SCOPING OUT CAREER DIRECTIONS

What's New, Nov/Dec 2001 by Maguire, Walt

Wat jobs will be available rhen graduation day rrives? Many schools are planning career counseling and inclass curricula in coordination with state labor departments and local businesses. Here are some ways to integrate your curriculum offerings with today's job market.

First, track career trends. One place to explore popular job trends is to look at America's Career Kit. It is a group of websites developed by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration in cooperation with individual states and businesses. America's Job Bank (www.ajb.org), which is part to America's Career Kit, lists job openings, by career or location, including military positions. It has a link to America's Learning Exchange (www.alx.org), an online yellow pages listing 350,000 careeer courses. Users can search for courses by state, profession and delivery method (classroom, CDROM, online, conferences or self-study). It also includes tools for writing a job description, finding financial aid, and an Employabil- ity Checkup test that suggests jobs based on a person's skills.

The National Career Net (www.acinet.org) lists a state-by-state breakdown of labor markets with statistics on trends and explanations of what skills are required for each occupation. The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (www.naswa.org) tracks workforce needs for each state. Nebraska, for instance, is recovering from a slowdown in the manufacturing sector, though service, retail, and construction have been booming. In California, the California Career & Training Information System is a state agency that matches education experience with specific careers.

Schools have their own way of preparing their students for the work world. In Wayne County, MI, ten school districts combine efforts in the Downriver Career Technical Consortium. Originally, the schools had individual vocational training programs, duplicating efforts while covering very few fields. By creating a consortium for many school districts, more careers are now being covered in available courses. Now, twenty-two student training programs are funded based on Michigan projections for future employment needs. Larry Miele, Career Technology Director at Southgate Anderson High School, one of the participating school districts, states, "We want to train students for jobs that are going to be there when they graduate."

Career opportunities are out there and students want and need to know about them.

Walt Maguire reports on career and guidance trends in the field of education.

TOP CAREERS

Guidance counselors and young people are wise to consider the job needs that exist in their own community and surrounding town or city. To find out about job opportunities in your state, go to www.acinet.org. It is also smart to know about the job trends that are happening on a national level. What follows is a compilation of today's hottest jobs according to America's Career InfoNet: www.ajb.org