Job Search Strategy with O*NET Online

Pundits and politicians salivate every month about what the unemployment numbers mean for American workers. If you’re like me, you probably think the media spends more time debating instead of offering real solutions.


I guess that is where we come in and so today, like I have done before, I happily endorse a great online resource called O*NET, sponsored by the Department of Labor. This free online resource has three great features that must be a part of any jobseeker’s job search strategy.

The three features are:

How to identify growing industries – If you or someone you know was laid off from a declining occupation and those jobs aren’t coming back, how can you find growing industries?

The Bright Outlook - Thinking about retraining and can’t think of which careers will be growing over the next decade? The Bright Outlook feature can help you here.

Related Occupations – Trying to find a related career that might use most of the skills you already have? This feature helps you reduce the time to switch.

Read the complete article - How to Use ONET Online as Part of a Competitive Job Search Strategy

Checkout O*NET here.

Take 20 Minutes on this Skills Profiler

If you are considering a Career Education or Vocational Training Program use the Skills Profiler to create a list of your skills and match them to job types that need those skills.

A job skills profile can help you:
- strengths
- areas of weaknesses
- occupations that can utilize your current skills
- find gaps you need to fill
- create a good vocational resume
(Skill Based Sample Vocational Training Resumes)

If you use the Skills Profiler from the Department of Labor, you have the choice to print, save or bookmark it in your browser.

Plan to spend about 20 minutes completing your job skills profile.

Free "Cute" Career Tests from Blogthings.com

I discovered this really cool, fun website - Blogthings - with several quizzes that will help you learn a little about yourself and your career habits. Disclaimer - Not sure we need one, but we need to say that career tests are tools and offer information to provoke your thinking. They do not replace your thoughts and these in particular offer no scientific observations.

Here is a list of career quizzes at Blogthings.

My favorite? What Should You be When You Grow Up. My results are below! I do consider myself an educator and do training. Maybe that counts as teaching? I think so. (;>

1. What Does Your Work Space Say About You?
2. How's Your Attention Span?
3. What Should You Be When You Grow Up?
4. Should You Get a New Job?
5. Are You a Natural Entrepreneur?
6. Is Your Boss Psycho?
7. The Quick and Dirty Career Test
8. Will You Be a Multimillionaire?
9. Do You Have a Type A Personality?
10. Should You Quit Your Job?
11. What Advanced Degree Should You Get?
12. How Machiavellian Are You?
13. What's Your Ideal Career?

You Should Be a Teacher

You are patient, optimistic, and good at explaining things. You work well with all types of people, and you are a good role model. Success and positive outcomes are extremely important to you. You are both a good leader and instructor. People look up to and depend on you. You do best when you: - Can see the results of your work - Are able to teach someone a new skill You would also be a good nurse or non fiction writer.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

10 Misconceptions about the Myers Briggs

Many college career centers use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help college students as they make the decisions about careers and majors.

Breanne Potter does a great job covering many of the misconceptions about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Breanne consults with corporate and government organizations that use the MBTI to help employees improve productivity and enjoy greater job satisfaction.

Feel free to email Breanne any questions you have about the MBTI®, Strong Interest Inventory®, FIRO-B®, TKI and CPI™ or assessments she uses.

Synopsis of the top 10 misconceptions: (Breanne does a good job explaining why each of these are misconceptions and how to modify your thinking in the complete article).

1. The MBTI is a personality test
2. I can take the MBTI online for free
3. The MBTI says I am one type, but I feel I am another type
4. We can use this to select new employees
5. I am one of 16 types, but I feel I am more unique than that
6. I should change careers based on the result
7. If I had a high score in one area it must mean I am really good at that
8. I have changed my type several times
9. I can guess what someone's type is going to be
10. If my team members all have the same MBTI type, we will be the best team ever

As with any career assessment tool, honest self evaluation is really the key to change.

Free Online Career Evaluation

Successful career planning requires constant self evaluation. It is important to know where you are and if you are staying current.

Check out these two free quizzes at JobSniper that will help you evaluate your current career situation.

1. Professional Online Career Evaluation - Select your location in the US, Canada or the UK.

2. Job Hunter Exam - 24 True/False questions that helps you shore up your job search skills.

Day 20 - Explore Career Assessments

How much work have you done to know more about your skills, your values, your interests, your personality and your abilities. Who you are and what you have to offer must be considered as you contemplate your next career steps.

Here are a few career assessments to help you get started.

Some sites have more free resources than others. Explore all of them.

*Remember that no Career Assessment will tell you what you should be or what you should do. The results, however, will offer you a framework within which to start exploring options or will reinforce your current choice.

Find your favorite:

Ansir – Dominant personality Styles in three realms: Thinking Working and Emoting. 30 minutes

Big 5 Personality Test - Five fundamental dimensions of personality. Fairly bare-bones chart assessing Openness to New Experiences, Extraversion, Nervousness, and others. 5 to 10 minutes.

Career Competency Explorer - Five career competency domains: Technical, Strategic, Innovation, Cooperation, and Influence. Very easy interface; questions seem somewhat repetitious. 10-20 minutes and registration is required.

Career Focus 2000 Interest Inventory – Looks at your level of interest in about 18 occupational fields. This assessment's 180 inventory items about work tasks, and helps you identify possible career goals that match your strongest personal interests. 20-30 minutes.

Career Interest and Inventory - This 180-question assessment is a measure of occupational and career interests. This 180-question assessment is a measure of occupational and career interests. 15 minutes and registration is required.

Work Preference Inventory - This 24-question forced-choice assessment that tells your work style. This assessment is based on the premise that the process of values clarification is very important in career planning.

Type Focus – Looks at personality. Quick and easy 66-question assessment that tells your Myers-Briggs type and offers a bit of career direction. 8 to 10 minutes.



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