Pathfinder Helps Students Make Informed Career Decisions
LANSING – The Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education (MDE-OCTE) has announced recent enhancements to Michigan’s education and career Pathfinder – the free online career exploration tool to support the state’s efforts to achieve key career readiness goals.
As members of a national Career Readiness Collaborative, MDE and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) have a history of collaboration and engagement across education, career readiness, and workforce development initiatives. Key goals identified by MDE and LEO include employer engagement, career-focused accountability systems, and equity and access.
Developed by LEO, Pathfinder provides valuable information to help students make informed choices about educational and career options. Pathfinder enhancements include new filter features when individuals explore jobs, fields and schools, as well as the ability to choose multiple paths and compare them with each other.
Pathfinder’s online career planning tool will help improve one of the state’s key career readiness goals – equity and access - ensuring that all students, especially underserved populations, have meaningful access to high-quality career pathways information. Pathfinder also helps forge well-designed linkages between secondary and postsecondary education and training for all career pathways, another key career readiness goal.
“Our state’s ability to prepare all students for rewarding, in-demand careers has critical economic implications,” said Dr. Brian Pyles, OCTE state director. “We encourage students to explore the newly updated Pathfinder to help them make informed choices about their futures.”
Pathfinder uses current information related to employment and the workforce, as well as data about the relationship between education and training programs. It allows visitors to better match skills to career paths and jobs and can be accessed at Pathfinder.MiTalent.org.
“Pathfinder is the go-to career exploration resource for students, parents, and job seekers in Michigan,” said Stephanie Beckhorn, director of LEO’s Office of Employment and Training. “Whether you’re a student considering education and career opportunities or an adult who’s thinking about a career change, Pathfinder is an excellent resource to help you make informed decisions.”
Providing tools and information that help individuals identify and pursue education and training opportunities aligns with Michigan’s Sixty-by-30 goal to increase the number of working-age adults with a post-secondary certificate or degree to 60% by 2030, and Goal Six of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan to increase the percentage of adults with a post-secondary credential.
Visit Pathfinder.MiTalent.org to get started.
