Many programs use general career databases, such as CareerZone, Career Cruising, The Occupational Outlook Handbook, or Mynextmove. These career databases have many similar features. They all contain career profiles, which include information like the primary responsibilities on the job, the work environment, education and training requirements and salary ranges.

Many also include an interest assessment tool, where users rank their interest in doing various kinds of activities, and the database returns a list of recommended careers, based on the list. The list is long, so not all careers will seem like a best fit, but many will seem in line with the user’s interests and career plans, and other suggested careers may be new and interesting and worthy of a deeper look.

Many also feature video, audio or written interviews, and descriptions of the sector as a whole, including data around wages and employment. See the graph below from Career Cruising’s description of the Construction sector.

Sector-Based Career Databases

Recently I have been finding sector-based career databases, that tend to have a wider variety of careers within one sector than the more general databases have. Two I have found are Build Your Future, for careers in the Construction sector, and AGExplorer, for careers in Agriculture. Both include careers at all levels, from entry level, which do not require a high school or equivalent diploma, to high level positions, that people with years and training and high level credentials attain.

Build Your Future

Like other career databases, Build Your Future has descriptions of careers, that include information on the primary tasks, salary, work environment, and level of education/training required. They are organized into Trading Cards, and searchable by wages and education level.

It also shows potential career pathways, including steps to be taken at the middle school, high school, post-secondary training, and college levels.

It provides employment numbers, by career and by state.

It also includes scholarships specific to the Construction sector, training programs, and more. A great resource for those interested in learning more about the Construction sector. It has a bookstore of curriculum related to Construction, such as this one on using math in Construction contexts.

AGExplorer

AGExplorer is similar to Build Your Future, for the agriculture sector. It includes dozens of career profiles, grouped by sub-sector.

Each sub-sector includes dozens of careers, spanning administrative, technical, big systems, and hands-on positions. The list can be filtered by education level, salary, work environment and job outlook.

Its Career Finder tool, asks a series of questions and recommends careers based on the responses, similar to the general career database interest assessments.

How have you used career databases with students? Which are your favorite? Comment in the box below.