Career Dots is a career assessment, planning, and guidance system that helps users explore careers and develop a plan to achieve their goals from grades 6 through post-secondary education. It provides tools for self-assessment, career exploration, education planning, and connecting with resources. The system aims to help users identify the right career path earlier and reduce costs and difficulties by empowering students and counselors with technology.
2. Dr. Carole B. Ricotta
Career Dots adds PURPOSE to the PROCESS
3. What do you want to be when you grow up?
• Computer Engineer
• Educator
• Electronics Engineer
• Lawyer
• Machinist
• Mechanic
• Medical Professional
• Physical Therapist
• Scientist
• Many other professions
With Career Dots users can start plotting a more assured course to their career destination beginning
in grade 6 [from one source], while taking into account their personal interests, educational and skills
levels, and other relevant factors. They can even see an audio/visual description of their desired
profession, as well as identify local resources, such as educational institutions that offer assistance in
helping them reach their goals.
4. Why is it so difficult?
• Studies show that many dropout of
school and/or college because they
discovered that it’s not as easy as they
taught
• Some go half-way through school,
spending considerable dollars only to
find out that they don’t like the career
choice they’ve made
• Some never even work a day in their
chosen field
• Most don’t realize, until it’s too late,
that one’s personal interests has as
much to do with a successful career
path as does academic attainment Saves time and money by
• If you don’t like what you’re doing,
identifying the right career earlier
you likely won’t stay with it! in academic development
5. Can technology help in guiding our youth and the
unemployed to meet their career goals?
With more than 40 million Youth, United States faces the challenge of high
(more than 15% and even higher in minority youth) unemployment amongst its
young population. While in schools and colleges, American youth widely stay
unclear about their career goals and lack of proper career guidance results in
either high drop-out rates or they simply lose focus towards their career
interests. Education sector facing billions of dollars of cuts has been unable to
provide satisfactory career counseling resources to the students, leaving more
than 81 million children without proper career guidance. U.S. Labor Department
has also announced deep cuts into much needed Summer Youth Employment
Programs across the nation while further deteriorating the possibility of gaining
job market insight by the American Generation Next
www.CAREERDOTS.com
6. Career Dots is a one-stop career assessment, mapping, and guidance
system that provides users cutting edge features to effectively explore, plan,
and manage their career goals.
Figuratively speaking, Career Dots operates much
like a Global Positioning System (GPS) in that it
helps users determine the direction and distance to
their career destination as well as the resources
needed along the way.
With GPS-like capabilities, accessible from one
dashboard, Career Dots also enables its users to
explore alternative pathways, while taking into
account their education and skill-sets, work
experiences, and personal interests.
www.CAREERDOTS.com
8. Career Dots.com is hosted on servers provided by Trans-Atlantic
Business Solutions (TABS)
Technological infrastructure will enable users with a wide-range of
capabilities, including, but not limited to
Internet accessibility 24/7 via all browsers, using Apple and Windows
State-of-the-art learning experiences, with real-time online communications
and interaction between students and counselors – EMPOWERING
Counselors – Innovative technological abilities to connect and
communicate direct with students
One counselor can connect with individuals and groups of students via the
Internet
Students – real-time interaction with personalized career planning systems
from grade 6 through post-secondary education
Identify local resources and view audio / visual job descriptions
Not only able to receive instruction and guidance from counselor, but are able
to navigate and plan their career path on their own
www.CAREERDOTS.com
9. Public and private schools have the greatest opportunity to impact the
minds of our youth. According to the 2002 Census of Governments, the
United States Census Bureau enumerated the following numbers of school
systems in the United States:
• 13,506 school district governments
• 178 state-dependent school systems
• 1,330 local-dependent school systems
• 1,196 education service agencies
(agencies providing support services to
public school systems)
Total student enrollment = 49.5 mil in public and 6.2
mil in private schools
Costing tax payers $972 billion per year
With so many schools, public and private, Why are so many of our citizens still un-
prepared for the workforce? Why are so many under-educated? Why are so many
dissatisfied with their professions? What can be done to change these trends?
10. CAREER DOTS WILL HELP REDUCE
THE COST OF EDUCATION, WHILE
ASSURING EDUCATION QUALITY
AND ACADEMIC ATTAINMENT BY:
• Reducing the ratio of career
counselors needed to assist student
populations
• Having students participate in the
planning and managing their own
goals
• Improving the one-on-one
interaction between students and
teachers/counselor
11. Opportunities for providing services exists in these markets throughout America.
Markets Market Specifics
The Unemployed Recent reports suggests that the unemployment rate is now 9%, representing
more than 10 million people.
• Actual unemployed is greater the 14 million
• Military Veterans, displaced because of economic crisis
High school Studies show that more than 1 million students dropout of school each year
dropouts without a high school diploma
• Cumulatively speaking, that’s more than 10 million over the last decade.
• Many of these persons work in service industries, which represents most of
those now unemployed
Home Schooling The results of the 2003 National Household Education Surveys (NHES) program
revealed that the number of students being home schooled in the United States
in the spring of 2003 was 1,096,000
• A 29 percent increase from the estimated 850,000 students who were being
home schooled in the spring of 1999.
Post-secondary There are thousands of institutions of higher education located throughout
education and America that can benefit for the capabilities offered by Career Dots
colleges
Social Non-Profits Nationally, there are thousands of non-profits directly engaged in helping
American citizens seeking ways to improve their chances for employment.
12. BUILDING UPON PERSONAL INTERESTS, CAREER
DOTS ENABLES STUDENTS WITH
• An accurate assessment of his or her
The answers to the questions being education, experiences, and skills needs
asked begins first with students in other to satisfy career choice requisites
knowing themselves, followed by • The ability to plot their career course and
having the right tools and support that see their choices before ever arriving at
can help them set realistic and their destination
attainable goal • Real-time online access to counselors
ENABLES EDUCATORS AND COUNSELORS TO • Access to all resources necessary to help
them achieve career goals, including
• Baselines students’ experiences,
• Colleges and post-secondary
and skills and education levels
education and apprenticeship
• Help students accurately determine
programs
the requisite education, experience,
• Real-time visibility of job opportunities in
and skills needed to satisfy career
their communities
choices
• Access student profiles to develop
individual education plans (IEP)
• Interact online with students to
assist them plot their course and
navigate to their career goal
13. "I was so excited to learn about Career Dots and all it has to offer.
I work at a high school and we currently use a similar system our
students can access to find what careers they are best suited for. I
believe this program has so much more to offer. It’s a one-stop
shop from building a profile to what training you would have to
have to what schools offer those degrees. I also see the benefits
for non-traditional college student, someone facing a transitional
Maria L. Otero M.Ed. period in their lives or seeking a career change. This tool takes an
ESA Certified Counselor
Lakewood, Washington individual into a more in-depth look at themselves, their
strengths and their abilities; it can be a very empowering tool. I
am so excited at what this program has to offer and what a great
tool to add to a career counselor’s tool belt."
www.CAREERDOTS.com