Before beginning their career exploration, it is recommended that students create an account with California CareerZone. While this step is not required, without an account some of the tools listed below, like the Journal, will not be available. Registering for an account will enable students to pick up where they left off each time they return to California CareerZone.

To register, use the Register button on the main page to bring up the registration form. Users may also select the Sign In link in the top right hand corner of any page, and then select the Create Account tab to get to the form. Once there, they can fill in the requested information and click Create. When an account has been created, students will see their names replace the sign in link in the top right corner of the page.

California CareerZone features several assessments that can help students determine occupations in which they may be interested. Depending on the age and experience of your students, they may want to start with one test before the others. Here's a breakdown of which might be most useful for different groups:

• Interest Profiler - There are several reasons that most people start with the Interest Profiler, but for students with little work experience, this tool allows them to answer questions based on what they like as opposed to their prior experience. As an exploratory tool it offers a simple, relatively quick way to narrow down the list of occupations.
 
• Work Importance Profiler - This assessment focuses more on which aspects of a job are important, rather than broad interests. For users who have had some work experience, this assessment can provide a list of occupations for which they might find job satisfaction.
 
• Skills Profiler - This assessment focuses on skills that a student might have. This is good for people who may have had several entry level jobs or worked on projects where they may have acquired other skills. The results will be comprised based of occupations that require similar skill sets.

If your students have completed one of the assessments in the previous step, they will already have a listing of occupations for which they may be suited. If they have not, they can find a list of occupations to explore by visiting the following activities:

• Quick Assessment - The Quick Assessment will provide you with a list of occupations that match your self-reported interest code. This would be the same code that you would get after completing the Interest Profiler but without the full assessment.
• Job Family - Job families are lists of occupations grouped by the industry type they are in. You can look at the job families and find a grouping that you might be interested in.
• Job Title - If you know the title of an occupation you would like to explore, you can enter it in the search box in the top of the screen.

On each page of listings, there is a filter at the top of the page. You can use this to refine a search and find occupations that meet various criteria, including preferred salary and whether a job is a STEM occupation. Students can use these options to help drill down to find the best occupations for them.

As you find occupations that you might like, use the Bookmark feature to save them to your account, so you can come back and review them at a later point.

After your students have identified occupations and colleges, you can review their results by viewing their summary report. To print out a summary of their exploration, select Portfolio Summary Report from the Grow menu.