"Helping People Take Charge of Their Careers"

Utah Choices

Utah Choices, the State's career information delivery system (CIDS), helps students and workers take charge of their careers. Like other state CIDS, the Utah system allows its users to identify occupations that appeal to their particular interests and needs. The system also provides information about the education, experience and skills these occupations require.

The O*NET® database is a key source of occupational information in the Utah CIDS. The occupations in the system are compatible with O*NET 3.0 occupations, and O*NET is the basic source of information regarding:

• Description/Typical Tasks
• Basic Skills 
• General Workplace Skills (Cross-Functional Skills) 
• Physical Abilities 
• Personality Types
• Work Values
• Work Conditions

The Utah CIDS is available to students at virtually every public high school, as well as many postsecondary schools. Other users include adults in career transition being served by Utah's Employment Centers (One-Stops) and clients of the Division of Rehabilitation.

How is O*NET being used? 

O*NET information supports four major activities within the Utah CIDS:

1. The assessment options now include the new O*NET Interest Profiler and the O*NET Work Importance Locator, giving users the opportunity to better understand their interests (as expressed in terms compatible with Holland codes*) and their work values. Completing these computer-administered assessments offers users immediate feedback as the scoring is done automatically, and they can immediately link to occupations that match their results. 

2. The occupation report includes O*NET information on the topics listed above in a user-friendly, understandable format. Reports are available for every civilian occupation in O*NET. They quickly acquaint users with characteristics of a selected occupation.

3. The occupations search enables users to define criteria by which the list of occupations will be sorted. O*NET information has greatly enhanced the ability of users to accomplish a skills-based occupations search. Users can identify all the occupations that meet their Basic Skills, General Workplace Skills, and Physical Abilities needs (as defined in O*NET), as well as other factors, such as Transferable Work Content Skills and Aptitudes.

4. The Planner/Portfolio component allows users to document the development of their basic and employability skills and build skills-based résumés. O*NET skills information has enhanced this feature of the Utah CIDS.

Target populations of the Utah CIDS include high school students and adults in career transition being served by the Utah Department of Workforce Services, Vocational Rehabilitation, and postsecondary schools. The system is available at more than 200 sites throughout the State. 

What kind of results is O*NET helping you to achieve?

The Utah CIDS, enhanced by information from O*NET, helps students and workers take charge of their own careers. Knowledge of worker requirements and characteristics of occupations is within easy access of most students, as well as adults seeking employment or further education. Learning about occupations, related training opportunities, and potential sources of financial aid gives individuals the critical information they need to develop and execute their own career plans.

What are the related program initiatives?

Utah's Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance program, funded by the State legislature, mandates the development of an individual Student Education Occupation Plan (SEOP). The Utah CIDS is an important tool, used by students, parents and educators to ensure that their plans are developed on a solid foundation of quality career information. In addition, the CIDS is perceived as an important counseling and self-service tool for customers being served by the Workforce Investment Act.

Is your product, program or service available for others to use?

The Utah CIDS is based on Choices, one of several proprietary career information delivery systems available nationwide. Some of these national proprietary systems have been adopted and customized for a state or local area. The adopting state or area enhances and updates the system with state, regional and/or local information, tailors it to the target audience, and then makes the system available to schools, libraries, One-Stop Career Centers, and/or other facilities serving youth and adults. Some states have developed their own systems. Some now make part or all of their system available over the Internet.

Today statewide CIDS serve millions of individuals across the United States. Many of the major developers are in the process of integrating O*NET into their systems or have already done so. For specific information about the Utah system, see the contacts below. To identify the statewide CIDS for your state or to obtain general information about CIDS and standards for their development and content, visit the Association of Computer-Based Systems for Career Information (ACSCI) website at: http://www.acsci.org.

What other strategies make your product, program or service successful?

Many strategies make Utah's CIDS successful. Among the most important are:

• a high level of coordination among State agencies and schools;
• a commitment to CIDS user support, including customized training;
• financial support of licensed sites, their districts or agencies, and the State; and
• federal funding to support CIDS activities.

Contact

Kristine Dobson
Utah's Career Information Delivery System
P.O. Box 350
Paradise, UT 84328
phone: 1/800-733-7887
fax: 435-245-0725
e-mail: UTChoices@aol.com

Dr. Lynn Jensen
Utah Career Resource Network
c/o Davis Applied Technology College
550 East 300 South
Kaysville, UT  84037
phone:  801-593-2599
fax:  801-593-2400
e-mail: ljensen@datc.tec.ut.us