Career Exploration for High School Students

Books  |  Web Links  |  Software Resources  |  Jobs  

Books

Search our catalog online at http://follettweb.vsac.org:9000/webopac/main?siteid=1. Patrons may borrow books either by coming to the Resource Center in downtown Winooski, or by making an interlibrary loan request through their local school or public library.

50 Best Jobs for Your Personality (2005)	Call # 331.702 Farr
145 Things to Be When You Grow Up (2004)	Call # 331.702 Weiss
A Fork in the Road: A Career Planning Guide for Young Adults (2003)	Call # 371.4 Maltz
America’s Top 300 Jobs: A Complete Career Handbook (2004)	Call # 331.702 Farr
The Back Door Guide to Short-Term Job Adventures: Internships, Summer Jobs, Seasonal Work, Volunteer Vacations, and Transitions Abroad (2005)	Call # 650.14 Landes
Choices for the High School Graduate: A Survival Guide for the Information Age (2005)	Call # 373.18 Fireside
College Majors and Careers: A Resource Guide for Effective Life Planning (2003)	Call # 378.1 Phifer
Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You through the Secrets of Personality Type (2007)	Call # 155.2 Tieger
Dream Catchers: Developing Career and Educational Awareness (2004)	Call # 371.4 Lindsay
Finding a Career that Works for You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing a Career and Finding a Job (2000)	Call # 331.7 Fellman
Get a Jump!: What’s Next After High School? (2003)	Call # 378.1 Peterson
Heading Out: The Start of Some Splendid Careers (2003)	Call # 331.702 Kamen
Major in Success: Make College Easier, Fire Up Your Dreams, and Get a Very Cool Job (2003)	Call # 378.1 Combs
Making a Living While Making a Difference: Conscious Careers in an Era of Independence (2007)	Call # 331.702 Everett
New Guide for Occupational Exploration: Linking Interests, Learning, & Careers (2006)	Call # 331.702 Farr
Nobodies to Somebodies: How 100 Great Careers Got Their Start (2005)	Call # 658.4 Han
Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life (2003)	Call # 650.1 Gebhardt
Testing the Waters: A Teen’s Guide to Career Exploration (1999)	Call # 331.7 Culbreat
Today’s Hot Job Targets: Find Careers and Cities with Big Job Growth (2007)	Call # 331.7 Farr
What Color is Your Parachute (2006)	Call # 331.7 Bolles
What Should I Do With My Life? (2002)	Call # 170.44 Bronson
What’s Your Type of Career?: Unlock the Secrets of Your Personality to Find Your Perfect Career Path (2001)	Call # 155 Dunning

Web Links

Inventories and Assessments

• Do What You Are is a personality profile and career interest survey that provides you with a detailed description of both your personality and possible career interests. Access Do What You Are from the “Quick Links” box on VSAC’s homepage. (Requires free registration.) — www.vsac.org

• This site, from the authors of the book Do What You Are, provides a short quiz to determine your MBTI type — www.personalitytype.com/quiz.asp

• The Career Center from the Princeton Review includes a career quiz based on the Birkman Method which looks at interests, style, needs, and stress behavior — www.princetonreview.com/cte/quiz/quizoverview.asp

• MyFuture.com offers a work interest quiz and a personality test — www.myfuture.com/t2_ctoolbox.html

• Typefocus offers a free abbreviated version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator — www.typefocus.com

• What is your medieval vocational personality? Find out on this Web site — www.cmi-lmi.com/kingdomality.html

• Career Zone is a site that uses the Holland codes, this time using the cluster approach to list careers — www.nycareerzone.org

• Personality Online offers a variety of personality tests including the Enneagram and the Personality Profile (along with a selection of other entertaining tests) — www.personalityonline.com

Career Exploration and Planning

• The Job Hunter's Bible from Dick Bolles is a supplement to What Color is Your Parachute? and an excellent starting place — www.jobhuntersbible.com

• The Career Development eManual from the University of Waterloo offers a 6-step career planning tool — www.cdm.uwaterloo.ca

• "What Can I Do With A Major In?" information from University of North Carolina Career Services — www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/career/Majors

• MyFuture.com offers information on military opportunities, as well as a career toolbox with information on finding a job, top occupations, and interviewing — www.myfuture.com/t2_ctoolbox.html

• Princeton Review offers an informative Career Center, as well as a place to begin research in higher education — www.princetonreview.com/college

• Quintessential Career’s Teen Web site offers advice on job seeking, interviewing, and job options, and provides links to helpful job information sites — www.quintcareers.com/teen_jobs.html

• Teenager’s Guide to the Real World online offers articles and resources on volunteering, job seeking, resumes, summer jobs, and more — www.bygpub.com/books/tg2rw/tg2rwtoc.htm

• Mapping-Your-Future provides information on planning a career, including developing a career plan, assessing skills and interests, and researching occupations — www.mapping-your-future.org

• NextSteps.org is an employment, career development, and job finding resource for youth — www.nextsteps.org

• Find seasonal employment that fits with your career ambitions, including international opportunities, through SummerJobs.com — www.summerjobs.com

• Young Americas Business Trust acts as a catalyst for young entrepreneur development through business skills training, partnerships, leadership, and technology — www.myybiz.net/yabt/main

• Career Infonet provides job market trends, wages, state profiles, and useful career exploration tools including skills assessment tools — www.acinet.org/acinet

• The Riley Guide offers job resources and employment information, including articles on self-assessments, planning, and finding a job — www.rileyguide.com

Government Web Sites

• Vermont Department of Labor has a job bank, locations of statewide career resource centers, and Vermont labor market information — www.labor.vermont.gov

• Vermont Department of State Office of Professional Regulation is the place to find information on the certification and licensure of a variety of professions — www.vtprofessionals.org

• 2006 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (U.S. Department of Labor) — http://stats.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm

• Occupational Outlook Handbook Data, including nature of the work, job outlook, and earnings — http://stats.bls.gov/oco

• Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a Web site with career information for youth — http://stats.bls.gov/k12

• Americorps Web site lists current job openings and how to apply, plus information on internships and fellowships — www.americorps.org

• The online military career guide — www.todaysmilitary.com/app/tm/careers

Software Resources

VT Guidance Central

VT Guidance Central is a web-based, personalized, self-guided program that provides comprehensive career, college, and education planning tools

You can use VT Guidance Central as a tool to:

• explore career possibilities
• plan the training you need for specific careers
• search for colleges/universities that fit your desired criteria (e.g., location, size, programs/majors, activities, costs)
• prepare for the SAT and ACT
• learn about financial aid options
• and much more!

Other Software

Visit the VSAC Resource Center in Winooski to utilize other assessment, career, and education planning software tools.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs...

Below is a partial list of job search sites:

• Jobs in Vermont — www.jobsinvt.com/home/home.aspx
• America’s Job Bank — www.ajb.dni.us
• Monster, one of the largest — www.monster.com
• Careers.org — www.careers.org
• Career Builder — www.careerbuilder.com
• True Careers — www.truecareers.com
• Career Magazine — www.careermag.com
• Nonprofit Career Center — www.idealist.org/career/career.html
• Part-time and hourly jobs — www.snagajob.com
• Tech Careers — www.dice.com

Updated: March 2008

Compiled by: VSAC Resource Center, 10 East Allen Street, PO Box 2000, Winooski, VT 05404
Call: 800-642-3177 toll-free or Burlington area 802-655-9602 • Fax: 802-654-3765 • E-mail: info@vsac.org

The Vermont Student Assistance Corp. was established by the Vermont General Assembly in 1965 to help Vermonters obtain the information and financial resources they need to pursue their education goals beyond high school.