Lancaster:  Making good decisions for your long term career interests is not always easy, but your chances of making wise decisions can be improved by using some readily available resources. With the cost of education steadily increasing, making well thought out decisions regarding this important investment are more critical than ever. Whether you are at the beginning or the middle of your career here are some excellent things to do to help you make choices and investments in yourself that pay the highest dividends over the course of your career and your entire lifetime.

Education and Training with a Career Focus

When choosing a career or a new career think wholistically. Think about what you do well and what you like to do. If you are in college or thinking about going school, consider consulting a copy of Laurence Shatkin's "10 Best College Majors for Your Personality". Think about the best things you have done and received positive feedback on. Also, use career inventories like the Onet Interest Inventory and others that help you dig a bit deeper into your interests. Knowing these interests could be a real asset in your current and future career moves. Understand that many jobs and careers use somewhat similar skill sets and abilities.

Also get the opinions of other people who know you well and have seen you in a variety of situations. Talk to teachers, past and present bosses, coaches, faith leaders, friends and family members for feedback on your greatest assets and areas that you should bolster for long term success.

Review CareerLinks Top 100 Hot Jobs in Lancaster County. This helpful volume presents an increasing number of Career Pathways, groups of industry specific jobs that lead from entry level to mid-level to senior level. These steps or "rungs" of the ladder of success are attained by on the job training, employer sponsored and professional association sponsored seminars and college or technical school courses. Also, go on line and check out the "Occupational Outlook Handbook" of the US Bureau of Labor.

Perhaps most important fact is the section of this tools is the Job Outlook (2012 to 2021) + or - % of growth. This is very important because you want to make sure that you are training for the job that will be available, not the job that was available. Unfortunately, some people look only at what they like to do with no thought about whether there is a need for that job now and in the foreseeable future. Some job titles have a glut of people capable of doing the job, while other jobs have far too few workers with the needed skills or experience. By reviewing this helpful analysis of the workforce of today and its projections for the next ten years you can know what the likely demand will be for the job that you're training for.

In summary here are some steps to take to plan a good vocational future:

• Think about what you like to do and do well. Get the opinion of friends, family, important mentors.
• Consider the "rungs" of the ladder of success for your industries of interest. Look particularly at those careers with + % growth.
• Stick with your strengths area career planning but use education and training to build up other areas.
• Consider all the factors of Job Satisfaction: Salary (US Bureau of Labor Statistics website), working conditions, chance of advancement, return on education dollar and time investment and future demand for your skill and or knowledge, access to scholarships and other kinds of educational assistance.
• Shadow current employees in industries of your interest
• Select potential programs for education and training with both your interest and abilities in mind and the needed skills and knowledge in the current and projected future employment markets.

Gerald Simmons is the Business Services Team Liaison at the PA CareerLink of Lancaster County. He is charged with connecting individuals enrolled in CareerLink services with the employers working with the Business Services Team. If you are involved in the Job Search Center, Pre-Employment Trainings, or Ready2 Work you will most likely have a conversation with Gerald. Be sure to mention you read his article!

Washington (Associated Press, April 22, 2012): The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.  A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.  Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs — waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example — and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor's degrees.

Opportunities for college graduates vary widely.  While there's strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder. Median wages for those with bachelor's degrees are down from 2000, hit by technological changes that are eliminating midlevel jobs such as bank tellers. Most future job openings are projected to be in lower-skilled positions such as home health aides, who can provide personalized attention as the U.S. population ages.

In Lancaster County, our own analysis says that there are many so-called "middle-skill" jobs that pay well and provide good careers while not requiring a 4-year college degree.  Many of thes jobs are in technical careers requiring science, technology, engineering, and math skills.  Many of them are in industries such as manufacturing and construction where retirements of Baby Boomers are creating a crisis in the incumbent workforce.  There are many good jobs out there...just not for graduates of 4-years institutions.  See our Top 100 Hot Jobs feature on this site.

Lancaster:  Finding employment in the current job market can be daunting, yet with services, assistance and trainings offered at the Lancaster County PA CareerLink you do not have to feel that you are alone in your search.

For Mariah Sommerville of Denver, PA., her help began by attending the recent Lancaster County PA CareerLink Job Fair. For others it is in taking that first step and contacting the CareerLink at 717-509-5613 and asking to be scheduled for the Career Planning Seminar, which gives clients an overview of all of the services available and connects them with a Career Coach.

In Mariah's words, "for two years I struggled looking for work, often finding closed doors and rarely hearing my phone ring; my Career Coach helped me part the seas of confusion and frustration and led me to the Ready2Work program. As I worked towards the goals set for me...the daily held seminars allowed me the ability to revamp my job search tools." Ready2Work helps job seekers to assess and brush up on their skills in Applied Mathematics, Locating Information and Reading for Information. Clients are also required to complete a soft skills section which goes over managing time and money, transportation issues and behavior in the workplace. Upon completion and taking the WorkKeys® test, individuals receive their National Career Readiness Certificate, which denotes a seal of the level achieved; Bronze, Silver or Gold.

Mariah also enrolled in the CareerLink's Job Search Center where, "customers are introduced to a job searching model that energizes their efforts. They are guided through exercises to uncover, or rediscover, their marketable talents. Sessions cover a wide range of topics such as researching companies, contacting employers, telephone (cold contacts), networking, interviewing techniques (including filming and class review of practice interviews), follow-up and salary negotiation skills, and applications. Good resumes and cover letters are a key outcome from this basic training." (Source-jobs4lancaster.com)