TUESDAY TIPS

TODAY'S TIP - Jobs & Careers - The Career Transitions database

Career Transitions employs a step-by-step approach to help people explore new career possibilities by assessing their interests and experience and identifying ways to improve their prospects. These include advice for networking and education, preparing for a job search (including a resume-building tool), and searching and applying for jobs.

To use Career Transitions, you need to create an account using your email address. Once you have an account, you can keep track of where you are in the process and save your work. The interest assessment takes about 20 minutes to complete. In the assessment, you answer whether you would like or dislike doing certain kinds of work tasks. After completing the assessment, you can use it to complete the next section, exploring careers by industry and job.

The next steps include a resume builder, in which you answer a series of questions to complete a resume that can be saved in a variety of formats and made available online. Also available is job search and interview preparation advice. There are sections to help you find courses to improve your skills. Finally, you can use Career Transitions to search for available jobs.

To get to Career Transitions and the other jobs and career databases from the homepage, click on the eLibrary tab, then choose Articles & Databases, and select Jobs & Careers from the Category menu. You will see other jobs and career resources offered by San Francisco Public Library including offerings from Learning Express Library and Tutor.com.

In the Career Center, from Tutor.com, you can chat live with a certified tutor who will assist you in reviewing your resume, and with job searching tips and interview preparation. There are also thousands of worksheets, tutorials and study guides on cover letters, resume writing, resume templates and sample resumes.

Learning Express Library offers 1) Search & Workplace Skills where you can find online tutorials on business writing, job search and networking skills, resume and cover letter writing, interviewing and tips on how to succeed at work. 2) Jobs & Careers, which is a collection of online test preparation materials for occupations requiring licensing, certification, aptitude tests and other career preparation. 3) Skill-Building for Adults, a collection of tests and courses for math, reasoning, reading, writing, and grammar. Also try the searchable eBooks (the link is on the right side of the homepage) for over 150 career topics and study aids.

In addition to these databases, there are periodical and newspaper indexes as well as extensive collections of career books in all branch libraries. Many branches and the Main offer jobs and career classes as well. Be sure to ask a Librarian for more information.

Excelsior Librarians and Staff share tips & tricks to help you make the most of the San Francisco Public Library catalog, databases and website. New tips posted Tuesdays on the Excelsior Blog. Watch this space!