Here are some online resources that provide credible, in-depth and useful career exploration and college planning information and insights.
I utilize YouScience as one of my career and college counseling tools because it uses actual online neurological tests to determine an individual's aptitudes or talents for specific tasks that are closely correlated with given careers. In other words, their testing provides a more objective way of uncovering which careers are most suited for you, as opposed to those that are suggested to you according to self-reported personality profile tests or suggestions from family, friends, coaches and teachers. YouScience also blends careers by aptitudes with careers you prefer by interest, in order to provide a balanced menu of possibilities.
Road Trip Nation is a terrific career exploration site with an amazing collection of recorded interviews, relevant videos and assorted tips and information to assist career explorers of all ages. I read their first book many years ago and found it one of the more entertaining in the genre, as the authors traveled the U.S. in search of famous and not-so-famous individuals with compelling personal career stories to share.
O-Net is a wonderful, massive career exploration and job analysis site developed and maintained in partnership by is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and Employment & Training Administration and the National Center for O*NET Development. When you go to just about any private career and college planning site, they almost certainly draw from O-Net's vast U.S. labor databases and related analyses. Meaning, not only job seekers but workforce development, HR and academic researchers utilize their invaluable resources.
Career One Stop is another terrific career site sponsored and administered by the U.S. Dept. of Labor in partnership with the U.S. Employment and Training Administration. They feature an amazing menu of career related options that relate careers to educational preparation required, job search support and many other helpful topics. However, it is their storehouse of constantly expanding short occupational videos that especially draws me to their site. The videos are brief but still contain lots of relevant information regarding a typical 'day in the life', educational preparation, future hiring prospects and more.
Love them or hate them, College Board is the big Gorilla of the national college planning landscape. They not only of course administer the ubiquitous PSAT, SAT and AP testing programs, but also provide a solid, continually updated college planning menu that draws upon a wealth of research. Plus, they have partnered with Road Trip Nation to provide career exploration support.
Type Coach is a site dedicated to utilizing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tool (the world's most popularly used personality profiling system) for the workplace. Therefore, it is ideally suited for career counseling purposes. It's test is relatively quick and the produced report is highly detailed and specifically applied to workplace applications. There are also engaging videos and other tools offered on the site.
Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce may be the pre-eminent research center in the U.S. with regards to broad employment and training topics and issues. It's director Anthony Carnevale is often seen on various platforms opining in the news regarding the pressing workforce challenges and developments of the day. Their various publications are in-depth, topical and engaging.
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