Communications major Jorge Rios urges Cerritos College students to try a new online tool that was launched earlier this year called Career Coach which serves as a guide to finding general job information.

As of March 2012, this new online tool that allows students and community members to explore career options and job industries was brought onto the Cerritos campus by Dean of Technology Division Nick Real.

With a simple keyword, students and community members can navigate this tool and find information about local job opportunities, up to a 50-mile radius, as well as specific statistics involving that particular career path.

“It’s a great tool. It gives you the qualifications needed for certain jobs, and the schooling you need for the job as well as where to receive said schooling,” said Rios.

This program is designed to guide students in the right direction. If a career doesn’t look like what the student is looking for, they can search for similar jobs and see the largest skill gaps to fill to move to that career.

They can also search for careers based on the college’s top training programs or the program or major they are most interested in, all in the hopes of getting individuals to branch out and discover new opportunities.

In addition, Career Coach includes a built-in resume builder to help students and job seekers quickly and efficiently put together a resume which will highlight the students’ main strengths and abilities and/or education.

“I feel Career Coach is limited in terms of careers, that is, they could have made it a little more broad but I still like the idea of students having this tool to help them get a better understanding of how the job world works,” career counselor Traci Ukita said.

Along with job openings and descriptions, Career Coach also contains the specific salary and job offers starting from initial pay to top pay and gives a bit of insight on the job growth of certain careers.

“I have never heard of this tool but it sounds incredibly helpful, especially for students who aren’t sure of how to search for a job or those who don’t know much about certain careers,” undecided major Erica Panduro said.

“If it pushes in the right direction, then it is a great thing they decided to bring this onto campus,” she added.

Ukita also added that while Career Coach is great for job and career information, she believes it doesn’t quite give students the proper facts in detail. It does not provide you with such as what classes or special training are needed for certain careers nor where to head for those specific courses.

Career Coach is a public program that can be used by any student or individual and requires no account information or password.

To access this program, visit www.cerritos.edu/releases-2012/03 and click on the Career Coach button in the center column.

For more information or to request assistance in using Career Coach, contact the Cerritos College Academic Affairs at http://cms.cerritos.edu/academic-affairs/contact-us.htm, the Career Center at (562) 860-2451, ext. 2359 or send an e-mail to: career-info@cerritos.edu.