Welcome to the Virtual Career Network demonstration

1. Welcome to the Virtual Career Network demonstration Presented by: Marianne Krismer, National Director, H2P Consortium Monique Sheen, Project Manager, Jobs for the Future

2. Virtual Career Network The Virtual Career Network—the VCN—is a publicly accessible, Web-based healthcare and green economy career platform that includes assessment, learning, and career management tools. Its primary purpose is help users prepare and qualify for a well- paying job and a rewarding career in healthcare or the green economy by connecting them to the education and training.

3. What does the VCN do? The VCN helps individuals: • Explore healthcare and green economy careers • Assess applicants’ personal interests, aptitudes, and readiness to pursue the careers of their choosing • Identify and qualify for related education and training • Manage the career development and lifelong learning process • Locate relevant job openings

4. How does the VCN help users prepare for Healthcare and Green Economy jobs? The VCN provides tools to help individuals assess their strengths and weaknesses to determine suitability for specific careers in healthcare and green economy. Once assessments are complete, the VCN guides users to available training and education programs—both online and classroom-based.

5. Who should use the VCN? • Jobseekers (Including long-term unemployed) • Underemployed workers • Career changers (Veterans included) • Healthcare and green economy workers who want to advance in their careers

6. What makes the VCN unique? • A Learning Exchange that enables users to find, compare, enroll in, and take online remedial and technical skills development courses that provide a pathway into healthcare and green economy careers; • My VCN Account that enables users to store testing, assessment, counseling, course completion, and other credentialing data to document and present to third parties (e.g., counselors, employers). We recommend that users sign up for a Career Management Account to help track career progression and job search process; and • A Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) tool that provides a way to earn college credit for what you already know based on training or work experience user may have received in previous jobs.

8. Functions/Features of VCN • Get Started: Explore careers by zip code and current education level • Choose a Career: Explore careers by category • Get Qualified – Review the associated career requirements, enroll in a suitable education program, and review available certifications and licenses • Find a Job – More than just a job search tool. It provides resources tohelp research employers, build a resume and ace the interview • College Credits – Prior Learning Assessment tool • Career Tools - VCN Learning Exchange and O*NET Interest Profiler 

9. Advance Career Tools

15. My VCN Account

16. Earn Credit for Prior Learning

23. Matching Interests to Careers The O*NET Interest Profiler helps users decide what kinds of careers to explore.By answering 60 questions about work activities that some people do on their jobs, the O*NET Interest Profiler can help users find out what their interests are and how they relate to the world of work.

26. A Learning Exchange

28. Accessing the VCN (www.vcn.org)