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Career Development

How prepared are you for planning and conducting an effective job search? Successful job seekers must have both good information and well–developed job hunting skills. Three important factors for a successful job search are an awareness of your goals and skills, an understanding of the labor market, and a well planned job search campaign.

We outline 3 steps that will assist you in a successful job search:

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Minnesota Careers

This is an extensive career website with information, resources, and no–cost assessment tools.

Similar Minds

PERSONALITY PROFILE

Provides a 58 question survey that identifies where you fall on five scales: Extroversion, Emotional Stability, Orderliness, Altruism, and Inquisitiveness. From these scores possible professions are suggested for your personality profile.

CareerOneStop

PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTING

On this website job seekers can use self–assessments to gauge their skill levels and find where improvement is needed.

Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (MAPP)

CAREER ASSESSMENT

Provides a personal assessment that takes 15 minutes to complete. MAPP identifies your true motivations toward work and allows you to match yourself to job categories to see where you best fit. And receive your FREE MAPP Sample report and 5 free Job Matches. Once you complete your free sample, you will have the option to purchase a more comprehensive assessment, with prices ranging from $19.95 to $129.95.

The Career Key

CAREER KEY

The Career Key, developed by Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., is based on Holland's work. Users sign in and are asked to take a few quick surveys of jobs that might interest them, what they like to do, their abilities, how they see themselves, and what they value. A RIASEC score is generated based on the answers, and users are encouraged to explore the areas with the highest scores and the occupations related to them.

Self Directed Search

CAREER INVENTORY

The Self Directed Search (SDS) was developed by Dr. John Holland, whose theory of careers is the basis for most of the career inventories used today. Holland's theory states that most people can be loosely categorized with respect to six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional.
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Step Two: Know the marketplace

There are several web sites that provide good information about jobs that exist, what the responsibilities are, the average salary and the growth potential. This information can be very helpful in assessing what your interests, skills, knowledge and abilities are and how they fit into a job in which you may be interested. More Info
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Career Guide to Industries

The Career Guide to Industries provides information on available careers by industry, including the nature of the industry, working conditions, employment, occupations in the industry, training and advancement, earnings and benefits, employment outlook, and lists of organizations that can provide additional information.

Occupational Outlook Quarterly (OOQ)

The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH)

This is the current edition of the printed guide produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Users can search the handbook using keywords to find where their interests fit in the top 250 occupations in the United States

O*NET Online

O*NET OnLine was created to provide broad access to the O*NET database of occupational information, which includes information on skills, abilities, work activities, and interests associated with occupations.

State Unemployment Department

Every state has an unemployment department, and although what is included on the different web sites differ, most will provide information about job descriptions, wages and growth of that field in the state. You can get to your state’s site by first going to the following site.

Conduct Informational Interviews

Informational interviews are a successful way to learn about jobs from people who have the job now. Most people are more than happy to talk about themselves and provide information. such as how they got into the field, what is necessary to be successful, what a typical day is like, what they like or don’t like and how you might enter the field.
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Chronicle of Higher Education in the US

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION

Features links and resources for students interested in attending college in the United States. Includes a listing by state of both undergraduate and graduate programs.

CollegeNET

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION

CollegeNET allows users to browse information on colleges by various criteria, including geography, tuition, and enrollment. More than 500 college applications are available to be completed and submitted online. The site also includes financial aid and scholarship information.

RWM Vocational School Database

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION

This is a database of private postsecondary vocational–technical schools in all 50 states, organized by state and training programs offered. All the schools listed are state licensed or accredited, but the information is limi ted to the institution's name, address, and phone number. At the top of each state is a link to resources for that state from the U.S. Department of Education. Visually impaired users should be aware that there is a Text Only alternative to the graphic map of the United States ...

FinAid, The Financial Aid Information Page

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION

Established in 1994, FinAid is possibly the finest single source for information and resources for all types of educational financial aid. It also offers a plan for figuring out debt loads and payback, facts on scams, and alerts.

Student Aid on the Web

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION

This site is a one–stop center for all of the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs. Available in English and Spanish, this site will guide you through the process of preparing for college, selecting and applying to schools, securing funding from several sources, attending college, and repaying loans once you are through. Information is available for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students as well as parents and international students. The site links to the ...

Labor Market Information State by State

EMPLOYMENT TRENDS

Labor market information includes statistics on employment, wages, industries, and other factors affecting the world of work. The links from The Riley Guide take users to labor market information for the individual states so that data can be compared across states.

State Occupational Projections

EMPLOYMENT TRENDS

CareerJournal from the Wall Street Journal

SALARY INFORMATION

This site's information on salary and hiring includes articles and salary charts for several job functions, occupational areas, and industries. Varying levels of experience within a job area from entry-level to senior management are covered. There are also articles and information on negotiations, regional pay, employment trends, and much more.

Career One Stop

Employment Trends

Career One Stop is designed to provide information on high growth, high demand occupations along with the skills and education needed to attain those jobs. This site is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.

CareerJournal from the Wall Street Journal

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