PTA Goes to Work - Frequently Asked Questions
Why is PTA interested in career development?
One of PTA’s goals is to support parent involvement in children’s education. Helping young people secure accurate and timely career information through parents, teachers, and guidance counselors is another fundamental part of the organizing principle.
By partnering with DOL to create PTA Goes To Work, we have launched a career information campaign to educate and inform parents, teachers, and young people about careers in the 21st century. Although, your child’s or student’s ultimate career choice may seem years away, there are things you and your child or student should be doing now to ensure that he/she has the skills, education and training to enter and succeed in an exciting career of his/her choice.
Who is DOL and what is the publicly funded Workforce Investment System?
The US Department of Labor is the Federal Government Agency that is responsible for fostering and promoting the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, and helping employers find workers.
Each year, DOL invests approximately $11 billion into the public Workforce Investment System. This investment funds resources such as Career Voyages and One-Stop Career Centers. Career Voyages is an on-line tool that provides career information and good choices for varying levels of education or training specifically in high growth industries and in-demand occupations.
One-Stop Career Centers connect a wide array of federal programs and community resources into a single access point for both business and job-seekers. With over 3,500 delivery points nationwide, there is a One-Stop Career Center in your area that is staffed with trained human resource professionals that can provide you and your child or students with information on what jobs are in-demand and what the needed skills and competencies are for growing occupations.
I am a parent. What can I expect from PTA Goes to Work?
As a parent, you want to ensure your child receives useful information and advice and to be able to discuss your child’s decisions wisely and realistically. A variety of resources will help you and your child choose classes to take in high school, select colleges or other forms of career development opportunities, and work more effectively with guidance counselors.
I am a career counselor. What can I expect from PTA Goes to Work?
You will learn how to help your students make the right decisions for a successful transition from the classroom to the workplace – wherever that route might take them.
I am a student. What can I expect from PTA Goes to Work?
We know it is stressful enough to find a summer job, much less even think about a future career. With PTA Goes To Work, we will help you start thinking about the questions you should ask as you start to consider life beyond middle and high school – questions to ask of counselors, parents, teachers, mentors, and even potential employers. We will point you toward information on the fastest growing – and sometimes highest paid – industries, and help you connect with valuable services from the Workforce Investment System that will help make your career goals become a reality.
Can PTA find my child/student a job?
No, that is up to you and the child/student. But what PTA can do, in collaboration with the Department of Labor, is make your child or students’ job search easier by providing you with the tools you need to sort through the countless resources available, ask the right questions, make sense of the system, and simply make the most of your time.
What can I expect in the future from PTA Goes to Work: Jobs for the 21st Century?
PTA will update this website to make more information available, as well as provide you with more online tools to help you make sense of the information. You will also see updates in our electronic and print publications, giving you the latest information on the project.
A comprehensive toolkit will be developed in partnership with DOL and distributed to local PTA units with information and materials on potential careers and career pathways, and how to navigate the publicly funded Workforce Investment System.
For more information, check out Career Voyages and CareerOneStop:
