The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), through its Build Your Future (BYF) initiative, announced that it is expanding its career exploration tool, CareerStarter, nationwide. This new program is intended to provide direct connections between entry-level job seekers, local training programs, and employers.
CareerStarter’s career exploration tools are meant to help bridge the gap between curiosity and a construction career. The advantage of CareerStarter comes through bringing together all members of the career path process into one place. This program is free of charge to individuals, schools, employers and training programs.
Why should people use it?
- Students and job seekers can use the exploration resources to discover potential career paths, then find the right educational or work opportunities to help them take their next steps.
- Employers can find talent for their company by building a business profile, posting free and unlimited entry-level job listings, and using the automatic candidate matching feature.
- Educators can promote their training program while monitoring students’ activity on the tool and tracking the direct success stories of their program.
“NCCER is proud to provide a program supporting job seekers, employers and educators as we work to increase the construction workforce,” says NCCER President and CEO Boyd Worsham. “It takes all of us working together to make a real impact in the industry, and CareerStarter will help us all foster connections and come together to fill the skills gap.”
In the opening months of CareerStarter, the tool has already helped hundreds of future craft professionals take their first steps into the construction field, according to a press release from the company.
What users think
“It’s been difficult to find a source for students to connect with employers and learn how to market themselves,” says Phil Vice with Connect For Success NC. “The process was very simple, in fact, the teachers just provided the QR code, and the students took to it easily. The feedback I received was great! Students were able to look for opportunities and see what they might need to accomplish their career goals.”
