State schools chief unveils new web help for students exploring college and careers

Students have new online help as they plan for careers and college, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said.

“The diversity of our global economy can provide many opportunities for students, but having so many choices can be challenging as well,” Torlakson said. “With new features on two really great websites, we’re working to give students the resources they need to plan their path to a successful future.”

The websites are part of Torlakson’s Career Readiness Initiative, aimed at providing high school graduates with the knowledge and skills they need to be ready for further training or entering the workforce.

The California Career Zone® (www.cacareerzone.org/) website already has many features, but the new enhancements include:

•Make Money Choices (www.cacareerzone.org/budget/) asks users what kind of lifestyle they want to live, tells them how much it will cost, and links directly to information about jobs that could realistically support that lifestyle and salary.

•Cost of College (www.cacareerzone.org/colleges/costbenefit/index) helps students find colleges that are good matches for their career choice and provides cost information.

•Parent Guide (www.cacareerzone.org/guide/parents/) offers parents advice on how to help their children explore careers.

•User profile — Logged on users can see everything they are working on in one place, including plans, recently viewed items, assessment summaries, journals, and a list of upcoming events.

•Calendar — Logged on users can see aggregated information about deadlines from colleges, training programs, and plans in a calendar so students can track their deadlines.

•Updated home screen — Logged on users can see a summation of their previous career exploration and can pick up where they left off.

•Military occupations: Users can search for jobs in the armed services by title or Military Occupation Code, see job profiles, and find equivalent civilian jobs. Users can also add military experience to the resume builder.

New enhancements to the California Career Center (www.calcareercenter.org/) website include:

•Classroom-Ready Curriculum (www.calcareercenter.org/Home/Content?contentID=402) has 17 new ready-made lesson plans for teachers to help their students set goals, develop an action plan for college and career, research jobs, assess their skills, and more.

•Career Surfer (www.calcareercenter.org/Home/Content?contentID=404) is a new application that students can download from iTunes and Google Play to begin exploring careers on their mobile devices.

Both the California CareerZone and the California Career Center websites operate under the umbrella of the California Career Resource Network (www.californiacareers.info/), a program designed to help anyone develop their careers.