Only 13.2 percent of external hires in 2009 were made via job boards, according to a corporate study by CareerXroads. Instead use job boards for seeking information about skills needed for each position to determine if it fits you. A much more powerful approach is to spend your time joining networks and associations to contact personally with people who could lead you to your next job.
Remember there is no substitute for phone calls and handshakes. Go to industry networking events to maintain and build new connections.
{extended} ]]>Graduation, and Then What?
Advice for the student about to enter an uncertain job market
By Nan Mooney
The article highlights how to approach the job market when you graduate from college during this recession. I am quoted - “If possible, start that job search while you are still in college,” she says. “That way you can take advantage of all the resources the school provides like internships, volunteer options and special projects.”
{extended} ]]>
You may have read the following report published in the New York Times on October 20, 2009 that states college costs continue to rise.
According to the report the annual cost of college tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose 6.5 percent from last year to $7,020. Including room and board, the average total college cost is $15,213 for a year.
I am a career counselor in the Seattle and Bellevue area with over 30 years of experience helping people gain the best return on their college investment. Currently, I am counseling several clients who are in different stages of career and educational planning.
One of my clients is a 42 year old male who wants to have a specific career goal prior to returning to graduate school. Another client is a young woman who recently graduated from college but has been unable to find a job that fit her educational background. Another of my client’s is a young male who is wants to determine a more specific educational program and career direction prior to starting his college career. To ensure that their education was a wise investment, they are engaging in my career assessment program.
The career program assists them with the following:
1) To acquire a clear picture of who they are and which careers best fit me.
2) To learn techniques for researching the the job market, where the jobs will be and who will be hiring.
3) To develop strategy and tactics for taking the first steps into the job market.
Just as my clients are discovering, a well defined career and educational plan of action helps to ensure that investment in educational costs pays off.
{extended} ]]>The pace of change in American culture — indeed, throughout the world — is moving faster than any time in human history. Over centuries, jobs changed from agriculture to manufacturing. In decades, the nation’s focus changed from manufacturing to technology. Today, ongoing technological advances influence almost every sector of American work. As a result, many types of jobs available to American workers 50, 25, 10, even 5 years ago, no longer exist.
With the nation in economic turmoil and hundreds of thousands of people being laid off from jobs that are no longer needed, finding a job for today’s workers is tough. Yet, thousands of young people graduate college each year without sufficient preparation for a well-paying job in the new economy. With the average cost of an in-state undergraduate degree approaching $50,000, can people really afford to be trained for a job that might not exist when they graduate?
Perhaps you prepared for your career following an old paradigm: You obtained your education in a subject that interested you, chose a job in a company and/or industry that would employ you for life, and prepared for a long retirement. This old paradigm doesn’t fit with today’s economic, political, and technological realities.
The new paradigm requires everyone to become keen educational consumers and to employ a comprehensive approach that bridges education to the career of choice. To prepare for admission to college, one still has to participate in many activities while maintaining high academic grades. In addition, the student should:
• Define career goal.
• Determine educational path: college major or training program.
• Research job and industry trends.
• Identify and join industry networks and associations.
• Develop industry contacts and learn social networking.
• Find an internship, part-time or volunteer work.
• Research job boards for skills and job requirements.
This comprehensive approach will help your child bridge education to the career of his or her choice.
{extended} ]]>
Too many people graduate college with only the vague sense of wanting to have a successful career. This lack of passion, commitment or interest in a specific field will not make potential employers pay attention to them. It reminds me of that line from “Any Road” released in 2002 by from former Beatle George Harrison:
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
Parents must shift their thinking from their experience of finding a good job to the new reality. Gone are the days when a college degree in any subject gives young adults instant entry to satisfying careers. Gone, too, are the days when employers will provide additional training to college graduates in order for them to qualify for their jobs. Why should they when there are many experienced Americans and foreign nationals with the skills they need standing in line?
In the midst of the disappointment of young graduates over their employment situation is the push from major corporations to hire talent for many critical fields from other nations. People decry the attitudes of corporate leaders. Corporate leaders are dismayed that they can’t find qualified Americans to hire. Something has to change and parents who are preparing to send their children to college play one of the most critical role in ensuring that the right changes are made.
The new reality is that college graduates must become much more focused and strategic. With the help of parents and trained counselors, students need to develop a strategy and tactics that bridge them to their career choice. A career and educational plan eliminates frustration, anxiety and loss of self-esteem, and wasted educational costs. Parents who continue to assist their young adults through the challenging phase of moving into the job market will teach them the skills of taking a more proactive approach in setting and achieving goals and the satisfaction of taking charge of their lives.
1. Take Control of your Life
If you are facing or have experienced separation or divorce, you know how difficult it is to put feelings aside to make clear and definite decisions such as related to future income and career choices. If you put aside a career for the sake of the marriage or family, you may be evaluating job opportunities. If you maintained a career, you may be considering a change. Perhaps, you don’t desire or require employment, but you would like to experience the satisfaction of serving on a board or volunteering in the community.
My job as a licensed career counselor is to assist you to identify the possibilities and prepare you for gratifying work that matches your personality, style, abilities, skills and objectives. Furthermore, in divorce cases, I can provide wage information to estimate potential income from feasible career options. Attorneys and judges use the data in their attempt to determine fair and equitable division of assets and to set amount and length of maintenance. I also provide expert witness testimony as needed.
2. Dream a Dream and Live it
How do you prepare yourself for a career or job change?
Begin by assessing your occupational skills. In a series of private sessions, we will review your historical education and training, social/lifestyle situation and preferences, physical condition, work history, emotional preparedness, vocational interests, work values, learning and communication styles.
Once your abilities and preferences have been identified, you’ll want to learn about career and job options suited to your strengths. Through field research, I will help you identify training and educational programs that will help open doors to employment or advancement in your chosen area. An occupational outlook will identify trends and opportunities within specified corporations and industries.
The planning stage pulls together the information about you and the opportunities that lie ahead. Together we will build a strategy for career development using the following elements:
A. Your Career Objective
B. Plan of Action
1. Training and Education as needed.
2. On-the-job Training as needed.
3. Professional contacts, referral sources, networking opportunities, support group and other resources.
4. Job selection and entry.
5. Career advancement.
C. Phase-by-phase evaluation of cost and time requirements to get you from where you are at present to your career objective.
During divorce proceedings, your career objective, Plan of Action, and time line with associated costs can facilitate the determination of settlement awards.
3. Look Forward to Each New Day
Certainly the future can be scary. But, most frightening is the unknown. Taking a realistic look at the possibilities that lie before you fosters confidence and expectation. You will know your career options and learn how to evaluate them.
Of course, obstacles exist. Wage disparity between male and female workers still plagues our society and has made divorce financially more burdensome for many women. A well-documented assessment and career development plan are crucial to demonstrating realistic wage expectations for a female spouse which can then be compared with income expectations for a male spouse. The gap can be closed by divorce settlements and maintenance programs that more equitably allocate financial responsibility and awards.
4. Play an Important Role
Freedom to achieve your personal goals is your greatest asset. Being an integral, productive member of the community stimulates awareness, builds self confidence and promotes personal growth, whether you choose employment or volunteer work.
As part of a career development plan, we can even explore the multitude of community organizations, social groups and activities which will help you feel psychologically, socially and spiritually connected.
5. Relish the Satisfaction of Accomplishment
Although separation and divorce can be a painfully frightening life transition, there are many caring professionals who can guide you through the process. Psychologists, financial planners and career counselors often work in harmony to assure you a secure and fulfilling future.
A career development plan is a valuable road map that helps you look ahead with confidence to a given destination. Then the process of building a career becomes its own reward as you relish the satisfaction of accomplishment.
Recently Penny Loretto a writer for About.com points out Five Tips for Find Summer Internships during Spring Break. Ms. Loretto advises to research internship opportunities through your colleges.
Another good resource about the value of internships is posted on the University of California, Santa Barbara Career Services site: http://www.career.ucsb.edu/students/internships/index.html,.
You will increase your chances of obtaining a job of your choice through your internship by following these steps.
1) First identify your career goal based upon your interests, skills, personality traits and values. You want a job/internship to fit you.
2) Determine the major industries in the location of your choice. Each metropolitan area has specific industries aligned with it. For example, Seattle’s larger industries include technical and bio tech, manufacturing, retail, health care and education.
3) Next research various companies within the industry to discover their current and future economic outlook. For example some of the companies in the tech and bio tech sector include Microsoft, Amazon, ICOS, Seattle Genetics, and Goggle; companies in manufacturing include Boeing, Paccar and in retail inclu Costco, Nordstrom, and Starbucks, in health care all of the hospitals and all of the private and public educational institutions. Seattle also has a large non for profit sector including the Gates Foundation and Hopelink. Refer to web sites of companies, industry publications, local newspapers and media for information.
4) Do your research to determine which companies are most likely to hire prior to setting up internships.
5) Refer to Ms. Loretto’s application process for internships.
If your college does not offer internships in your career choice, take the initiative to set up your own internships. In my next blog, I will outline the process for developing your own internship.
{extended} ]]>
Here are 10 job-hunting tips that will facilitate your entry into the current competitive job market:
1. Employ a career counselor to help identify interests, motivations, inclinations, natural talents, aptitudes, learning styles, personality traits and style, and identifying the best job
fit.
2. Identify several career options and determine the availability of jobs within the industries.
3. Conduct informational interviews with people in your career choices and check out professional organizations to research current job market information.
4. Join professional organizations and networks to develop contacts.
5. Become Internet savvy — create a brand image and web brand by writing blogs to develop credibility in your area of specialization.
6. Develop a powerful profile to place on LinkedIn.com and other social networks. (Employers search social networks to find employees.)
7. Search the social networks in your area of specialization to find new contacts and build your industry connections. You can also join vertical industry groups within social network websites that exposes you to group members.
8. Read national and international newspapers, business magazines, journals, and industry publications to discover trends and where money will be invested for job development.
9. Research companies to determine their corporate culture, then determine if you fit their style, values, age range, and norms.
10. Unlike the days of having one job in one company forever, in this Information Age, job hunting requires a continuous, on going, daily effort.
One of my favorite Proverb quotes is “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Parents: help your children plan their college career by researching the job market before they start studying. You will help your child succeed and get a good return on your financial investment.
Today, the United States participates in the Global Age. Technology has produced or changed many careers. People change jobs seven to nine times in a lifetime do to restructuring, technology, and economic concerns. The United States has moved from a more predictable, consistent workplace to one that is constantly forming, dismantling, and reforming to compete internationally. Yet 30 years later, we still want to resort to the same traditional linear mindset in planning education and careers.
To succeed in our dynamic workplace, a more integrative and holistic model must be employed. The Global job market requires that students focus on a bigger picture perspective. Now, as students you need to understand the economic and political trends that determine the job market. The current global economic crisis has our legislators devising an economic stimulus package. This bill will determine where the money will be spent in the next few years. Much of the money will be geared to education, building infrastructure, health care information systems, propping up the housing market and President Obama’s intention of focusing on Green Technology.
Now is the time to ask yourself, are the college majors and training programs that you are contemplating or pursuing fit these trends?
More importantly in what of these current emerging areas do you fit? No longer do most Americans have the luxury of pursuing education for the sake of it. The Global economy requires a much more targeted, planful approach to educational and career planning. Do the research to make your education a vehicle to the job market.
The pace of change in American culture — indeed, throughout the world — is moving faster than any time in human history. Over centuries, jobs changed from agriculture to manufacturing. In decades, the nation’s focus changed from manufacturing to technology. Today, ongoing technological advances influence almost every sector of American work. As a result, many types of jobs available to American workers 50, 25, 10, even 5 years ago, no longer exist.
With the nation in economic turmoil and hundreds of thousands of people being laid off from jobs that are no longer needed, finding a job for today’s workers is tough. Yet, thousands of young people graduate college each year without sufficient preparation for a well-paying job in the new economy. With the average cost of an in-state undergraduate degree approaching $50,000, can people really afford to be trained for a job that might not exist when they graduate?
Perhaps you prepared for your career following an old paradigm: You obtained your education in a subject that interested you, chose a job in a company and/or industry that would employ you for life, and prepared for a long retirement. This old paradigm doesn’t fit with today’s economic, political, and technological realities.
The new paradigm requires everyone to become keen educational consumers and to employ a comprehensive approach that bridges education to the career of choice. To prepare for admission to college, one still has to participate in many activities while maintaining high academic grades. In addition, the student should:
• Define career goal.
• Determine educational path: college major or training program.
• Research job and industry trends.
• Identify and join industry networks and associations.
• Develop industry contacts and learn social networking.
• Find an internship, part-time or volunteer work.
• Research job boards for skills and job requirements.
This comprehensive approach will help your child bridge education to the career of his or her choice.
Janice E. Reha, MA, LMHC, is a career counselor with more than 30 years experience in private practice. http://www.careerdiscoveryinc.com. 425-451-2878
{extended} ]]>
In the interview the group discusses how the collaborative law approach in divorce offers an alternative to court. The Collaborative choice offers you the opportunity to focus on what is important to you, your family and your future.
Holly, Mark and Jan are members of the King County Collaborative Lawwhich is a volunteer, non-profit association of attorneys and allied professionals that supports the practice of resolving disputes using the collaborative law process. Collaborative law is a process of settling disputes where clients and their attorneys agree to a set of “protocols” that are client-focused, communication-centered and foster a cooperative approach to negotiations.
For more in depth information about the collaborative law process contact Jan, Mark or Holly.
{extended} ]]>
I can relate with the older worker, Ms. Draegin, who is using an internship to learn new skills such as writing blogs, tags and URLs that are new vocabulary to many of us older workers. Also, like her I have learned to use the new social working sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to promote my business and to teach my clients new avenues for finding jobs. And yes, we may have to reverse our situation and request help from young adults who have grown up with technology so they can readily accept all of the new techniques and innovations. Unfortunately many of us learned only the rudimentary basic computer skills and so adding more sophisticated techniques can be frustrating. The learning curve is steep but in our Global Economy, updating our skills and knowledge becomes necessary to survive in today’s job market.
To prevent feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, I have found that it is important to learn one skill set at a time. It takes courage to confront this new frontier so do not let shame or fear hold you back. Many of our largest population group, baby boomers, are in the same boat. Perhaps you have a son or daughter like me who is willing to train you. Or barter with a younger friend or check around for classes and resources to learn these skills. In confronting this challenge, I have learned a valuable lesson that I am never too old to learn. Like Ms. Draegin we can share our skills and knowledge with younger workers and develop a more collaborative relationship rather than one up, one down relationships of the past workplace. Through this challenge, we keep our mental processes active and functioning as well as gain self confidence. Welcome to the 21st Century.
{extended} ]]>
Recently Penny Loretto a writer for About.com points out Five Tips for Find Summer Internships during Spring Break. Ms. Loretto advises to research internship opportunities through your colleges.
Another good resource about the value of internships is posted on the University of California, Santa Barbara Career Services site: http://www.career.ucsb.edu/students/internships/index.html,.
1) First identify your career goal based upon your interests, skills, personality traits and values. You want a job/internship to fit you.
2) Determine the major industries in the location of your choice. Each metropolitan area has specific industries aligned with it. For example, Seattle’s larger industries include technical and bio tech, manufacturing, retail, health care and education.
3) Next research various companies within the industry to discover their current and future economic outlook. For example some of the companies in the tech and bio tech sector include Microsoft, Amazon, ICOS, Seattle Genetics, and Goggle; companies in manufacturing include Boeing, Paccar and in retail inclu Costco, Nordstrom, and Starbucks, in health care all of the hospitals and all of the private and public educational institutions. Seattle also has a large non for profit sector including the Gates Foundation and Hopelink. Refer to web sites of companies, industry publications, local newspapers and media for information.
4) Do your research to determine which companies are most likely to hire prior to setting up internships.
5) Refer to Ms. Loretto’s application process for internships.
If your college does not offer internships in your career choice, take the initiative to set up your own internships. In my next blog, I will outline the process for developing your own internship.
{extended} ]]>
Recently Penny Loretto a writer for About.com points out Five Tips for Find Summer Internships during Spring Break. Ms. Loretto advises to research internship opportunities through your colleges.
Another good resource about the value of internships is posted on the University of California, Santa Barbara Career Services site: http://www.career.ucsb.edu/students/internships/index.html .
1) First identify your career goal based upon your interests, skills, personality traits and values. You want a job/internship to fit you.
2) Determine the major industries in the location of your choice. Each metropolitan area has specific industries aligned with it. For example, Seattle’s larger industries include technical and bio tech, manufacturing, retail, health care and education.
3) Next research various companies within the industry to discover their current and future economic outlook. For example some of the companies in the tech and bio tech sector include Microsoft, Amazon, ICOS, Seattle Genetics, and Goggle; companies in manufacturing include Boeing, Paccar and in retail include: Costco, Nordstrom, and Starbucks, in health care all of the hospitals and all of the private and public educational institutions. Seattle also has a large non for profit sector including the Gates Foundation and Hopelink. Refer to web sites of companies, industry publications, local newspapers and media for information.
4) Do your research to determine which companies are most likely to hire prior to setting up internships.
5) Refer to Ms. Loretto’s application process for internships.
If your college does not offer internships in your career choice, take the initiative to set up your own internships. In my next blog, I will outline the process for developing your own internship.
http://internships.about.com/od/internshiptip1/a/3strategies.htm
http://internships.about.com/od/internsites/tp/internsites.htm
http://internships.about.com/od/internsites/a/findingsummerin.htm
http://internships.about.com/od/resumetipssamples/a/ResumeTemplate.htm
http://internships.about.com/od/resumetipssamples/ht/ResumeTips.htm
Will your internship lead to a job and more importantly a job of your career choice?
Career Assessment and Planning for Young Adults- Seattle, Bellevue, WA
Career Assessment and Planning for Mid Life Career Changers -Seattle, Bellevue, WA
Career Assessment and Planning for Divorce Clients - Seattle, Bellevue, WA
Recently, I was called to testify in King County Court for my client who was a woman in her mid-forties and married at 20 years old. My client, who I will refer to as Carol, had acquired only a minimal education beyond high school and had little to no work experience. She also had an unsuccessful high school experience and so was very fearful about returning to school again. First we explored her family influences using the Genogram and discovered that neither of her parents had education beyond high school They were very hard working and hands on people. Her father was a laborer and her mother remained in the home. Carol was very involved in her children’s activities and maintaining a very large yard and home. She took her responsibilities very seriously.
After taking her family, personal and work history, several patterns surfaced. Carol was very organized and task oriented; she enjoyed and received much satisfaction seeing the concrete results of her efforts. She also developed a schedule of activities daily. Her inventory results clearly reflected these tendencies. To her surprise, her clearest tendencies were Enterprising and in management, sales and marketing occupations. She also scored similar interests to people in Conventional and Realistic fields. In combining these Themes, Carol appeared well suited to the field of Property Management. In fact, her brother worked in this field.
Next Carol completed Basic Skills Placement tests at a local community college discovering that her English scores were college level; however her math scores were lowso she would have to complete prerequisites in math. She enrolled immediately in a math course and a business course. Prior to Court, Carol had completed two quarters of classes and was in the midst of another quarter. By the way, Carol has been obtaining As and Bs in her coursework much to her amazement and delight. Mediators and Judges look positively upon clients who are taking action and updating their skills. Carol’s goal is to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Business.
I strongly encouraged her to join a Business network and through her brother obtain contacts in the field to develop a network of potential employers. I encouraged her to research the job market by using the job search sites like http://www.careerbuilder.com and http.//www.craigslist.com. and read local newspapers like the Puget Sound Business Journal. Also she has to continually stay in touch with Global and national trends to note their impact on the local job market. Both Carol and I presented her plan to the judge. She was awarded six years of maintenance based upon her educational and career plan.Her actions proved to the Court that she was serious about her pursuing her educational and career goals.
Two years ago, my client, that I shall call Susan, was referred to my service by her attorney. Her attorney wanted to determine the job outlook, salary information and time it would take for her to obtain viable employment. This information would help the attorney in substantiating her claim for maintenance and property settlement. Typical of many in her situation, the opposing attorney and her soon to be ex-spouse assigned her with the probability that she could earn at least $50,000 year immediately upon reentering the job market. Their assumption was based on the criteria that she possessed a Masters in Business degree from a major university and that she had ten years of work experience in high tech companies. She had interrupted her career 10 years ago when she became a parent. Her children were 8 and 10 years old.
As a parent of young children, Susan was very concerned about providing adequate parenting for her children while managing a full time career. She engaged in the process described in Career Program for Divorcing Clients.
Her background reflected that her parents were very industrious, competent people and held high standards for their children. Her siblings and Susan consequently sought education that led them to professional careers. Living in Silicon Valley, Susan was able to obtain employment in marketing with one of the high tech companies. At the end of her career, she was very much stressed by the demands of the industry.
Upon reviewing the results of the career inventories, Susan discovered that her strengths were in Enterprising occupations. More importantly, she showed clear interests in Social and Artistic occupations as well. By combining these three Themes, we ascertained that Susan would most compatibly with using her enterprising skills in the non for profit sector. She wanted to work in place where her endeavors benefited people more directly using her creativity.
Next, Susan joined a non for profit association to network with people in the industry to learn about the field. At the same time, she entered the Fundraising Management certificate program at the University of Washington. Through her affiliation with the association she met a hiring manager for a major local non for profit company. She has just sent her resume to them. The hiring manager reviewed her resume, called her in for an interview and Susan was hired. Recently, I heard from Susan thanking me for my “excellent counsel”. Needless to say, I am delighted as well.
Often I see older divorcing clients who have been in long term marriages undergoing divorce. These clients are very devastated and in shock. Recently, I having been counseling both men and women in this situation. My male client’s spouses were the major income producers, they took the role of the stay at home parent. They also encounter the same difficult challenges of interrupted work history, lack of current, up to date skills and more importantly age. These clients tend to have other liabilities including physical and emotional disabilities.
This last year, a woman in her mid fifties was referred to my office for a Vocational Evaluation. Mary, not her real name, suffered from chronic anxiety and depression and had numerous physical impairments. Upon taking her family, educational and personal history, I discovered that she had supported her spouse in his career advancement during the early stages of their marriage but quit her career when the couple started their family. Upon agreement with her spouse, Mary assumed primary responsibilities for the personal care of the children and the household. Now 32 years later, her spouse wanted a divorce.
After completing the evaluation process, it became apparent that the key factors of age, interrupted career, lack of current skills, physical and emotional disabilities prevented Mary from seeking paid employment. In her Vocational Report, I substantiated her lack of enjoyability by including medical and psychological reports and job market information. Her case went to Court and I testified to my findings. Her attorney reported to me that she obtained slightly more of the couple’s financial assets and maintenance for 10 years. It might be noted that her spouse was a high wage earner.
Mark’s financial planner referred him to my office to determine his current and future career and earnings potential. The planner would take these numbers to determine Mark’s need for maintenance and a fair property settlement. Mark is a mid-age male who has remained in the home for the past 10 years to provide care for the home and and the couple’s two children. His spouse is employed at a major local area tech company and earns an adequate income that allowed him this opportunity. Upon reviewing Mark’s personal, educational and work history, I discovrered that his father was a Ph.D minister and taught in college Seminary program. His mother was a teacher but returned to a technical college to become a computer programmer. While in elementary school, Mark was diagnosed as having a learning disability which impacted his ability to focus and stay on task. He possessed innate intelligence but his educational and work history reflected that he could complete assignments and projects if he had time and structure constraints. He excelled in math and science which peaked his interest. He had difficulty with completing written assignments or any unstructured projects.
After flunking out of college the first time, Mark worked for two years in a retail store. Then he entered a local community college while living at home. He excelled in math and science classes but had more difficulty with forming his thoughts in written assignments. He was fascinated with math and computers so majored in computer science. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, he was accepted into a PhD program in in Computer Science at a University. While completing the program, he met his spouse.
They married and shortly thereafter his spouse completed her dissertation. She obtained job at a research lab so the couple relocated to her place of employment. Mark had completed all of his coursework and a Masters in Computer Science with the intention of completing his dissertation for his PhD while working part time at the research lab. The couple relocated again several years later to advance her career. At this time, they started having children. Mark was able to find part time employment as an instructor in a college. He enjoyed teaching and caring for the children.
Several years later, the family relocated to Seattle, WA where his spouse found her present employment. By this time, too much time elapsed for Mark to complete his dissertation. He again found a part time faculty position at a local University. Six years ago, his position was terminated when the college hired a full time instructor to take his classes. When Mark entered my office he had just turned 50 years old. Per my program format, we explored Mark’s family influences. The career inventories reflected that Mark had strong interest in teaching and in particular higher level subjects. He started exploring local area teaching preparation programs and found that a local area university offered a one year teaching certificate program for people with math and science backgrounds. Then Mark researched local area school districts to determine the job outlook and salary range for teachers with a Master’s degree. He discovered that there is a good job outlook for math teachers.
Mark is currently completing Teaching Certificate program. In addition, he is volunteering in a math classroom to obtain a future recommendation and work experience to place on his resume. He coaches his children in their sports program which is another excellent addition to his resume. Additionally, he teaches physical fitness classes at a physical fitness center.
I compiled his information into a Vocational Report which he presented to his attorney and financial planner to substantiate his need for maintenance. The maintenance will afford him the opportunity to cover his living expenses while he is obtaining his education and and allow him time for reentry into the job market. Often it is necessary to work in temporary or part time jobs to acquire recommendations and work experience required by future employers.
Over these past 30 years I have counseled divorcing clients in many and varied circumstances. My career counseling program serves two purposes. First, my clients developed a clear sense of educational and career direction greatly allying their own bewilderment and fears of the unknown. Secondly, I developed a Vocational Report for their attorneys pointing out the immediate obstacles each client faces in reentry to the job market.
The Vocational Report contains the educational and work history background, the current physical and emotional status of the client, a short summary of their career assessment, compilation of all of this information and a career and educational plan of action. Educational costs, the job outlook and salary data is also included in the report. Maintenance is based on the cost and length of time that the client requires to return to the job market. Their attorneys utilized the Vocational Report in Mediation and Court to substantiate the client’s claim for maintenance.