Online Career Exploration with Choices Planner CT Which path will you choose to take?

Online Career Exploration with Choices Planner CT Which path will you choose to take? Provided by: Fanshawe College www.fanshawec.ca/1stgen Counselling and Accessibility Services 519-452-4282

Online Career Exploration with Choices Planner CT First Generation Project Are you the first family member to consider going to a post-secondary institution? The first generation project has enhanced services for first generation students (whose parents did not complete a Canadian college, university or apprenticeship program) to support you throughout your post-secondary education. Why is the first generation project important? Studies have shown that by 2013, more than 80% of new jobs, including entry-level positions, will require some form of post-secondary education or skills training. A degree or diploma from a recognized college or university leads to developing new skills, better employment prospects and higher salaries. Free Online Career Tool Fanshawe College is pleased to offer access to career exploration opportunities for First Generation individuals who are considering college or university. These include the Choices Planner online, and access to career counselling with Fanshawe College Counsellors. It is our intention to help people to identify potential career goals and the educational pathways to achieve these goals. Where to go online? Go to http://bridges.ca to access Choices Planner online. Step by step instructions are found in the document Choices Planner Guide.PDF. This is a two page document to guide you through the planner to explore careers. Career Counselling If you have questions about your Career Profile or careers in general, you can book one halfhour session with a counsellor via phone, or in person. To make an appointment to speak with a counsellor, contact Counselling and Accessibility Services at (519) 452-4282. Please identify yourself as someone who is a First Generation individual and has attended a Fanshawe College First Generation Information Session and /or completed the First Generation Survey. Staff will provide you with a scheduled appointment time. Thank you for participating in the Fanshawe College First Generation Project.

Career Exploration for First Generation Students using Choices Planner Step By Step Text Instructions 1. Log onto www.bridges.ca. 2. Click on the Site ID tab. 3. Type in the Site ID and password as shown here: Site ID: 30579 Password: t5379ps2 4. Press the Enter key to continue. 5. Once you have logged in, click on Create Portfolio on the top right hand side on your screen. 6. Fill out your information in the fields provided and then click Create Your Portfolio. Write down your username and password. In the future you will log in using this information. 7. On the next screen you will see a rectangular box that says Your Tools. Click on the small arrow to continue. 8. You are now on the home page of the Choices Planner. You should see a screen with tabs across the top of the page displaying, Home, Work, Learn, and Your Portfolio. Underneath, you should also see two sections entitled Work and Learn. 9. Under the Work section, click on Interest Profiler. After reading the instructions, click Start Answering Questions to continue. 10. You will be given a series of statements for which you will provide an answer by clicking on the statement that best fits. For example the first statement is, How would you like to build kitchen cabinets? You have the choice to click on Like, Not sure, or Dislike. When answering these questions, go with your first instinct and do not over-analyze. 11. When you are finished, a summary page will be displayed. You can choose to explore careers based on these results, or click on Home to complete more assessments in order to yield more specific results. 12. Under the Work section, click on Work Values Sorter. After reading the instructions, click Start Ranking Your Values to continue. 13. Once you have placed all the cards on the board, click Continue to Work Values Profile. You can choose to explore careers based on these results, or click on Home to complete more assessments in order to yield more specific results. 14. Under the Work section, click on Work Preference Appraiser. Click Start Choosing Your Skills to continue. 15. Read the statement and then click on the circle either beside Yes or No. Once you are finished, a summary page of your top interest areas will be displayed. Fanshawe College Counselling and Accessibility Services 2009 1

16. After reading your results click Career Finder to continue. The Career Finder is located on the right hand side of your page in a light blue box. 17. Now you have the opportunity to choose which information you d like to include for your career preference search. On the left hand side of the page under My Characteristics you will see the following titles: Interests, Work Values, Aptitudes, Work Preferences and Myers-Briggs. 18. Click Interests. On the top right hand corner of your page in a light blue box you will see Interest Profiler and an option for you to Use Interest Profiler in results. Click on this title. 19. Repeat #18 for Work Values, and Work Preferences. 20. If you have completed the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) and know your four letter type, click on Myers-Briggs and click the circle beside your type. Then click on See Your Matching Careers. You will find this at the bottom of your page. 21. If you have not completed the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), don t worry. You ve entered plenty of information already to help you determine your work preferences. If you take the MBTI in the future you can always enter in your results to update your work preferences. 22. If you have not completed the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), click on See Your Matching Careers. You will find this at the bottom of your page. 23. Now take some time to browse through your results. Click on any career of interest to learn more information. 24. After clicking on a career you can use the menu on the left hand side of your page to display more information including: job description, how the career matches with your preferences, skills needed, education needed, estimated income and job outlook, and other related links. 25. When you have a couple of careers in mind, click on the Learn tab at the top of your page (purple tab) to find out how to achieve your learning goals. 26. You can browse education programs by cluster (classification group), or by searching an alphabetical list. Each cluster will guide you to careers and post-secondary programs that are related to the careers. 27. Once you have clicked on a cluster and chosen a program or major of interest, you can search for schools that offer related programs. 28. Under the title Find Schools Offering This Program and Choose This Type of Program, click the box beside No Preference. 29. Then choose a province to specify the search. 30. Click Go to see your results! 31. From there you can click on the schools of interest, read some information about the school and then click on the link provided at the bottom of the page to be directed to that school s website. There is also other contact information provided should you want to contact them in person, or over the phone. Fanshawe College Counselling and Accessibility Services 2009 2

Career Exploration for First Generation Students using Choices Planner Step by Step with Screen Captures Fanshawe College Counselling and Accessibility Services 2009 3

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