Career Assessment Guidance - Available Resources

Career Assessment Guidance

Content:

1. Introduction

Think about the resources available within your team, in other parts of the organization or externally
Plan how much time you can devote to personal development within your work schedule
Be realistic about the time your supervisor or colleagues can make available to you for coaching, feedback or mentoring
Find out whether, and/or when, there is any budget available
Find out whether you can obtain any funding from other sources
Research other sources of information and ideas about personal development such as observation, work shadowing, learning from the experiences of others.

You may use the following sources to get more information:

Local community centers for classes and learning options.
Learn on-the job in an Apprenticeship (find a registered apprenticeship)
Take classes at a college or university.
Try service learning and volunteer opportunities. If you are volunteering, you are working and learning on-the-job without pay. Look for volunteer opportunities that have to do with your skills and interests. Spend time as a volunteer to see whether you are interested enough to find paid work doing something similar and to gain experience.
Experiment with job shadowing. Job shadowing means watching someone at work to see if you would enjoy doing this work and to identify lacks of skills. As you observe a person working, notice whether you think that person's duties and responsibilities fit with the kind of work you would like to do and ask specific questions about the skills and knowledge required.

4.4 Realize Progress Evaluation

Make time to review your immediate and longer-term development plans on a regular basis.
Remain flexible and adaptable so that you can respond effectively to changing circumstances.
Look out for opportunities for development and don’t be afraid to put yourself forward for new learning opportunities.

If you do not know how to pay for the training or education, look for assistance in the following pages:

For US citizens we recommend to start with the governmental financial aid questions page where you find answers to important questions related with financial assessment.
Apply for financial aid at FASFA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) or FinAid.Org
Use estimates about how much college will cost in every state in the USA and explore options to pay for your education.
Center for the Education of Women - career counseling and resources for women.
You may use a budget calculator to create a plan based on your income and expenses or use other financial aid calculators to look closely at the costs of college.
Be careful to avoid financial aid scams !
Begin with your Debt Consolidation or Debt Management! Many times the job search and career assessment process is accompanied by economical problems caused by unemployment, bad investments or related issues. Don’t wait and start with your debt consolidation in order to your financial freedom and safety. We recommend to read the books The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness from Dave Ramsey and The Secrets of Wealth: The Beginner's Guide to Financial Freedom from Fabio Marciano and Mike Litman where you find proven plans to achieve financial freedom without having a big income. Think twice before taking a decision and check out our recommendations on loans and credit cards.

For effective and easy job search use the Job Search Assistant.

6. Resources: