A study examined the factors that influence lower-income women's career decision making and planning. The 24 women interviewed included African American, white, and Hispanic American women ages 20-60 years or older. The women were employed in a variety of industries. All were college graduates, and none earned more than $24,000 annually. Most…

This document examines strategies for preventing working families and disadvantaged youth from needing cash assistance and becoming dependent on welfare. The document begins with a brief discussion of the tenuous nature of the boundary between families who need public assistance and families who don't and factors contributing to welfare…

Data from national administrative and telephone surveys of nationally representative samples of unemployment insurance (UI) recipients who began collecting benefits in 1998 were analyzed to identify changes in the UI claimant population over the past 10 years and determine whether the time has come to retool the nation's reemployment services. The…

Describes an outplacement program for hourly women workers that assisted participants in identifying skills, interests, and values; identified community resources; taught job hunting skills; and encouraged participation in a support group. (JOW)

The Owensboro (Kentucky) Displaced Homemaker Program assists single parents/displaced homemakers in sustaining themselves and their families by enabling them to enter the workforce. Barriers of age, sex, lack of work experience, low self-esteem, low educational attainment, and little knowledge of the work environment affect their ability to enter…

Technical Education Research Centers initiated the Career Change Project to discover, study, and publicize programs that assist adults to make major career changes. The project surveyed by mail and phone 800 businesses and industrial firms, 1500 postsecondary educational institutions and contacted twenty government agencies, professional…

This case history describes the Washington State Career Change Program which is designed to respond to the career needs of unemployed residents who have been laid off or unable to continue their jobs as a result of economic, technological, or health factors beyond their control. The career change program assists these individuals in identifying…

This course of instruction contains materials designed to provide the trainee in an adult manpower training program with job-seeking and job-survival skills. Contents include a listing of course objectives and competencies by instructional units, a pre- and post-course test, and lesson plans for the two-section course. The ten units of the…

Interviews were conducted with a sample of 400 nonstudent, in-transition adults to identify their career information and education needs, their reasons for being in-transition, and their personal and demographic characteristics. In-transition was defined as either undergoing or anticipating job or career changes. Over forty million Americans (36%…

This operational guide for job placement specialists and others charged with establishing and operating placement and followup programs in state and area vocational-technical schools and joint college programs is presented in eleven sections: (1-3) A centralized, specialized program is proposed to meet state board of education requirements, to…

This guide is designed to help the user enter into the job market by making the most of their existing skills and finding additional training. Section 1, Vocations, Occupations, Careers, looks at the assessment tools used by employers and trainers to prepare people for today's job market. It describes how to develop a personal inventory of skills…

Idaho's displaced homemaker program exists to reduce the incidence of poverty among the 59,498 displaced homemakers (according to the 1990 census) and 22,147 single mothers in the state. Of those who participated in Idaho's displaced homemaker programs in fiscal year 1998 (FY1998), 924 (33%) earned less than $5,000 annually, and two-thirds had…

A study examined adults' attitudes and experience related to work and the selection of a career or job. Data were gathered through a telephone survey of a sample of 1,003 adults (659 employed either full- or part-time), 18 years of age and older, conducted in June and July 1999. The following areas were explored: current employment status; the…

The issue of underemployment (a condition characterized by inadequate hours, inadequate income, and/or inadequate use of skills) is explored in this monograph. The methodology and vocabulary of underemployment are first examined, including a definition synthesis of hours worked, skill utilization, and compensation. The second section provides…

This book presents step-by-step guidelines to getting a job. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's 13 chapters: (1) assessing one's salable skills (identifying likes and dislikes, determining strong and weak points, assessing skills and knowledge, identifying areas for improvement); (2) identifying one's ideal job (describing…