Table Of ContentCREATING O
CAREER
RESOURCE
CENTRE
Creating a Career Resource
Centre is designed to help
career development
practitioners (e.g. career
counsellors, human
resources personnel, and
service agency managers,
staff and volunteers) create
and maintain career Published by:
resource centres. This
Information Development
publication is intended for
and Marketing Branch of
professional development,
Alberta Advanced Education
not client use.
and Career Development
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ISBN 0-7732-1705-3
© 1996, Her Majesty the Queen in
right of the Province of Alberta, as
represented by the Minister of
Advanced Education and Career
Development
CreaNng
able of C ontents II C areer
Resource
Chapter 1: Initial Considerations 3
Centre
Do you really need a career resource centre? 4
Do you have the necessary support? 4
Do you need a planning committee? 4
Who will use your career resource centre? 5
What are your clients' information needs? 5
Ideally, what services and resources would you like to be able to offer? 6
What is realistically possible? 7
In what ways could costs be shared or additional funds obtained? 8
What are your goals, objectives and policies? 10
How much will it cost? 11
Where can you get more information? 13
Chapter 2: Human Resources 15
What human resources will you need? 15
What personal characteristics, knowledge and skills are required? 17
What about in-service training? 18
Where can you get more information? 19
Chapter 3: Space and Equipment 21
Where is the best place for your centre? 21
What considerations are important in designing a floor plan? 22
What furnishings do you need? 25
What equipment and computer hardware/software do you need? 27
How will technological advances affect your centre? 32
Where can you get more information? 33
■ Chapter 4: Information Resources 35
What types of career information do your clients need? 35
Where can you find suitable sources of information? 36
What considerations are important in choosing materials? 37
Occupational Materials 39
Audio/Visual Formats 40
Computer Assisted Career Planning Materials 40
Internet Materials 41
How will you obtain materials? 42
What about duplicating materials? 44
Where can you get more information? 44
■ Chapter 5: Organization and Maintenance 45
How will you organize materials? 45
What access aids will you need? 48
How will you display and store materials? 50
How will you keep your collection up-to-date? 52
What about disaster planning? 52
Where can you get more information? 53
■ Chapter 6: Marketing 55
How will you let clients know about your centre? 55
How will you encourage clients to come in and look around? 57
How will you know when you are succeeding? 57
Where can you get more information? 58
■ Checklist for Setting Up a Career Resource Centre 59
■ Appendix A: Developing a Needs Assessment Questionnaire 61
■ Appendix B: A Typical List of Resource Centre Staff Skills 63
The Coordinator 63
Library-Trained Personnel 63
Clerical Support 64
■ Appendix C: The National Occupational Classification (NOC) System 65
■ Appendix D: A Sample "Combined" Classification System 67
R E fl T I N G R C R R E E R
Chapter:
One I
nitial Considerations
NEVER BEFORE HAVE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN CAREER PLANNING, BOTH
PRACTITIONERS AND THEIR CLIENTS, HAD A GREATER NEED FOR RELEVANT,
ACCURATE AND UP-TO-DATE CAREER INFORMATION. AND NEVER BEFORE HAS
THE AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE INFORMATION, PRESENTED IN VARIOUS
FORMATS, BEEN GREATER.
T. centre tailored to meet the specific needs of
HE CHALLENGE FACED by career devel-
opment practitioners is to get the information your particular group of clients.
to those who need it, in a format that is most
This guide is designed to take you through the
useful to them.
process of setting up a career resource centre,
from the initial realization that one is needed
Career resource centres meet this challenge
to the ongoing operation of a fully functioning
by giving people access to a wide variety of
sources of career information, including the one. The physical size of the career resource
centre you create may be quite small
Internet, multimedia resources such as com-
(e.g. a bookshelf or two of materials
puter programs and audio-visual materials,
and a computer located in a
and career-related pamphlets, magazines and
counselling service waiting
books. Perhaps that is why you are reading
this book: to explore ways to give your clients area) or quite large (e.g. multi-
(e.g. students, company employees) better ple rooms housing a collection
of career information materials,
access to the career information they need.
If so, you may be like many others who are computer and audio-visual
caught between dreams of what you would equipment, reading and research
areas for clients, staff work areas
like to be able to do and what you think you
and workshop facilities). The sugges
can afford - i n terms of space, staff, facilities
and finances. tions offered in this book are general so
they apply to as many different circumstances
Deciding what is realistically possible and
as possible but, where appropriate, specific
would address your clients' information needs suggestions relating to differing sizes of career
takes a fair bit of thought and research. If you resource centres have been included.
begin by setting aside any preconceived ideas
you may have about how a career resource The following questions identify important
issues you need to consider before you begin
centre should look and operate, you are more
likely to approach this project with the actually setting up a career resource centre.
flexibility and creativity needed to develop a
RESOURCE CENTRE
Do you really need a career Do you have the necessary
resource centre?
support?
IniNal
Considerohons sE TTING UP a career resource centre I F YOU BELIEVE that the costs involved in
involves much more than simply gathering a setting up and maintaining a career resource
quantity of career information materials centre are justified in your circumstances, find
together in one place. Creating a successful out if others agree with you. Discuss the pos-
centre, even a very small one, requires an sibility with your colleagues, manager, clients
ongoing commitment of financial and human
and/or people who represent clients' interests.
resources. Space must be allocated, staff time For example, a school counsellor thinking
invested in planning and looking after the about setting up a career resource centre might
discuss the idea with other counsellors, the
centre, materials purchased and kept up-to-
date. This resource commitment is justified if
school's work experience co-ordinator, the
school librarian, interested teachers, the school
your clients do not have access to appropriate
sources of career information elsewhere in principal and/or some interested students and
your community or geographic area,
Apa r feenwt s .i nformal conversations may be all that
• they have access to some types of career
is necessary to determine if t here is sufficient
information but not to other types of needed
information, or support to warrant pursuing the idea further.
In some organizations, you may have to pre-
- they have access, at least theoretically, pare af ormal proposal and have it a pproved
to career information materials, but the
before you can proceed.
materials are scattered among various
locations and no one person is responsible
for co-ordinating materials acquisition, Do you need a planning
organization or use. committee?
If you are not familiar with sources of career
information already available to your clients,
you need to find out who provides what types
i F YOU LIVE IN a sparsely populated area,
of information and to whom. The public
the full responsibility for planning and setting
library, post-secondary education institutions, up a career resource centre may rest on your
high schools, government agencies and/or shoulders alone. However, if you live in an
private organizations in your community may
urban community and/or work for a fairly
offer job search or career planning services for
large organization, establishing a planning
specific client groups. If so, your career
committee is strongly recommended.
resource centre may only need to "fill in the
Establishing a planning committee
gaps" for your particular client group. Or, you
may be able to negotiate resource-sharing or • helps to share the workload involved in
partnership agreements which allow all of the planning to set up a career resource centre,
parties concerned to serve their clients' needs ® allows you to tap into the experience and
better.
expertise of committee members,
O
• gives interested parties an opportunity to
What are your clients'
get involved and helps to ensure their information needs?
continued co-operation and support,
• begins the important process of building a
network of mutually beneficial contacts within THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS of your career ConsideraNons
your organization and your community at
resource centre will depend on the accuracy
large, and
and thoroughness of your answer to this
• lays the groimdwork for an ongoing career
question! Therefore, it's important to check
resource centre advisory committee. any assumptions you may have made about
your clients and the types of information they
If y ou decide to organize a p lanning committee,
need and want. Basing your plans on solid
it m ay be appropriate to start with a r elatively
information about client needs and preferences
small conunittee of in-house personnel so you
can add more committee members later without is crucial for creating a centre that will meet
those needs, and helps to justify associated
making the decision-making process too
costs as well.
unwieldy. As you progress through the planning
stages, you will probably meet a n umber of peo- Depending on the size and
ple from other organizations (e.g. library person- nature of your organization
nel, career and employment counsellors, school/ and client group, you may
college counsellors, human resources department choose to investigate their
staff, government personnel, community service needs and wants formally or
group members, etc.), and may wish to invite informally. You might
people who are particularly knowledgeable and
• develop and administer a needs assessment
helpful to join your planning committee.
questionnaire (see Appendix A),
• conduct focus groups with clients and/ or
colleagues,
Who will use your career
resource centre? • ask for anonymously written suggestions,
and/or
• have informal discussions with clients and
D colleagues individually or in groups.
lEFINING YOUR CLIENT GROUP(S) clearly
at the beginning of the planning process can However you choose to gather the information,
prevent many misunderstandings and problems when you are done, you need to be able to
later on. It's important to be as specific as
describe your client group's
possible. For example, will your centre serve
• demographic characteristics (e.g. age, sex,
the professional development needs of coun-
education level).
selling staff a s well as their clients (i.e. will
your collection of materials include resources • career-related information needs (e.g. what
such as professional journals or periodicals in proportions of your client group want to assess
the career development field)? Are there dis- their skills and options, learn resume-writing
tinct subgroups within your client group whose skills, get more education or training, obtain
information needs may be somewhat different financial assistance, etc. - see Chapter 4 for a
(e.g. minority groups, women)? list of categories of career information).
RESOURCE CENTRE
0
• format and service preferences (e.g. what pro- ^ provide or co-sponsor workshops on finding
portions ofy our client group prefer to read work, resume writing, interview skills, stress
print materials, view or listen to audio-visual reduction, overcoming procrastination, start-
etc.,
materials, use computer programs, surf the ing as mall business, assertiveness training,
Internet, participate in workshops, attend
events such as job fairs or speakers panels,
interview knowledgeable people, etc.). • setpco.,n sor or cosponsor events such as a series
of talks by local employers, speakers forums,
• special needs which could prevent clients
from using your centre or the materials in it
® create a set of computer or paper files that
(e.g. language barriers, disabilities, prevail- include information about local employers,
ing attitudes).
the employment situation in your communi-
® willingness and ability to use career infor- ty, local employment-related agencies and
mation materials available through other their services, work opportunities arranged
local sources of career information (e.g. the by occupational field, etc.,
public library). Even if r esources such as
s tape interviews with local employers about
business directories are available elsewhere
the types of work available in their organiza-
in your community, such resources are not
tions and the skills and qualities they look
accessible to your clients if t hey do not
for in applicants,
know about them, cannot get to them, or do
not know how to use them. e create or co-sponsor a daily or weekly
updated listing of local work opportunities,
• provide access to computer programs
Ideally, what services and designed to help people write resumes,
resources would you like to be
® start a job club or provide facilities for
able to offer?
employment seekers' support groups,
• provide drop-in resume advice,
• purchase related materials including books,
0 NCE YOU HAVE identified your client
audio cassettes, videos and/or computer
group's career information needs, you may be
tempted to rush into implementing a service programs,
based on what is easiest, most familiar or ® prepare and distribute written guides such
obvious. Over the long run, however, it can be as an annotated bibliography of relevant ref-
more productive to resist that temptation and erence materials, a directory of local
take some time, personally and with others employers, tip sheets, etc.,
(e.g. your planning committee), to dream about
• let prospective clients know about these
what is ideally possible. Brainstorm a number
wonderful resources and services by contact-
of ways to satisfy client information needs as
ing and working with the human resources
though money were no object.
departments of local companies known to be
For example, if a significant number of your "downsizing", preparing press releases about
clients are looking for work, the ideal service upcoming events, distributing brochures and
might
posters, etc.
CREATING fl CAREER
a career resource centre? (See Chapters 3
It may be helpful to structure your brainstorm-
ing session by asking the following questions and 4 for suggestions regarding appropriate
for each information need you have identified. furnishings, equipment and career informa-
tion materials.) IniFial
• In what ways can clients be given access to
this type of career information? ® What are the current budget allocations for
ConsideroNons
these resources?
• In what ways could the centre work co-oper-
atively with existing community agencies ® What knowledge, skills and interests related
and organizations to provide these services? to the development and maintenance of a
career resource centre do existing staff
• How can clients be made aware of these
services? already possess? (See Chapter 2.)
• Are key people in your organization likely
From your brainstormed lists, you can select
to help or hinder the establishment of a
the best ways to address your clients' most career resource centre? If they are likely to
pressing information needs.
hinder, what might convince them to be
more supportive?
External environmental conditions include
What is realistically
economic conditions, labour market
possible?
conditions, public expectations, technological
trends, legal trends and existing services in
your community.
f 1 HEN YOU HAVE a clear idea of the
• Consider how current economic and labour
services you would like to be able to offer, it's market conditions in your community may
time to consider the realities of your situation.
impact client career information needs in
Advocates of strategic planning recommend the foreseeable future.
investigating the "environmental conditions"
internal and external to your organization so • Depending on the nature of your organiza-
you can anticipate the impact they are likely tion, public expectations may have a
to have on your project. significant impact on the success of your
project. For example, if parents already
Internal conditions include your organization's expect the education system to provide
goals and priorities, existing resources, budget career education, school counsellors will
allocations, space and staff.
find it m uch easier to garner public support
for setting up a career resource centre.
• Are your organization's current goals and
priorities compatible with the establishment
» Technological trends may influence the
of a career resource centre right now?
types of resources and services you decide to
• Is there suitable existing space which could offer. For example, if m any potential clients
accommodate a career resource centre? (See have access to computers equipped with
Chapter 3 for a list of criteria to consider modems, you might consider the possibility
when choosing a location for your centre.) of setting up a home page on the Internet.
• What related resources does your organiza- • Some legal trends can have a s ignificant impact
tion already possess which could be used for on resource centre services. In particular, the
E S 0 U R C E CENTRE
O
way Canadian copyright laws are being In what ways could costs be
interpreted in the courts may influence your shared or additional funds
policies about photocopying print materials. obtained?
Which client information needs, if any, are
already being adequately served elsewhere?
ConsideraNons
If you are not already acquainted with other fl
S THE QUANTITY of available informa-
career-related service providers in your com-
tion grows, budgets shrink and new technolo-
munity, it's a good idea to conduct information gies evolve, resource centres of all kinds are
interviews with them to find out
becoming ever more interdependent. No career
• what their client groups are, resource centre, no matter how large, can effec-
tively serve all of its clients' career infor-
• what services they offer, mation needs all of the time. You can
• what special background or help clients find the information
they need, not only by setting up
training staff members or
volunteers may have, a career resource centre, but by
working in co-operation with
•how they help clients locate others who are also involved
job and career information,
in disseminating career
find support and coping
information.
assistance, etc.,
Partnership agreements
• what their service limita-
allow two or more groups
tions are, a nd
to share resources on an
• how receptive they are to
ongoing basis to their
the possibility of joint ven- mutual benefit. All of the
tures or p artnership arrange-
organizations in your commu-
ments (where appropriate).
nity that serve the same or
wider client groups and have
It's important to keep records of
these interviews along with copies similar goals as you do are
of agency brochures and information potential candidates for partnership
agreements. The following suggestions
sheets so community contacts can be main-
tained. Building and maintaining a network of illustrate some of the many possibilities.
contacts with people in community service
■ Internal partnerships
agencies helps to avoid misunderstandings
and wasteful duplication of services, and may be a possibility if y ou work in a fairly
encourages appropriate referrals. large organization that offers a variety of
services to the same client group.
If your "environmental assessment" indicates
that your organization will be unable to fund a For example, in large high schools and post-
career resource centre of a size and scope your secondary education institutions, the impetus
for setting up a career resource centre often
clients need, don't give up! Look for ways to
share costs and/or find additional sources of comes from the counselling department. If
funding.
establishing a separate career resource centre
is fiscally impossible, a partnership agreement
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