Career and planning research is not a one size fits all proposition. The skills and experience needed to grow in one field may have little applicability to another. As such, it is important for someone planning their career to take inventory of the field they are looking to enter into and determine what is specific to their goals.
This being said, a general resource on career research is not a bad place to start. While many skills are specialized, some are more universal in nature. Using the Wayne State University Libraries’ E-Journal research, an individual can access Career Development Quarterly. This is the journal of the National Career Development Association, an organization purportedly dedicated to advancing careers. The Quarterly provides access to abstracts from Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, The British Library Medical Information Service, Education Index, Higher Education Abstracts, Psychological Abstracts and others. It also has a series of webinars, advice on continuing education, and leadership development programs.
These are all tangential to the Quaterly itself, a fully functioning journal in its own right. The most recent issue has such articles as “A Framework for Promoting Women's Career Intentionality and Work-Life Integration” by Megan Tajilli. An excerpt from the abstract reads as follows: “Career counselors may not be discussing the strain of work-life integration with female college students, leading them to believe "having it all" is attainable. A framework blending the Kaleidoscope Career Model with the Systems Theory Framework to help women understand the environmental, societal, and personal influences on work-life integration is proposed as a solution.” This is not the same as something along the lines of “The 5 Skills Every Business is Looking for in New Employees.”
The articles in Career Development Quarterly are not always so obviously aimed at the goal of getting a promotion next year, or attaining the most employable degree. If this is what the searcher is looking for, the Quarterly is likely not the resource they are looking for. Also, if you do not have access through a University library or other resource, there is a subscription fee in order to gain access. This being said, they are still insightful articles that can help you navigate your career successfully. Not every article may be relevant to every individual, but they are written by respected individuals in their field and can contain valuable insight. Megan Tajilli, for instance, holds a master’s in education, is a nationally certified counselor and is a licensed professional counselor associate who writes for respected, peer reviewed journals.
Overall, while this resource may not be right for everyone, it is a quarterly publication that provides up to date articles by respected professionals. Whether it is worth the value to the individual is a question they should evaluate by browsing titles and authors.
Source
· Career Development Quarterly. (1990-Present). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
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Company Research Information
Finding information about a company before employment and the interview is crucial in the job search process. First, one must make a list of potential companies desired for employment. Next, research is required to ensure that the skills of the applicant match those that the company requires. Researching a company can provide information such as:
- Salary information
- Educational and/or experience requirements
- Company History, Mission Statement, and Goals
- Size of company, future outlook, awards or certifications,
- Human Resource information for networking and contact information
Resources that can help in this process:
What Color Is Your Parachute is a book that details the career/company research process. It describes in detail the process of how to search for information regarding a company in the job search process. It gives resources and information about Internet searching and search engines. It describes:
1. Best search engines and links to this resources
2. Meta-search tools
3. The UnderWeb and deep searching
4. Beyond the web searching
5. Directories
6. How to evaluate the data-
Authority: Who put the information here? Who wrote it? Why?Accuracy: How much is verifiable? What were the writer's sources?
Currency: How old is the information?
This guide can help the reader to find pertinent information about the company they wish to work for. It describes the importance of conducting company research and provides instructions on how to find this information efficiently. This book is updated yearly and has sold over ten million copies worldwide.
Source: Bolles, R. (2012). What color is your parachute?, 2012 (40th anniversary ed., rev. ed.). Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is a publication of the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLR) that educates users about:
- What workers do on the job
- Work environment
- Education, training, and other qualifications needed to enter the occupation
- Pay
- Projected employment change and job prospects from 2012 to 2022
- Similar occupations
- Contacts for more information
The Handbook is released every two years in a print and free, online version that can accessed on the BLR website. The BLR is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
Covering about 84 % of jobs in the U.S. economy, the 334 occupational profiles contained in the OOH are well-organized and searchable by keyword or browsed by category or in alphabetical order (by occupational name). The OOH also contains 2012 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) information on median pay, entry-level pay and occupation-specific on-the-job training necessary for competency in a chosen occupation. In addition, users are also provided with relevant work experience that may substitute for a lack of formal education. Ten-year projections for the number of jobs, projected job outlook , and employment change are also included.
Source:
Occupational Outlook Handbook. (2014-2015). Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved October 19, 2014 from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/______________________________________________________________________
When applying for a job, it is important to have information on the company. It helps job seekers decide if it is a company they would want to be part of or if it does not fit into their career plans. By conducting research on a company, you will learn their mission statement and focus. That information will assist you when writing a tailored cover letter. Before going into an interview, it is always a good idea to have knowledge and understanding of the company.
Glassdoor is a great place to begin researching a company, it has 6 million and counting resources to help job seekers. It provides information on many companies, the information ranges from companies' finances to their mission statements. Glassdoor provides employee reviews on everything from the interview process to the CEO. It provides 6 million resources for job seekers in an effort to show what it's like to work in different companies.
Glassdoor's layout is user friendly and straightforward. It is easy for users to search for information on companies. The individual company pages are well organized with sections clearly labeled. It is simple for users to locate specific information or browse different sections. It is not only a place to find company information, it also allows users to conduct job searches.
The only downside to Glassdoor is that it does not provide hiring manager information. Job seekers can begin their research on Glassdoor but they have to do more investigating to find information such as the name of the hiring manager and who is addressed in the cover letter. Also, the amount of information available could be overwhelming in the beginning for some people.
Below is a short video that shows many of Glassdoor’s features and how to navigate the site :
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Career Errors: Straight Talk about the Steps and Missteps of Career Development by Frank Burtnett, a career counselor who has specialized in student services, is a comprehensive tool that professionals can utilize to explore the development process through the life of one’s career. This book outlines eight phases that the professional must recognize in order to achieve success and satisfaction in their career. Following this, the author explains 25 common errors that professionals make while pursuing careers. The topics covered include job searches, terminations, coping with the workplace environment, ineffective resumes, interview failures, and missed growth opportunities. In addition, the author provides charts and simple guidelines for the process of career development, therefore the reader is given a tangible work plan to act upon. The concept of balance is also covered so the reader can understand holistic career and life satisfaction.
Strengths: This book functions well as a tool in place of a live career counselor. It can also be very useful as a training guide for those wishing to become career counselors, or for parents seeking advice for a child conducting career research and preparing to enter the workforce.
Weaknesses: The author writes in a somewhat stern tone, therefore younger readers may be put off.
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Burtnett, Frank. Career Errors: Straight Talk about the Steps and Missteps of Career Development. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.
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