A Kuder Best Practice
By: Michael Emmer, Career Counselor
Benson High School Magnet, Omaha, NE

Nebraska Career Connections, powered by Kuder, is a vital tool for teaching the career objectives set out by the Omaha Public Schools Guidance Curriculum. As a career counselor at Benson High School Magnet, it was my goal to teach 16 career objectives over a period of four years. Some of which are, to assess personal likes and dislikes as related to career choices; explain the importance of a variety of occupations and their economic contributions to society; identify results of academic decisions on career options; prepare a career plan using a variety of resources; implement a strategy for career decision making; describe career development as a process with a series of choices; and demonstrate the skills and attitudes essential for a successful job application and interview.

Throughout the process of discussing and implementing these objectives with students, Nebraska Career Connections (www.nebraskacareerconnections.org) was an immense help. Students were engaged throughout the guidance lesson and were able to log in and access more information, update their Personal Learning Plans (PLP), and keep a resumé online for future reference. They were able to make the connection between interests, career clusters, high school career-related electives, and postsecondary school programs.

Starting freshman year, students are introduced to Nebraska Career Connections to help attain the above objectives as well as gain personal knowledge about the importance of education and career planning and exploration. We have outlined a four-year plan that each student follows using Nebraska Career Connections:

Freshman Year: Students complete the interest inventory and create a PLP to tie in with college requirements. Benson courses are listed by Core and Career Cluster so all students have to do is point and click to select their courses.

Sophomore Year: Guest speakers come to Benson to discuss job interview skills with the students. Students then have to write a resumé, complete the skills assessment, and update their PLP.

Junior Year: Students complete Super’s Work Values Inventory, perform a postsecondary school search, and update their PLP.

Senior Year: Students write a college essay/resumé cover letter and place it in their notes section. They also complete living, earning, and learning goals using the discussion guide.

In addition to helping guide students through their high school education and planning for the future, I post the school guidance and other pertinent web sites to the home page of Nebraska Career Connections so that educators and counselors are able to view all of the opportunities that Nebraska Career Connections provide to their students.

I love to use Internet resources for career information because the job market is ever changing. The technology that Nebraska Career Connections offers helps students get the latest information. Our paper career portfolios were not readily accessible to students and were not used by students as much as we hoped. The online version makes the information easily accessible to students and allows them to keep their online PLP up-to-date. It is the mode that students prefer to utilize in preparing for their future careers.

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