2 Plan to Achieve Career Excellence Welcome to PACE! This is an e-learning program designed to guide you through a career planning process. For more information please consult your high school guidance counsellor or employment counsellor at the Department of Post- secondary, Education, Training and Labour. © The Work Room ( SC

Welcome to Module 2: Researching Careers This session represents the second step of a five part career planning process; Identifying Interests Researching Careers The Action Plan Workplace Essential Skills Job Search Strategies Many people believe that the best way to plan their career is to see what's available and make choices based on the available options. It's a very similar approach to walking into an "all-you-can-eat" buffet and selecting from the available options. But what if you don't like what's on the menu? Fortunately, there is a better approach to planning your career and researching the job market to match your interests with potential career options is an important part of the process © The Work Room ( SC

Where do you start? It can be overwhelming trying to figure out what career path is the best fit for you. As a result, many people make important career decisions based on very little information (or misinformation). There are many options that can help make this process easier; The Internet Career Resource Centres Professional Career Practitioners Post-secondary Training Institutions Family/Friends Networking This module will explore each of these options in more detail. © The Work Room ( SC

The Internet The internet can provide a wealth of career information. The trick is to find what you need without getting bogged down with too much information. A good strategy is to establish an information template which includes a few key pieces of information that you need to properly analyze possible career options; Job description What careers are closely related if I need a “back-up” plan? Labour market information (Are there jobs available?) Educational/experiential requirements How much does it pay? Where can I access the training I need? Does the job match many of my interests/goals? © The Work Room ( SC

The Internet Here are a few websites you can use to start collecting career information; The Work Room Career Resource Centres are compiling data on the various industry sectors in New Brunswick/Canada. This is a good starting point to understand what types of careers are available. Select the “Labour Market” icon on the splash page. Career Cruising is a career planning tool that can provide information on all the above topics as well as an interest inventory to focus your career plans and a resume builder. You can obtain free access codes to the site from your local career resource centre. SchoolFinder.com provides information on more than 1,700 universities, colleges and career colleges in Canada, including admission requirements, costs, programs and contact details. It also has a career planning section and links to labour market information. © The Work Room ( SC

Career Resource Centres The Department of Post-secondary Education, Training and Labour and the Anglophone South School District have partnered to create 8 career resource centres in the Southwest Region of New Brunswick. The centres offer the following services to students and all members of the general public; Free internet access for job search, resume writing and career research. Free access to multimedia career planning tools (including Career Cruising). Publications/multimedia information on post- secondary training opportunities Workshops and special training events Networking opportunities with local businesses and government © The Work Room ( SC

Professional Career Practitioners If you are a high student you should contact your school guidance counsellor for more information on career planning. If you are a student attending a post-secondary institution you should contact an advisor in your Student Services Department. If you are in receipt of income assistance benefits you should consult your case manager and or a career consultant with the Department of Social Development. If you are an unemployed (or underemployed) resident of New Brunswick you should consult with an employment counsellor with the Department of Post- secondary Education, Training and Labour. If none of these categories apply to you, please contact the nearest Work Room Career Resource Centre © The Work Room ( SC

Post-secondary training institutions Many post-secondary institutions offer academic and career guidance to students (and prospective students). Be aware that you may have to sort out the useful information from the "sales pitch". There are a few things you should consider when evaluating the quality of the information; 1. How many people who have taken the course are employed (in their chosen line of work)? A reputable school should be able to produce those statistics. 2. What other schools offer similar training? 3. Is the certification/degree recognized by local industry? 4. How many students have successfully completed the course? 5. If it is a private training institution, is it registered under the New Brunswick Private Occupational Training Act ( epft/PDF/POTA/Pota-lst.pdf)? epft/PDF/POTA/Pota-lst.pdf © The Work Room ( SC

Did you know? Family and Friends Your family and friends can help you make career decisions. After all, they are familiar with many of your interests and talents. Just be careful that the final decision remains yours. Try to avoid career decisions based solely around wages, job security, family tradition or someone else’s opinion of your potential success. They are certainly factors to consider, but should not replace or overshadow your own ambitions. Remember, you need to be objective in collecting research and weighing the pros and cons of the information you gather. After all, this is your life so choose wisely! Parents are the # 1 influence on the career choices made by high school students. © The Work Room ( SC

Networking Some of the best career information can be gathered by identifying a company you would like to work for or a specific job that interests you, and try to seek out a business contact that you can learn from. Request an information interview Offer to volunteer or job shadow for a short period of time Try to get your foot in the door through government job programs Co-op placements through your high school and/or post- secondary training program Find someone willing to act your mentor By taking these steps, you may gain valuable knowledge of how the company works, the corporate culture and insider knowledge of how to break into the industry. Conversely, you may discover a job is not a good fit for you before you spend a lot of time, money and energy pursuing a career goal you may not want. © The Work Room ( SC

Putting it all Together Summary of Module 2: Researching Careers Module 1 This step is about matching your interests identified in Module 1 with employment opportunities that are available in the labour market. You do this by conducting research. There are many ways to research careers but one the easiest ways is to get a free “Career Cruising” account through the Career Resource Centres ( A person should compare information collected from a number of sources to be confident that the information is as accurate and unbiased as possible. Don’t forget that a great source of career information is employers working in the business community. Request an informational interview or volunteer to job shadow. You can get a good overview of the industry sectors that make up the New Brunswick economy by visiting the Provincial Government Occupational Profile website? pp/Default.aspx?l=e Did you know…Did you know? © The Work Room ( SC

Putting it all Together A career planning workbook and career coaching guide for parents are available from a Work Room coordinator as part of the PACE e-learning modules. In the workbooks are exercises that you can complete and track your career plan (an example is shown on the right). No matter what methods you use to do your research, make sure you keep a record of the places you have looked and can access the information you have gathered. A good strategy is to purchase a portable media device such as a flash memory stick that can store website pages and digital resources such as.pdf files and ebooks. For hardcopy resources, a binder works well. The point is, you need quick and easy access to you career information when you need it.. © The Work Room ( SC

Congratulations! You have completed Module 2: Researching Careers of the PACE e-learning series. You can revisit this module at any time to review the material or visit website links and resources that it contains. If you are working on your career plan with an employment counsellor, guidance counsellor or career coach, you should discuss with them the information contained in this module before proceeding to the next module in the series. Next module: The Action Plan 3 © The Work Room ( SC