnetwork.org) It consists of state and federal organizations that provid skills and interests, and plan an education and training pathway.

Military.com (www.military.com ) Learn about opportunities in the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Also ASVAB test prep information.

Today's Military (http://www.todaysmilitary.com/) This is the leading career resource for military careers. It describes training, educational opportunities and information about each branch of the military. Also ways the military can assist in paying for your college education.

Career Games (http://www.careergames.com) Helps you to explore your strengths and weaknesses through a career assessment. Provides tough interview questions and other important interviewing tips.

mycooljob.org My Cool Job explore various career choices, and what you might want to be or do someday.

These popular interactive sites will allow you to gain further awareness of your personal interests and strengths. Most university career service centers offer this type of resource as you begin to explore career information and job titles. Start here and then take your questions to a real live career counselor. You won't be disappointed!

Online Resources

7 Rules About Taking Career Tests
Career guru Dick Bolles summarizes the guidelines that everyone should remember before they take any career assessment tools. Make sure you check this one out before clicking on anything below!
CareerKey
Take John Holland's personality quiz to find out how similar you are to six basic personality types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional.
CareerZone
Very comprehensive site sponsored by the NY Department of Labor. Answers to the questions on the Holland hexagon can be changed according to your preferences. Using your top three letter codes, you can link to 900 career options. 
Princeton Review Career Quiz
Based on the "Birkman Method"®, this short quiz is a fun way to get new ideas about your career interests. 
QuintCareers.com: Assessment Tools
Part of the Quintessential Careers mega website, these topics can help jumpstart your career search.
Self-Directed Search (SDS)
For 15 minutes of your time and $8.95, you can get a comprehensive online report which explains Holland's RIASEC code and how it relates to your career interests. This is the same tool used by many career planning centers. Designed for high school and above.
SkillsOne
Fee based online career management tools. Focuses on work/life values, interest/skills, and other career factors. Sponsored by Consulting Psychologists Press, the authors have seriously analyzed how to harness the power of interactive career assessment.
U.S. Military
These websites contain enormous amounts of information about opportunities in the military.
Military Career Guide Online
This Web site is THE leading career information resource for the military world of work. It gives you details on 152 enlisted and officer occupations, one by one. Because most military occupations are comparable to one or more civilian occupations, you are given the civilian counterpart for every applicable military occupation. In addition, this site describes training, advancement, and educational opportunities within each of the major Services -- Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
How To Write A Resume
This site is designed to help students learn how to frame a resume and to teach them a lot about how to properly structure one.
Resume Writing Center
Career Builders.com - A easier way to find a job.
Fedworld.gov
FedWorld Makes It Easy to Locate Government Information.
Cool Works
75,000 Jobs in Great Places.
Job bank
JobBank USA is able to provide free job services thanks to people like you who sign up for our newsletters and special offers from our sponsors.

LifeColorsLite Personality Quiz:
http://www.lifecolorsonline.com/lifecolorslite.html - What kind of person are you?
What makes you tick?
Do people know the real you? Have you ever given 5 minutes to ponder these questions?

Online" Career Planning and Counseling    http://www.careerplanner.com/

Career Choice:  http://www.umanitoba.ca/counselling/careers.html

What Color Is Your Parachute?:  http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/

What Can I Do With a Major in ...?  http://www.luc.edu/resources/career/majors/default.html

Sample Employment Letters:- http://www.careerlab.com/letters/default.htm -A collection of letters writing by the President/CEO of CareerLab and in conjunction with his career clients. What distinguishes these letters is that they are REAL—used by REAL people in REAL job campaigns and career transitions—and they produced REAL results: interviews, consulting assignments, and job offers.

Resume writing:  http://www.rockportinstitute.com/resumes.html

Careers in Science & Engineering:  http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/careers/contents.html - A Student Planning Guide to Grad School and Beyond.

Careership (middle school students career info) : http://www.mapping-your-future.org/features/careership/

Inroads (Minority Internships) http://www.inroads.org/ - The mission of "Inroads" is to develop and place TALENTED MINORITY YOUTH in business and industry and prepare them for CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP.

The Riley Employment Guide:  http://www.dbm.com/jobguide/ - The Riley Guide is here to guide you through the many online sites and services that are useful for your job search.

Science Training Programs by State  http://www.sciserv.org/stp/ - The Science Training Programs Directory for Teachers and Students (STP) has more than 300 programs listed and is the only comprehensive catalog of science, mathematics and engineering enrichment programs for pre-college students and teachers.

Job Hunter Manual  http://www.okcareertech.org/cimc/downloads/all/jungle.pdf  (PDF file)

Apprenticeship Training  http://www.doleta.gov/atels_bat/ - U.S. Department of Labor
Employment & Training Administration

Internship Abroad - http://www.internabroad.com/iasusnews.cfm - use this search to find internships in countries all over the world. begin your search by choosing a location or an internship type.

Bureau of Labor Statistics - The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics.

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter - An online personality questionaire (36 questions)

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Career Magazine

Career Resource Center - Careers.Org - Since 1995, a job search, career evaluation, career education, small office, resource center. Over 8,000 links to jobs, job search preparation, career education, personal business and more, sorted by topic and region, onto more than 1000 pages.