Parent Guide

Overview

The Nevada CareerExplorer allows students to explore the world of work through a variety of activities. Nevada CareerExplorer is designed so students can progress at their own pace.

Students will want to ask their parents questions as they explore potential occupations, colleges, and lifestyles and this guide is to help parents and guardians understand how Nevada CareerExplorer works so they can help their student through the career exploration process.

When students begin using Nevada CareerExplorer they have the option to create an account to store their activities. By creating this optional account, they can return and continue their exploration where they left off the last time they were on Nevada CareerExplorer. Most of the activities are available without an account, however, we recommend having an account so students’ exploration can be efficient and more than just a one-time event. To create an account, students click the register button on the home page or select the sign in link at the top of the page and then select the create account tab.

Exploration and Planning

As your student begins exploring, there are a few things you'll want to take a look at and encourage them to accomplish.

They should take an assessment to see what they might be interested in doing

By starting with an assessment, your student will be able to answer questions about themselves to get recommendations on occupations that they might be interested in, or otherwise find satisfaction when working.

There are several assessments found in Nevada CareerExplorer, but for most users, the Interest Profiler is the best starting point. After answering 30-60 questions, students will be ready to start exploring.

Then research their results to pick the options that are most appealing

From the results of their assessment, the users should work through the listing to find a few options that appeal to them. Filters in the listing will help them narrow down their options by things like education required and annual wages.

Many occupations have a video, as well as real-time job openings and other available opportunities. These can help students to get a feel for what the job entails, as well as what type of real-world opportunities await.

As they view occupations, colleges, and other items in the system - they will have the opportunity to rate what they are looking at as well as take notes in their journal. These tools help the students keep track of their thoughts and can be returned to throughout their journey.

Next, they would ideally develop a budget to make sure their choices can support their plan

When they've narrowed down their list to those they're interested in pursuing, it is helpful to further check their salary requirements. Budget Your Life allows students to answer questions about their expected lifestyle choices to get an annual budget and see which of their occupations would allow them to meet it.

The students can develop multiple budgets, so that if the first one they choose is their dream scenario, they can also develop one that is on the more conservative end. Occupations that fall into both would be great, but at a minimum they would be looking for something that meets their minimum requirements.

Finally, they should share their plan

Nevada CareerExplorer can output a Summary Report which has the results of all of their activity on the system, as well as their journal entries and ratings. This document makes a good base to share with others for feedback.

If they are using the Nevada CareerExplorer as part of their class, they may also have additional exploration activities that they performed, as well as assignments and lessons that their teachers or counselors may have given them. The results for all of this can also be found in the Summary Report.

Talking Together About Careers

Nevada CareerExplorer is great for allowing students to explore occupations and colleges to narrow down their choices, it doesn't make decisions for them. That decision will ultimately depend on many factors and discussing these with your child can help them tremendously.

As was mentioned in the last section, once your student has done some exploration, they will be able to show you their exploration summary. Look through it asking yourself if this summary seems like a good fit. If there are things you are unfamiliar with, feel free to visit Nevada CareerExplorer again to do your own research. We also include some suggestions for more information, outside of the system, where you can delve even deeper into the subject.

As a final check, you can chat with them about their top choices. In addition to finding out why they feel they want to pursue those career options, it can be helpful to share your history to make the process more personal and human. Your child may want to ask you questions like:

Next steps

One of the steps above involved the creation of action plans by the student. If these were created, you may want to periodically check-in to make sure these are completed. If you have a copy, you can check-in from time-to-time just to see how things are progressing.

As your student continues to explore, one of the questions that will arise is whether or not to attend a college or university. If the answer is yes, you will probably want to schedule some time to visit their top choices. The college profile page provides the address for the institutions as well as their website and contact number, which you can use to schedule an appointment (if necessary) and lookup driving directions.

In addition to the Nevada CareerExplorer, there are many other resources on the web that can provide you with additional information on career exploration, colleges and the job market. We provide a resources section that contains general purpose links to some of these resources. If more specific data is available for an occupation or college, it will appear online on the profile page for the item.