Career Planning

A layoff may be an opportunity to stop, catch your breath and figure out what you are doing with your life.  Did you even like your previous job?  Were you satisfied?  Perhaps a career change is in order, but what careers are in demand?  Do you have the skills and education necessary?   

Your networking groups can assist you in identifying the current high demand skills and careers.  However, there are other tools available to assist you in determining whether your skills are in line with market demands.  The Department of Labor sponsors a website www.careerinfonet.org.  You choose the occupational profile of interest and the site will provide you with the nationally accepted knowledge, skills and abilities, education and training and other pertinent information such as wages and employment trends. 

Career Source of Northeast Florida is a publicly funded agency that provides extensive workforce-related services to six counties on Florida's First Coast - Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties. 
Career Planning Steps provided by CareerSource, is six-step employment process, customized approach for each job seeker, that helps drive career success. 

Employ Florida is a private (non-government) website that provides labor market data.  

Another source of labor market information is the Occupational Outlook Handbook which is published by the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides the training and education needed, earnings;  expected job prospects; what workers do on the job and working conditions.

There are free tools available to improve your proficiency with various software such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.  Visit these sites to learn more:
Learn Microsoft Office 2013 free computer tutorials using Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, PowerPoint and Visio for 2013, 2010, 2007 and 2003 versions.
Home and Learn free computer tutorials for beginners using Word, .Net, JAVA, etc.
GCF Learn Free free tutorials using a computer, Excel, Word, internet basics, reading, math, etc.