Career and Education Awareness

admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 23:17

Published Date

October 3, 2019

Status

Current

Funded By

Data for the American Dream initiative, supported by a consortium of funders, incl. Schmidt Futures, Lumina Foundation, the Walmart Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation; supported by its implementation partner, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.

Work Category

Featured Image

Excerpt

In September 2019, New Jersey became an inaugural grantee of Data for the American Dream (D4AD), an initiative to “support innovative projects aimed at expanding access to education and career information to help students and job seekers — especially low-income, lower-skilled, underemployed, and unemployed Americans — make better career decisions in a challenging economy.” The Heldrich Center is partnering with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, other state agencies, and organizations from the nonprofit sector, private sector, and academia over an 18-month period to build an interactive website containing smart disclosure tools designed to help job seekers make informed decisions about training. This website will target customers of the state’s human services programs and other disadvantaged populations. The newly available data will assist job seekers in obtaining information about their desired employment and earnings outcomes, and help employers find better-qualified employees.

Tagline

Development of an interactive website containing smart disclosure tools designed to help job seekers make informed decisions about training.

Career Connections New Jersey

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:17:02 +0000

Career Connections New Jersey

Topic

admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 23:17

Published Date

January 1, 2004

Status

Funded By

Verizon New Jersey

Work Category

Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)

(OLD) Related Experts

Laurie Harrington

Featured Image

Excerpt

From 2004 to 2007, the Heldrich Center and Verizon New Jersey jointly created industry-education alliances to educate New Jersey students, parents, educators, and school counselors about promising career options and the skills needed to work in today's labor market. A Career Connections steering committee was convened and included the state’s top business, education, and school counseling organizations as well as the New Jersey Department of Education. Project accomplishments included providing up-to-date career information and technical assistance to New Jersey high school students, parents, teachers, and school counselors; disseminating data on high-demand industries, jobs, and jobs skills; promoting the State of New Jersey’s website for students; and incorporating njnextstop.org content into K-12 curricula and counseling activities.

In 2004, with support from Verizon New Jersey, the Career Connections initiative was launched to encourage New Jersey's leading industry and education groups to work more closely on career education. A statewide steering committee of employers, educators, and labor organizations was created to disseminate information to students, parents, teachers, and school counselors on the skills and education requirements needed to fill high-demand jobs in New Jersey's key industries.

About Career Connections

Career Connections worked diligently to raise awareness about the changing education and training needs of New Jersey's 21st century economy. The program hosted statewide conferences to showcase successful business-education training partnerships and new apprenticeship options. It also shared career information with educators and counselors through the New Jersey Education Association, New Jersey School Boards Association, and New Jersey School Counselors Association.

In addition to participation at large state conferences, Career Connections rolled out a "high-tech, high-touch" strategy to reach students, counselors, and teachers by introducing them to cutting-edge career and education information. Hundreds of NJNextStop posters and mousepads were distributed to New Jersey high schools and colleges.

Resources

Teacher and Counselor Resources

America Diploma Project

A coalition of states committed to aligning high school standards, assessments, graduation requirements, and accountability systems with the demands of colleges and the workplace.

A national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for careers. Provides over 28,000 member career and technical educators with the resources they need to prepare an educated and competitive workforce. ACTE is committed to increasing public awareness and appreciation for career and technical programs and to assuring growth in local, state, and federal funding for these programs by communicating and working with legislators and government leaders.

Learn More Now, Do More Now, Earn More Later

A product of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, this website encourages students to take challenging courses, achieve at their highest level, and reap the benefits of that hard work at a good college and in a good job. The website also provides everything a teacher needs to educate students about the hard decisions they have to make in middle school and high school to be academically competitive for good colleges and even better, more fulfilling jobs including presentations, lesson plans, background research, and certificates of accomplishment.

New Jersey Education Association

An organization dedicated to promoting excellence in New Jersey’s schools by advocating on behalf of members and promoting quality professional development for teachers to advance and support policies that enhance and enrich public education.

NJNextStop

A website that provides school counselors, teachers, secondary students, and their parents the vital details about industries, types of jobs, and the cutting-edge career paths that are possible.

Regional Educational Laboratory Program-Mid-Atlantic

A partnership of The Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers University, Caliber, and ICF International Company, Metiri Group, ANALYTICA and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) to meet the research and technical assistance needs of educators and policymakers in the mid-atlantic region.

New Jersey Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

The New Jersey Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is an organization whose work is focused on improvements in the education of professional school personnel in New Jersey to ensure that all children are taught by highly qualified teachers.

Student, Parent, and Counselor Resources

Learn More Now, Do More Now, Earn More Later

New Jersey School Counselors Association

New Jersey Transfer

Helps students transfer community college courses in New Jersey. It helps in deciding which courses to take at community colleges, which New Jersey four-year colleges offer equivalent courses, and how the courses will satisfy four-year degree requirements. Also offers contact information for admission, course transfers, or transfer recruitment events. Provides information about career fields that are in high demand in New Jersey.

New Jersey Commission on Higher Education: Equal Opportunity Fund

Offers detailed information about the Equal Opportunity Fund program. Provides information about which colleges and universities have Equal Opportunity Fund programs and contact information at those institutions.

New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools

Learn about the innovative programs at the 21 county vocational-technical schools throughout New Jersey that link academics with real-world career training.

New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority

Provides students, parents, and financial aid professionals knowledge of different types of financial aid information available for students.

NJNextStop

A website that provides school counselors, teachers, secondary students, and their parents the vital details about industries, types of jobs, and the cutting-edge career paths that are possible.

Mapping Your Future

Provides information for parents and students on planning for college, financial strategies, and more.

Engineer Girl

With information on the different fields of engineering, encourages young women to consider a career in engineering.

America's Career InfoNet

Has vast career information and helpful tools such as reports, videos, and labor market data.

The Fun Works: For Careers You Never Knew Existed

Introduces students ages 11-15 to several careers in health, science, the arts, sports, and others that are suited to their interests.

California Career Zone

Designed for students, counselors, and jobseekers, includes overviews of 900 occupations in various sectors beyond California.

For Kids Only: Earth Sciences Enterprise

Features extensive information on earth science topics and fields of employment such as air, land, water, natural hazards, and their interaction with the human population.

The Princeton Review

Provides vast and helpful information on the admissions process for college, graduate school, and professional schools ranging from exam requirements to financial aid.

Career Videos

Sometimes the view from inside a job is the one that adds the most insight. That is why the Heldrich Center, with support from Verizon New Jersey, interviewed nine professionals in different industries and occupations -- and let them tell their own story.

How did they get to where they are? What is the most important thing they need to know to be good at their job? What challenges did they face in getting there? How did they overcome them? Could someone you know -- or something you are doing right now -- be the thing that changes your life?

These are the kind of questions you need to answer before you launch your career. Take a few minutes to listen to people tell their career story, in their own words, and then start your own adventure. Good luck!

Tagline

Development and management of an industry-education alliance to educate New Jersey's about career options and critical skills.

Transit Virtual Career Network

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:17:01 +0000

Transit Virtual Career Network

Topic

admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 23:17

Published Date

January 1, 2012

Status

Funded By

A grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration.

Work Category

Featured Image

Excerpt

From 2012-2014, the Heldrich Center was part of a large multi-partner effort to develop a national “Transit Virtual Career Network” for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Innovative Transit Workforce Development Program. The TVCN website, https://www.vcn.org/transit/, highlights up-to-date information on jobs, career paths, and education in the transit industry, providing the nation’s public transportation operators with a dynamic resource to attract and prepare the skilled workforce needed to operate and maintain a 21st-century system. The system integrates data from several sources, including wage, skills, and employment trend data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*Net, as well as customized job descriptions developed by the Heldrich Center. TVCN leverages the expertise of key national organizations, as well as prior FTA investments. The TVCN system includes content on transit careers created by the Heldrich Center under an FTA grant awarded to Rutgers’ National Transit Institute in 2009. The Heldrich Center and the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), a designated U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Innovation Technology Administration Tier I University Transportation Center, worked with the American Public Transportation Association and its member agencies to lead and inform the development of TVCN. The American Association of Community Colleges, the XPand Corporation, and the National Association of Workforce Boards led the technical development of TVCN and assisted with dissemination.

Tagline

Development of a national Transit Virtual Career Network.

New Jersey Transportation, Logistics, and Distribution Talent Network

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:17:00 +0000

New Jersey Transportation, Logistics, and Distribution Talent Network

Topic

admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 23:17

Status

Funded By

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development

Work Category

Featured Image

Excerpt

In 2011, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJLWD) launched the Talent Network initiative to improve connections among employers, job seekers, and education and workforce providers to ensure the delivery of a skilled workforce for key industries. The Talent Network concept grew out of earlier work the Heldrich Center and others performed on prior federal and state grants, including Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, as well as through the center’s extensive work on the Ready for the Job project. In 2011, NJLWD launched six Talent Networks in industries important to the state’s economy. The Heldrich Center was selected to the lead the Transportation, Logistics, and Distribution Talent Network (TLD-TN) and operated this network between 2011 and 2015. Under this effort, the Heldrich Center TLD-TN team worked to better understand and address employer needs in the industry; better inform workforce and education staff, students, and job seekers about career prospects in the industry; and look for ways to improve the alignment of degree and course content with industry skill needs. TLD-TN acted as the primary point of contact for industry employers that had workforce needs, connecting employers to the right resources in workforce and education to address their needs.

Tagline

Development and management of a talent network for New Jersey's transportation, logistics, and distribution industry.

Inventory and Assessment of Public Transportation Workforce Needs

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:17:00 +0000

Inventory and Assessment of Public Transportation Workforce Needs

Topic

admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 23:17

Published Date

January 1, 2009

Status

Funded By

Federal Transit Administration

Work Category

Featured Image

Excerpt

In 2009, the Heldrich Center began working to understand the emerging workforce needs of transit agencies in the United States and to map the structure of the public transportation workforce. Staff interviewed transit officials from numerous federal, state, and local agencies and interest groups and identified a strong need for materials that aid transit officials in developing a common language to discuss transportation work and careers, as well as materials transit officials can use to recruit new workers and to educate existing workers about other careers in the industry. The Heldrich Center developed a number of print and online career awareness tools that education and workforce providers can use to educate students about careers in the public transportation industry. These tools include a visual map of job groups and key occupations in the industry, which is available in a professional print format and in an accessible, online format. In addition, the Heldrich Center created a 275-page comprehensive guide to public transportation occupations to promote a common framework for discussing industry work in research and workforce development contexts. These tools were vetted with industry officials, students, teachers, and other target audiences. The center worked with transit officials and the American Public Transportation Association to create a coordinated dissemination plan to reach industry officials, educational institutions, and other key stakeholders.

Tagline

Project designed to understand the workforce needs of the nation's transit agencies.

Public Transportation Workforce Mapping Project

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:16:51 +0000

Public Transportation Workforce Mapping Project

Topic

admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 23:16

Published Date

January 1, 2012

Status

Funded By

Federal Transit Administration

Work Category

Get Moving: Public Transportation Occupational Guidebook

Featured Image

Excerpt

The Heldrich Center developed a number of print and online career awareness tools that education and workforce providers can use to educate students about careers in the public transportation industry. These tools included a visual “map” of job groups and key occupations in the industry and a comprehensive guide to public transportation occupations. These tools were disseminated broadly to postsecondary institutions and other stakeholders in order to help career guidance personnel inform students about careers.

Products:

Get Moving: Careers in Public Transportation (Brochure)

Get Moving: Careers in Public Transportation

Get Moving - Public Transportation Occupations: Central Services and Administration

Get Moving - Public Transportation Occupations: Facilities, Track, and Road Maintenance

Get Moving - Public Transportation Occupations: Vehicle Maintenance

Get Moving - Public Transportation Occupations: Vehicle Operations

Tagline

Development of career awareness materials for the public transportation industry.

Development of a Career Planning Course at Rutgers University

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:16:51 +0000

Development of a Career Planning Course at Rutgers University

Topic

Postsecondary Education and Training

admin Mon, 10/26/2020 - 23:16

Related Authors

Carl E. Van Horn, Ph.D.

Status

Funded By

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Work Category

Featured Image

Excerpt

Worked with School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University to develop a unique one-credit pilot course to help undergraduate students better align their choice of major, course selection, and other college activities with their career interests and labor market realities. The course included in-person lectures and online components, including a variety of resources made available online and assignments that led students through online research tools. To develop this course, the partners reviewed approximately 20 curricula from peer institutions, which focused exclusively on career interest assessment and career development theory and activities, including résumé writing and interviewing tips. The curriculum provided an innovative approach by integrating information on the labor market as part of major selection to promote degree completion and future labor market success. The course, now known as Career Explorations in the Arts and Sciences, continues to be a popular choice for undergraduate students at Rutgers.

Tagline

Developed a career planning course for the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University.

Public Libraries: A Community’s Connection for Career Services

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 15:18:43 +0000

Public Libraries: A Community’s Connection for Career Services

Topic

Research Publications & Reports

admin Thu, 10/22/2020 - 15:18

Published Date

September 3, 2019

Type

Related Authors

Stephanie Walsh

Work Category

Research Products

(OLD) Related Experts

Stephanie Holcomb

Attachments

Public_Libraries_Career_Services_Report.pdf (1002.76 KB)

Featured Image

Excerpt

Examines the extent to which public libraries across the United States are offering a range of career services, including résumé and cover letter support, job application assistance, interview preparation, training, and referrals to American Job Centers/other support services.

Tagline

Examines the extent to which public libraries across the United States are offering career services.

Using Social Media in the Job Search Webinar

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 15:15:37 +0000

Using Social Media in the Job Search Webinar

Topic

Disability Employment