Getting Clear about Career Readiness and Planning

A couple of months ago, I met and listened to a wonderful presentation by fellow consultant and pathways traveller, Kevin Fleming.  Kevin is the author and producer of the viral video called “Success in the New Economy” (https://youtu.be/zs6nQpVI164).  This video explains how being well fitted for an average-earnings career is better in the long run than being poorly fitted to a high earnings career.  And it also explains the hot market for so many jobs that require excellent skills, but don’t necessarily require a four-year college degree.

Kevin has recently produced another excellent video that’s a little shorter than the first, and it is super practical for any student or parent.  It’s called Four Skills and Four Steps.  Watch it here: https://youtu.be/twWcxIfa2zo.

Did I mention — Watch it!

It only takes 7 minutes, and I’m sure you’ll want to start sharing it immediately.

So here’s the quick summary —

The Four Skills:

  • Academic Skills
  • Life Skills
  • Employability Skills
  • Technical Skills

These four skills are very compatible with the way we at NC3T talk about “Career and Life Skills” with our pathway system clients.  You can take a look at the Career and Life Skills framework here: https://nc3t.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CCLR-Integrated-Definition-2-3-2016.pdf

And here are the Four Steps:

  • Know Yourself (core talents, skills and interests)
  • Explore Career Options
  • Plan for a Career
  • Create a 10-year Plan

We talk about these four steps in the Career Development section of our Pathways System Framework. (See “The Power and Promise of Pathways”).

Some Helpful Links

The video also makes references to some excellent free resources created for the California Department of Education.   No promises, but I think you might be able to set up an account and try out some of the services, even if you don’t live in California.  But more than likely, your state or school district has already invested in similar career development systems.

https://www.cacareerzone.org/

http://www.cacareercafe.com/

And here’s the link to the federal job information system referenced in the video, O-NET:

https://www.onetonline.org/

Keeping it Simple

One thing that we all need in life is more clarity and simplicity.  Thanks to Kevin for breaking it down into Four Skills and Four Steps.

P.S.  If you want to learn more about Kevin’s work, you can find him at Telos Educational Services.

 

 

Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions.  (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

One thought on “Getting Clear about Career Readiness and Planning

  1. Steve Schneider says:

    You are correct, Kevin Fleming’s videos are a great resource when doing lessons with high school students. We just finished using the Four Skills and Four Steps video with all of our sophomores. Kevin also wrote a spectacular and thought provoking book, “Redefining the Goal: The True Path to Career Readiness in the 21st Century”. I highly recommend it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *