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Adult Education and Family Literacy Employability Resources

Publications from the Resource Center

The Resource Center for CareerTech Advancement offers a number of products to assist with employability skills and adult education and career preparation. Some of our products can be ordered in bulk - for easy ordering, visit our online catalog (please note that you will need to create an account and log in before you can browse or search for products), call 800.654.4502, or use our fillable PDF order form. Others are available for you to download below.

Career Focus

Career Focus is a career exploration and preparation guide. This 32-page, full-color magazine combines essential guidance with web activities and “skill builder” opportunities to help prepare users for college and the workplace. Articles include:

  • Identifying Possible Careers
  • Sources for Career Information
  • Career Clusters and Pathways
  • Individual Career Plans
  • Online Tools for Career Planning and Preparation
  • 20 Personal Selling Points
  • Getting Ready for College
  • Finding Job Opportunities
  • Managing Your Digital Dirt
  • Strategies for Networking
  • Skill Builder: Build a Personal Network
  • Career Myths and Realities
  • Skill Builder: Practice Introductions and Casual Conversation
  • Acing any Interview - What You Need to Know
  • Resumés that Stand Out for the Right Reasons
  • Why Employers Might NOT Hire You
  • Getting Back to Work: Re-Entry Strategies
  • Skills Employers Want
  • Putting Together the Education Puzzle
         

Download Career Focus

Career Focus: After Military Service

We also have a special version of Career Focus for veterans who are leaving the military and transitioning to a civilian career. Career Focus: After Military Service (CS9018) walks veterans through five steps in making this transition: Self-assessment, exploring career interests and options, filling a skills gap, finding and applying for a job, and managing the career transition.


Download Career Focus: After Military Service

Career Success Skills

Career Success Skills (BS3001) helps students develop the skills essential for planning for a career, applying for a job, and succeeding on the job. It also covers best practices in communication and etiquette. This publication is ideal for both high school and adult learners. Units include:

  • Finding a Job
  • Communication Skills
  • Etiquette for Every Day
  • Succeeding on the Job

We are offering Unit 2, "Communication Skills," as a free sample for you to download.

Employability Guide

This 30-page guide describes eight skills that employers want, why they want those skills, and how job seekers can build and demonstrate each skill. Employability Guide is a handy and essential resource for anyone preparing for their first job, changing jobs, or hoping to become more successful in their current workplaces!


Download Employability Guide

Employability Skills Assessments and Study Guide

The Employability Skills Study Guide (0454SG) contains information needed to prepare for the Workplace Readiness Skills (0454) and Job Seeking & Retention Skills (0455) assessments. The study guide includes the standards used to develop the exam, test plans, sample questions, and test taking strategies. Assessments are available through CareerTech Testing. The study guide can be downloaded for free or purchased through CIMC.

The Employability Skills assessment series includes two exams for measuring how well students are prepared for the work force. The Workplace Readiness Skills (0454) assessment measures mastery of the soft skills necessary to succeed in the workplace, while Job Seeking & Retention Skills (0455) assessment measures the student’s knowledge of skills and resources needed to locate and keep a job.

Many CIMC products are available to prepare students for the Employability Skills assessments - a crosswalk of these products and the CTTC standards is available for free download.

Employment Card

The Employment Card (CS9050) will assist you in both your resume writing and job searching skills. This card contains lists of action verbs to help your resume stand out and information on how both companies and individuals look for jobs.

Free Printable Posters

All posters are 18"X24" unless otherwise indicated. To print on smaller paper, choose the "fit" option from your print menu. Some posters can also be ordered from our catalog.

Language Arts Activities CD

Language Arts Activities (TA8215) includes 123 full-color activities, linked to Common Core standards, for teachers to print for student use. Activities on this CD address punctuation, capitalization, parts of speech, choosing the correct word, sentence structure, and writing (both fiction/creative and nonfiction/research).

Navigating Your Future

Navigating Your Future has valuable advice on job search techniques, interviewing via phone and live video, interview attire, and more. It includes samples of cover letters and resumes, along with forms students can use to prepare their own documents. Navigating Your Future also offers advice on how to answer tough interview questions, how follow up after an interview, and even how to resign from a job.
      Download Navigating Your Future

Pocket Resume

The Pocket Resume (CS9051) is an integral tool for job seekers, students, and teachers. It allows you or your students to take work history, references, skills and abilities with you as you apply for jobs or work with your students. No more forgetting addresses, dates, or phone numbers, as this perfect tool keeps everything in one place.

Skill Building Brochure

Having problems connecting student abilities, skills or interests into real world job skills that employers are looking for? The Skill Building Brochure (CS9052) will help you work with students on decoding their  transferable skills helping them create great resumes and get the job they desire. (Please note, the Skill Building Brochure is only available to customers in Oklahoma.)

Surviving and Thriving

Surviving and Thriving prepares high school students for adulthood by giving them the skills and knowledge they need to transition into college, other job training, or a career.

The full-color student edition includes “Knowledge Check,” “Career Spotlight,” and “Living Green” features in each unit. The teacher edition is done in a wrap-around format with plenty of suggested activities. The teacher resource CD includes all consumable student pages to print as needed, Powerpoint® presentations, tests in Word® and text formats, crossword puzzles, and more.

Units include:

  • Communication Skills
  • Understanding Self
  • Making Decisions
  • Leisure Activities
  • Etiquette
  • Personal Safety
  • Understanding Grief and Loss of Life
  • Choosing Food for Good Health
  • Preparing Food

We are offering unit 3, "Making Decisions," as a free sample to download.

Using Words Correctly

This free unit from the CIMC will improve learners’ ability to use words correctly and be more effective communicators. The thoughts, feelings, and information adult learners want others to know will be more clearly communicated if they use subjects and verbs that agree in number and words that express the meaning they intend. This file includes objectives and content, assignments, a written test, and answers. Using Words Correctly is ideal for competency-based instruction.

Download Using Words Correctly

Other Resources

The positions or viewpoints in the resources collected here reflect their authors and source organizations. They do not represent the Resource Center for CareerTech Advancement, the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, or any employee of the state agency. No endorsement of organizations or viewpoints is implied by inclusion in this collection or on this web page.

Resources in many topics are also available on our Resource Profiles page.

Learners: Lessons from Career Pathway Evaluations

Gallup report – Assessing Soft Skills: Are We Preparing Students for Successful Futures?

NIST Tutorial Videos for Resume Writing and Interview Tips

Career Ready Rubrics

Positivity Works

U.S. Energy Information Administration Writing Style Guide

Adaptive Learner-Centered Education: A Toolkit for Extension

MoneyGeek: A Financial Literacy Handbook for All Life Stages

North Carolina Network for Excellence in Teaching - Employability Skills Resource Toolkit

The Kansas State University Research and Extension Bookstore has a free “Essential Living Skills” series. Each module in this revised series (2016) is available to download as a PDF and includes a leader’s guide, fact sheets, handouts, activities and evaluation instruments. Module titles include:

Vocabulary Building Workbook

Essential Skills Portfolio

Problem Solved! A tool to help employees and/or learners practice and improve their problem solving skills

Career Pathways Catalog of Toolkits

Outreach and Technical Assistance Network for Adult Educators: Teaching Tools and Resources

U.S. Department of Labor - Soft Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success

Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) - Federal Plain Language Guidelines (booklet)

Last Modified on Dec 08, 2023
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