Do you have students entering the workforce directly out of high school? Are you helping postsecondary students look for their first post-college job? Do you work with adults needing employment or looking for a career change? For any of these situations, the Kuder Career Planning System is your answer to preparing individuals for today’s ever-changing workforce. The innovative Kuder system walks individuals step-by-step through the career planning process that can lead to satisfaction and success in their professional life.

Step 1: Start at the Beginning
The first step when any individual begins use of the Kuder system is to take the Kuder Career Search with Person Match. This interest assessment points users in the right direction, showing them career clusters aligned with their interests. How better to find a career than to start with what you are interested in?

Step 2: Pinpoint a Career
Start exploring your career options to find a career that best suits you. You can take the Kuder Skills Assessment and/or Super’s Work Values Inventory to further define your search, or you can start searching for occupations from your interest assessment. Click on one of your highest career clusters from your composite report or select Explore Careers from your portfolio menu. Review all of the occupation information provided, such as Overview, Characteristics, Education, and Income to learn in-depth about a specific career.

Step 3: Look for Available Job Openings
Once you have pinpointed a career to pursue and you are ready to enter the workforce, your next step is to find available job openings. In the Kuder system under the Get A Job area, the system links you to a job bank where thousands of jobs in your area and around the nation are posted daily.

Step 4: Resumés, Resumés, Resumés
Developing a strong resumé that highlights your education, experience, and achievements is one of most critical steps in the job search. There are many recommendations on the right guidelines to follow when writing a high quality resumé, and we have compiled some of the best and most agreed-upon. Click on the Plan for the Future menu tab, then Resumé Builder and find these tips under the Resumé Help area. We recommend reviewing these tips before starting a resumé.

The two tips that any employer will recommend when preparing a resumé: Spell check and proof read! The number one thing that would cause your resumé to get passed up is a misspelling. When proof reading, also check for common spelling errors as spell check doesn’t catch every mistake. It is also a good idea to have another person review your resumé for a fresh perspective before sending it out.

Coming soon will be information on writing a cover letter. This information will be added during our routine summer enhancements.

The Resumé Builder helps you organize and stylize your resumé in a professional manner. It offers two formats and four style options. You can save your resumé in your portfolio for further updating and modification and mark as “public” if you plan to e-mail a link to it to a prospective employer. Additionally, you can save multiple resumés if you’re applying for several different positions.

Step 5: Preparing for the Interview
You’ve prepared a winning resumé and landed that important job interview, now what? The Kuder system offers information to help you plan and prepare for a successful interview. The Job Interview Planning section, located under the Plan for the Future menu tab, covers interview objectives, preparation, common questions, interview stages, and follow up steps.

The Interview Objectives outline how each participant, the interviewer and interviewee, have different objectives during the interview. The Preparing for the Interview section offers tips and suggestions on general pre-interview preparation, such style of dress and researching the company. Another helpful section is the Common Interview Questions. This area offers several questions that are typically asked during an interview and suggests that preparing answers to some of these questions before the interview can help you appear poised and professional. Next, the Stages of the Interview section describes the five stages that typically take place during an interview. Knowing that these stages will take place will help you guide the interview process and prepare for what is coming next. Lastly, the Following up after the Interview section offers suggestions on what to do after the interview such as sending a thank you letter to the interviewer(s).

As the saying goes, “You can never be too prepared.” And, the Job Interview Planning tool does just that - it equips you with the necessary information to be successful during an interview that will lead to a satisfying career.

The Kuder Career Planning System is more than just an assessment program. Its comprehensive resources take individuals through the career planning process from start to finish, including preparing for a first career or new job. Be aware of these helpful tools as your students and clients are looking to enter or re-enter today’s workforce.

The Kuder Resumé Help Area		The Kuder Job Interview Planning Tool

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