Are you looking to move from a job to a career? Maybe you are looking for a promotion, or you’re looking to provide an example of life-long learning to your kids. Not sure where to start or how to make the right decisions for you? ACPE and the Alaska Career Information System (AKCIS.org) has FREE tools to help you from every angle.
Not sure where to start?
- Learn about yourself – Reflect on your interests, skills, and values and plug that knowledge into exploring different occupations. Complete the following assessments. The more a job agrees with your work values and interests, the more likely you are to be satisfies in that job. Remember to SAVE your results.
- Review your individual assessment results, or put the results together on the Combined Assessments Report to see which occupations have the most matches across the assessments. Still not sure? Look at the Career Cluster(s) with the most occupations with the most matches.
- Compare Occupations – Look up former occupations, as well as new occupations of interest. Compare the Skills and Abilities, Interests and Values, or Wages information for two occupations side-by-side.
Interested in a Field or Specific Occupation?
Assessments point you towards occupations that fit your interests, skills, and values. What information can we find about occupations in AKCIS? A lot!
All occupations are sorted into 16 National Career Clusters, or groups of similar occupations. Clusters are a good place to start when exploring career options, but even just 16 can feel overwhelming. Break up the information by topic and compare occupations side-by-side.
After you figure out your top clusters, navigate to an occupation that interests you and walk through information on left menu of the Occupations screen. These areas are helpful in planning your next steps:
- Skills and Abilities – Use these bullet-statement starters to help write your resume.
- Wages – Does your desired lifestyle require a certain rate of pay? Later knowing the range of pay when interviewing can keep you in the candidate pool, if they ask what wages you expect.
- Programs of study – Learn all you can about the program of study you are interested in – Certificate, Apprenticeship, Associate, Bachelors, Masters, etc. Starting with a focus program of study, and limiting program changes, will save you time and money on unnecessary courses.
Don’t know what/where to study?
Education Tab – Find the education you need to be qualified for the occupation you are aiming for. You’ll find Alaska schools, either by Type or Name, and Apprenticeships.
- Apprenticeships are a great way to “earn while you learn.” Make contact with an Alaskan apprenticeship program, and prepare for interviews and selection committees.
- Programs of Study - If know what you'd like to study, then you can find related occupations and schools offering that program of study.
- School Sort – Search for schools using criteria that means something to you: programs of study offered, student body, admissions, academics or student services (academic, support for women and families, disability support, campus security etc.)
- Compare Schools – Compare the information reported for up to three schools at a time on the same screen. Find the level of education that each school offers.
Not sure how to pay for college or training?
- Paying for School – Learn more about the many ways to afford postsecondary education either federally or through State of Alaska student loans, grants, and scholarships. Find out more about applying for financial aid, including completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
- Financial Aid Sort – This exploratory tool helps you find scholarships and other awards you may like to apply for, based on your attributes and interests. Use the Financial Aid Sort more than once to create lists based on different criteria.
- Application Tracker – Track deadlines, award amounts, award status, any notes about who to contact and if the award is renewable for each of your scholarship applications.
Need a Plan?
The future may be uncertain, but the AKCIS Career Plan puts you in charge of your future. The best way to predict your future is to plan it. The Career Plan tool walks the user through answering each of the big three AKCIS questions.
- Who Am I? Learn about yourself and careers matching your background and interests.
- Where Am I Going? Explore and compare career clusters and occupations you want to pursue.
- How Do I Get There? Plan your education and employment paths using the assessment and sort results, favorites, and Resume Creator entries saved in your My Portfolio.