Caleb is in his early '20s. He's friendly and a bit shy. He's looking to enter the workforce, but he's not really sure where to start. During the course of their conversations, his career navigator, Ellen, learns that while Caleb took a business course in high-school and a few community college courses, he doesn't have any professional experience. He needs a place to start. What resources can Ellen direct Caleb to for help in exploring potential careers? In this video, you'll familiarize yourself with some of the data sources for career exploration. As a career navigator, your role is centered on connecting clients with an occupation that is meaningful, fulfilling, and aligned with their interests, but sometimes clients don't know what career choices are available to them. When helping clients explore career options, there is a wide variety of resources available at the national, state, and local levels. At the national level, there are several free resources sponsored by government agencies to be aware of. O*NET you've encountered in other videos, but it belongs on this list as well. O*NET Interest Profiler, O*NET Work Importance Locator, CareerOneStop, MyNextMove, Career videos by job cluster. There are also some paid resources available that may be worth investigating. These include Coursera: Career Discovery Specialization, Lightcast: Emsi Burning Glass, and Indeed Career Resources. In addition to exploring what careers are available, it can be useful both as a job seeker and as a career navigator to zoom out and look at the larger trends in employment. Where are the most job openings? What careers are growing the fastest? What are the average hourly earnings for a given occupation? Where do you find this information? The employment projections webpage on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics website contains official government projections for the labor force by age and ethnic group, industry and occupation. The employment situation summary slide summarizes the latest monthly national workforce data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This includes information about unemployment rates, employment by industry, length of the work week, average hourly earnings, and so on. The Occupational Outlook Handbook website provides the official government national information on hundreds of occupations. This information includes number of jobs and job outlook, job duties, education, and experience requirements, pay, and sources of additional information. Finally, each state has similar, but not as detailed workforce trends and related data similar to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the state's information is provided in different formats and reports. The state Labor Market Information Contact List website provides the link to the state agency research bureaus that compile that information, which can then be accessed for the various reports for their state, metropolitan areas, and counties. In some states, this information can be found on the Department of Labor website. Familiarity with and awareness of these career exploration resources enables the career navigator to connect their clients with the tools and methods to get a better idea of what career option fits their goals, values, and priorities. Thanks to Ellen's awareness of career exploration resources, Caleb, equipped with a better understanding of his interests, goals, and career options, is able to take the next step in his career navigation journey.
