A Resource Library
In varying degrees, counselors in educational settings such as high schools, colleges, and communities will encounter clients having problems with their career development. Therefore, tools in a resource library are intended to aid career development counselors who work with high school students, college students, or veterans of the military in their client relationships.
The contents of a resource library equip them with the knowledge they need to counsel their clients as they look for information about joining the workforce or potential career transitions. This resource library is therefore organized according to the potential needs target demographic, which includes high school students, college students, and veterans of the armed forces.
Potential Needs of three Target Populations
High School Students
The intensity of academic achievement increases as students progress from middle school to high school. As a result of this increase, there is a greater need for high school pupils to take part in academic and career planning services during their four-year high school experience (Edwin & Prescod, 2018). High school students may have the following career development needs:
- Determining occupational priorities and articulating career/lifestyle options.
- Decide whether one wants to go to college/university, trade school, join the military, or enter the workforce after high school.
- Have a good sense of their career opportunities and career comprehension applicable.
College Students
Today’s college students do not proceed straight from high school. They depict a more diverse collection of their backgrounds, attributes, developmental stages, and career development necessities than ever before in higher education history (Edwin & Prescod, 2018). Because of the diversity of the population of students, these pupils have a wide range of career development counseling needs, including:
- Self-awareness – this can be achieved using evaluations to assist the student in discovering their strengths and points of interest.
- Career planning – to assist students in understanding the steps required to achieve and preserve their career choices.
Military Veterans
Due to the military’s retrenchments, career counselors are being called upon to assist military veterans in adjusting military careers back into the civilian workforce (Edwin & Prescod, 2018). Military veterans have unique requirements for a career counselor, which include:
- Evaluating their military skills and determining how they will apply them in the civilian workforce.
- Determining what available funding is for acquiring the skills required for the transition.
- Evaluating the services required to assist veterans in transitioning from stressful battle lifestyles to civilian life.
Resources for the Three Targeted Populations
Resources for High School Students
CareerShip
For students in middle and high school, CareerShip offers a free online career discovery journey. Students can evaluate jobs by cluster, review the highlighted career, correlate professions to their interests, or conduct a search on the website, which is very user-friendly. Pupils will have access to a range of material for each career, including:
- Tasks
- Wages
- Career Outlook
- Interests
- Education
Teachers and counselors can give this website to specific kids or use it as a resource for the entire class. For students looking into their career prospects, the website offers a great deal of information.
Peterson’s
Peterson’s is amongst the world’s biggest educational services companies, devoted to advancing education beyond high school. From culinary school to medical school, and everything in between, Peterson’s can help an individual with how to identify, plan for, and finance their education. High school students can find a plethora of information on Peterson’s website to help them with college planning and research. The website is incredibly user-friendly and offers numerous college-related services such as financial assistance, exam preparation, college campus photography tours, and institution exploration.
The Balance Careers
The Balance Careers website makes it simple to navigate a person’s career. It is staffed by experts who offer clear, practical tips on job searching, resume writing, wage negotiations, and other career-related topics. Therefore, whether a high school student is looking for a new job, wants to advance in their current position, or wants to explore new opportunities, the website’s 20-year-old library which is user-friendly and of over 10,000 pieces of content will assist them in taking their career to the next level.
Resources for College Students
Bureau of Labor Statistics-Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Occupational Outlook Handbook is an excellent resource for college students who want to learn about current job trends. This website also offers information on a variety of jobs, such as the education required, pay rates, the number of new jobs expected, the growth rate in a certain field, and so on. It is a fantastic site for college students to look into career options they are interested in and see what they will need to do to get into that specific field of work.
Lamar University Career and Testing Services
Career and testing services are a great service offered by Lamar University to their graduates and undergraduates. The center offers resume and resume writing critiques, performance assessments and interview guides, career evaluations, employer interconnection, and career consultations as part of its career preparation services. Their services are provided at no cost and are readily available to students. The Center also supports the advancement of professionalism and excellence in the delivery of testing programs and services.
Glassdoor
Glassdoor, which was established to enhance workplace transparency, provides information on the employee experience based on millions of corporate reviews and ratings, salary claims, and the most recent job openings. As a result, college students on Glassdoor are better prepared and more knowledgeable about the positions and businesses they are considering to apply. To help them find and hire qualified individuals at scale who remain longer, thousands of businesses from all sectors and size ranges turn to Glassdoor and its mobile apps are accessible from anywhere.
Resources for Military Veterans
U.S. Army Website
The website of the United States Army contains a lot of information and materials for former military personnel. Their website is user-friendly and makes it simple to find what an individual is looking for. Military veterans can get help from the website, which aids in transitioning to civilian life, finding a job, and getting an education after leaving the military. Those individuals who are willing to change their career from the military can visit the website and choose from diverse tools on what they may be willing to do.
Vets2Industry
Vets2Industry breaks the circle of misunderstanding by listing enterprises that have employment options for veterans, have particular military hiring programs, and are on the 100 Military Cordial companies list. The goal is to offer free resources to all 220,000 to 240,000 transitioning service members and their dependents each year to ease their transformation and life needs, and, more pertinently, to provide hope. The website is user-friendly and can be accessed at any time based on one’s will.
Military-Transition.Org
This website is committed to assisting military service members in effectively transitioning back to civilian life and locating fulfilling jobs. It involves Veterans who contribute their experiences to the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP), Solider for Life (SFL), SFL-TAP, Transition GPS (T-GPS), and other military initiatives. The Department of Defense (DoD), the armed forces, Hiring Our Heroes (HOH), HireHeroes, or the Hiring Heroes program are not linked with this website. The information provided on the website is easy to access and will allow those who served military make informed judgments about their transition.
Reference
Edwin, M., & Prescod, D. (2018). Fostering elementary career exploration with an interactive, technology-based career development unit. Journal of School Counseling, 16(13), n13.