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Career Coaching

The resources on this page can help adult education practitioners provide opportunities for adult learners to examine career pathways and explore a variety of options so that they can make informed decisions about their careers.

Adult Career Pathways Program Planning

  • Career Awareness Context Checklist This checklist is designed to be used by adult education program staff to develop a comprehensive scope and sequence for the career awareness context. For planning purposes, staff can work together to determine which topics to include in their delivery of career awareness and whether topics should be delivered by a student support coordinator or embedded into instructional activities that align with the College and Career Readiness Standards.
  • Coordinating Marketing, Recruitment, and Intake This resource can help programs consider how to coordinate marketing, recruitment, and intake with their  workforce development system and postsecondary education partners to improve student outcomes. 
  • LINCS The Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS) is a national leadership initiative of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) to expand evidence-based practice in the field of adult education. LINCS demonstrates OCTAE’s commitment to delivering high-quality, on-demand educational opportunities to practitioners of adult education, so those practitioners can help adult learners successfully transition to postsecondary education and 21st century jobs.
  • Integrating Career Pathways Elements into Adult Education Programming  This resource provides adult education agencies with fundamental information and multiple resources to infuse a career pathways approach into their programming.  The guide is intended to provide information and resources for a diverse adult education staff with varying levels of experience. 
  • Ten Strategies to Support Retention of English Language Learners (ELLs) This worksheet lists strategies that can be used to enhance your retention of ELLs. There is space to add notes as you implement each strategy as well as space to add your own ideas. 
  • WorkforceGPS This online technical assistance website was created to help build the capacity of America’s public workforce investment system. Sponsored by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, WorkforceGPS was developed specifically for workforce professionals, educators, and business leaders. Here you will find curated communities of interest, useful webinars and other training resources, promising workforce development practices, and relevant evidence-based research – giving you the tools you need to help you create innovative approaches to improve the employment prospects of job seekers.

Career Awareness and Career Exploration

  • CareerOne Stop This website contains tools to help job seekers, students, businesses, and career professionals. 
  • CUNY CareerKit Project This website provides activities that are written at the HSE/upper ESL level, with adaptations possible for pre-HSE and intermediate ESL levels.  Each of the CareerKits addresses one of ten industry sectors and integrates reading, writing, research and math skills. Each CareerKit also includes parenting lessons.  
  • Integrating Career Awareness Curriculum  This resource prepares adult educators to incorporate career awareness and planning into their instructional and counseling activities. 
  • My Next Move  This online, interactive tool can help job seekers and students learn more about their career options. 
  • O*NET OnLine  This website has detailed descriptions of the world of work for use by job seekers, workforce development professionals, students, researchers, and more. 
  • Pennsylvania Career Guide This publication can be used by all individuals who are preparing for continuing education and/or entrance into the workforce. Examples of the useful information in this guide include career outlook highlights, an interest assessment tool, tips for marketing yourself, sources of financial aid, and contact information for many commonwealth services, including PA CareerLink® locations and select state agencies.
  • Pennsylvania Center for Workforce Information and Analysis  This website provides timely, objective, and credible workforce and economic statistics and analysis to help customers make informed policy, business and career decisions that strengthen Pennsylvania’s economic security.
  • Student Support Coordinator Hub A collection of  tools and resources that help support adult learners in meeting personal, academic, and career-related goals.

Career Goal Planning

  • 20 Ways to Use Career Pathway Maps  This one-page document lists 20 ways career maps can be used in adult education. Student support coordinators and teachers can do these suggested career map activities to support career awareness, career exploration, and career goal setting with adult learners.
  • Barrier Assessments  A collection of informal assessments that can be used to assess student barriers.
  • Career Conversation Starters for Adult Learners The questions in this document are adapted from the American School Counselor Association’s Career Conversation Starters, which were based on an extensive review of career counseling literature. The questions can be used with individuals or groups of learners. They provide an opportunity for adult learners to engage in conversations about how skills, interests, and behaviors are related to personal, academic, and career goals.
  • Career Information Checklists This document includes four leveled checklists. Each level has more complex activities. Student support coordinators and teachers can use the checklists with students to track career exploration, career awareness, and workforce preparation progress.
  • OARS Model: Essential Communication Skills This resource includes culturally sensitive and appropriate questions for student support coordinators to ask adults when providing one-on-one support related to assessing barriers, setting goals, and planning for transition. 
  • On Our Way: Educational Toolkit for Families This toolkit is a collection of resources to support the educational aspirations of Latino families and prepare them for entering and completing postsecondary education. This toolkit of resources serves two generations simultaneously.
  • Student Education and Career Plan  This document can be used by students and adult education staff to track student planning and progress towards a career plan. Save this Word version and use it as a working document, editing and adding information as needed. 
  • Supporting Language Learners with Career Planning Overview This one-page document provides links to resources that can support English learners with meeting their educational and career goals. 
  • Supporting Language Learners with Career Planning Student Document This document provides guiding questions to help English learners develop a career plan. It has different questions for adults who are pursuing employment versus adults who are pursuing postsecondary education and training.
  • Tech Tools for Career Coaches and Navigators This resource provides an overview of tech tools that can be used to help learners feel connected to career coaches, as well as other learners. 

    Transition Supports

    • Adult College Completion ToolKit  This toolkit connects state administrators and local practitioners to the strategies, resources, and technical assistance tools resulting from the U.S. Department of Education’s work. 
    • Education and Career Navigation Framework  This framework is a comprehensive structure designed to facilitate identification and organization of the knowledge, skills, and other factors needed to help individuals make informed, personally relevant decisions and build actionable, achievable plans. 
    • Financial Aid Toolkit  This is a one-stop shop designed for practitioners to access information, including financial aid tips, outreach suggestions, handout templates, and videos to promote post-secondary education and training with students. 
    • National College Transition Network  This resource provides information to help to prepare adult learners to succeed in postsecondary education that leads to jobs with family-sustaining wages. 
    • PA CareerLink®  Adult education practitioners can work with their PA CareerLink® partners to access support for adult learners who will use this website for job searching. In the PA CareerLink® job-seeker portal, job seekers can search for jobs across Pennsylvania, create and upload a resume, and make themselves available to thousands of employers. PA CareerLink® will also recommend jobs based on job-seeker preferences. 
    • Personal and Workplace Success Skills Library A collection of resources to guide the integration of personal and workplace success skills into curriculum and instruction, advising and coaching, assessment, and program design.
    • Skills Gap Roadmap for Case Managers  This roadmap helps case managers (or student support coordinators) guide job seekers through the career exploration and planning process. 

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