Alaska Career Ready is for parents!

Do you want to help your child . . .

• succeed in school?
• look at future education and careers?
• focus on the connection between academic skills and workplace skills?

Show your student that lifelong learning is now the norm. Additional training after high school and throughout a career will be needed to earn a living wage. Alaska Career Ready emphasizes work-related academic skills that help people become good learners in any occupation and at any educational level.  Here are more details about these skills.

Talk to your student about his or her interests and abilities. Explore careers as early as elementary school but no later than middle school. It is important for students, starting in freshman year, to take courses that will prepare them to achieve their career goals.  Here are some resources to help you get started.

Try out the WIN tutorial lessons at home with your students. The lessons are a good way to show young people the connection between academics and the workplace. Talk to them about how you use applied academic skills on the job and in your daily life. Students who believe that school is relevant to their future lives are more likely to do well in school and graduate.  Here is more information about WIN.

What are the WorkKeys skills?

They are applied academic or "foundational" skills that are needed for virtually all occupations and at any level of education.  The three major skill areas in Alaska Career Ready are:

Applied Mathematics — measures the skills people use when they apply mathematical reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving techniques to work-related problems. The test questions require the examinee to set up and solve the types of problems and do the types of calculations that actually occur in the workplace. This test is designed to be taken with a calculator. A formula sheet that includes all formulas required for the assessment is provided. While individuals may use calculators and conversion tables to help with the problems, they still need to use math skills to think them through.

Reading for Information — measures the skills people use when they read and use written text in order to do a job. The written texts include memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations. It is often the case that workplace communications are not necessarily well-written or targeted to the appropriate audience. Reading for Information materials do not include information that is presented graphically, such as in charts, forms, or blueprints.

Locating Information — measures the skills people use when they locate, synthesize, and use information from workplace graphics such as charts, graphs, tables, forms, flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, maps, and instrument gauges, as typically found in workplace situations. Examinees are asked to find information in a graphic or insert information into a graphic. They also must compare, summarize, and analyze information found in related graphics.

For more details on these skills, please see the WorkKeys skills webpage.

What Other Skills are Important in the Workplace?

Alaskan employers developed a concise list of workplace skills and summarized them in a poster called "Want a Great Career?  Alaskan Employers Expect:".  The items are grouped into three categories: Skills, Attitudes, and Work Ethic.  Talk to your youngsters about all of these skills and traits, and don't miss an opportunity to point out examples of how they can practice these skills, attitudes, and values at home and at school, in preparation for the workplace.

Click on the image of the poster above to view or download the entire poster as a one-page PDF document.

Exploring Careers with Your Student

There are many ways to help your youngster explore different careers.

• Talk about your own job and how you decided on your occupational area.
• Ask family members and friends to share their educational and work experiences with your youngsters.
• Ask your youngster about his/her interests and abilities.
• Point out examples of different occupations you encounter in daily life, such as teacher, pharmacist, construction worker, dental hygienist, office worker, plumber, carpet layer, sales person, tour guide, chef, welder, ship worker, truck driver, real estate agent, banker, store clerk, fast food worker, utility worker, receptionist, etc.
• Help your youngster find information about occupations that may not be common.
• Talk to your child about the concept of "career clusters," a broad grouping of occupations with different types of career pathways all related to that general area such as healthcare (pharmacist, x-ray technician, doctor, medical receptionist, dental hygienist, nurse, physician assistant, physical therapist, dentist, medical billing specialist, etc.).
• Encourage your youngster to talk to his/her school guidance counselor for more information on career & technical high school and college programs, apprenticeships, occupational certificates, and 2 and 4 year degrees.

Not sure where to find career information?  Here are some starters:

• Using your WorkKeys scores for Career Exploration - help your student look at the WorkKeys skills needed for hundreds of occupations - and sample wages for those occupations
• Career Clusters - an overview of the 16 Clusters
• Quick and Easy Interest Survey based on the 16 Career Clusters (take it with your kids and compare results!)
• Career Clusters and sample occupations in each cluster
• University of Alaska System - Career Pathways (find out what's available in Alaska!)
• 4-year High School Plan Template - help your student figure out what classes to take in high school and beyond
• AKCIS - Alaska Career Information System - a free online career exploration tool with Alaska-specific occupational and educational information.  Ask your student to show you how he/she has used AKCIS in school.  If your student has not used AKCIS, contact the school guidance counselor or principal to get started!
• WIN Careers - a free website with many useful links to other career information resources.  You can also search for jobs with specific WorkKeys skill requirements.  (If the website asks you to login, use wincareers for the username and akak for the password.)
• Career Voyages- yet another FREE website with awesome career information.  Links for students and parents.

How Can I Use WIN lessons with my youngster?

Once your child has a login name and password for the WIN software, he or she may use the software at school, home, public library, or any place with high-speed Internet access.  The login page is:  http://akeed.wincshost.com/.

• Ask your child to show you the WIN program.
• Look at some of the lessons with him or her.
• Help your child look through the job profiles to get information about different occupations.
• Have your child show you the "Contextual Modules" portion of the program and go through practice questions based on a career cluster in which your child may be interested.
• Encourage him or her to use the software at home.
• Remind your child that the lessons give practice in the skills that are needed on the job and in further education.