Career Central

Finding time for transition planning can be hard. Career Central is a quick and easy way for students to learn about different types of employment and other information that can help with decision making and goal setting; both annually and after high school. Students can learn about a career interest. Each career takes about 20 minutes to explore. Students can also start, save, and print resumes, save career information, and identify additional job interests. Career Central is a free tool found in the transition training, Map It: What Comes Next, from pepnet 2.

Jobs are organized into groups called Career Clusters. Your students can learn about jobs they are interested in by reading about them. Some have video interviews they can watch to learn more.

All videos in Career Central are captioned and have English and Spanish transcripts available. For best user experience, click the CC button to turn on captions before starting each video.

If a student’s goal is to become an aide in a nursing home, the student would click on the Health Science Career Cluster link in the menu on the left, and then find information on becoming a Home Health and Professional Care Aide. If that job isn’t the right fit, there are many other jobs in this cluster to explore.

Students will learn about job duties, education and training requirements, annual salary, and job prospects. This information will help students understand their options as they make decisions about their postsecondary goals.

Students can search for colleges or training programs to meet their needs. They can search by: • Degree Program • State • In-State or Out-of-State Tuition • Type of School • Student Population Size

Students can search for jobs or internships available. They can search by: • Location • Type of job (contract, full-time, part-time,

internship, temporary) • Salary

Students can create their own resumes that are saved in Career Central.

They can also choose to view their resumes in Microsoft Word and/or print them.

There are other cool features in Career Central that students can check out, too. Not all tools in Career Central are explored in the Map It training. Your students can use any many or as few of these tools as they would like.

• Add jobs to your favorite list • Add videos to watch later • Keep track of what you learn

With all that information in one place, it is easy for students to see if a job will be a good fit. Job related questions in Map It can be answered by exploring Career Central.

1. What are the duties and responsibilities for

the job (job description)? 2. How much education or training is required? 3. Will the salary be enough to meet your

needs? 4. Are there many jobs in this field (job

outlook)?

Benefits of using Career Central:

• Explore different types of employment • Learn about job requirements and other details • “Job shadow” experience without leaving the classroom • Identify next steps for career or transition planning

You can use the information compiled to support IEP goals, transition services, and activities. Your student can present their employment options or choices at their transition IEP meeting. Job shadowing or job experience could be set up based on the information a student learns about their interests and strengths. Career Central can be used in many ways to reinforce transition planning that meets SPP Indicator 13 requirements in a quick and simple way!

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