Today’s job candidates have a variety of needs when it comes to securing a satisfying career. Achieving success in the workforce requires the right choices, tools, and information. Kuder^® Journey is an effective solution to help postsecondary students and adults plan for a career, make a career change, and keep their career on track. Developed to address the career planning needs of a diverse adult workforce population with an ever-changing national economy, the system includes customized features for nine different adult user populations.

In an effort to increase awareness of the features available for each user type pathway in Journey, this article is the third in a four-part series in which we highlight two of the nine pathways. It is our hope that this information will enable practitioners to better serve their adult populations when using Journey.

Postsecondary Students
Journey is designed to help postsecondary students explore occupations or majors they may want to pursue, and to transition into a full-time job or graduate school. Below is a list outlining the actions that have been customized for these users.

View Occupations Suggested by Assessments
With this feature, postsecondary students may review the results of any assessments they have taken and view a list of suggested occupations.

Majors Tab
This tab is unique to postsecondary student users, as the first step in pursuing a career is to identify majors that can best help prepare for it. Postsecondary students can select any of the options below to create a list of majors that are of interest to them, required for their occupation of choice, or beneficial in expanding their knowledge and experience in a professional field.

List of Majors by Assessment Results – Postsecondary students can determine majors they want to research by comparing the areas of study based on their assessment results.

List of Majors by Occupation – If postsecondary students have one or more specific occupations in mind, they can use this feature to find the most closely related majors.

List of Majors by Title or Keyword – Postsecondary students can expand their list of majors by searching for titles or keywords that relate to the studies they are interested in pursuing.

Saved List of Majors – Here, postsecondary students can take a look at the list of possible majors they have created. They can also reorder the list according to how high or low their interest is in a major, and delete their previous selections.

Print Summary for Advisor – This feature helps prepare postsecondary students for meeting with their school advisor to discuss potential majors. The system compiles their list of potential majors; five top clusters of interest; favorite pathways; and favorite occupations into a print-friendly summary that they can take with them to their advisor meeting.

Learn About Graduate School
Here, postsecondary students can learn about graduate schools by selecting from the following submenu of options: “Top Three Reasons for Going to Graduate School;” “How to Choose Your Graduate School;” “Prepare Your Graduate School Application;” “Learn About Graduate School Entrance Examinations;” and “Get Financial Aid for Graduate School.” Each submenu item contains detailed information, tips, and resources to assist postsecondary students in making plans to further their education.

Highlights of this feature include:

• Links to graduate school entrance exam test prep materials and information specific to the GRE; GMAT; LSAT; MCAT; and PCAT.
  
• A search for graduate and professional advanced degree programs by geographic location and setting; degrees and majors offered; size and control; cost; and other search criteria. (Note: All user types have the ability to search for all types of schools using the “Find Schools” tool from the Education & Financial Aid tab.)
  

Contact Your School’s Career Services Office
Most postsecondary schools have an office on campus that offers job fairs, invites employers to visit, assists with résumé writing and a variety of other services to assist their graduates in finding jobs. In this section, postsecondary students can access a link to their school’s web site to access any job placement services that are offered.

Adults with Work Experience, Laid Off, and/or Seeking a Job in the Same Occupation Outside Their Company
Adults with work experience, laid off, and/or seeking a job within the same occupation outside their company will find the following options in their customized menu in Journey.

Enter Assessment Scores
Users may enter the scores of assessments that they have previously taken in print form by entering their scores from score reports. Users may then view occupations suggested by these assessment results.

Join Professional Associations
Having an effective interview is essential to getting a job, and first impressions are very important. In this area, users may search for professional associations related to their field that can help them network, stay current, and discover new opportunities.

Learn How to Find Job Openings
This feature enables users to explore the variety of ways in which they can find job openings and begin to apply. Users may select from a list of options, including “Develop a Job Network of Family, Friends, and Acquaintances;” “Attend Job Fairs;” “Call Potential Employers;” and “Answer Newspaper Ads” to discover the many approaches that can be taken to find job openings.

Search for Jobs on Internet Sites
Here, users may browse recommended Internet sites for job openings in their areas of interest and experience, based on their own favorite occupations.

Research Employers
Users will discover tips and advice on how to research potential employers online and through direct communication in this feature, which also includes a targeted list of online resources through which to research employers.

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