Career Design. (software) (evaluation)
by Carol S. Holzberg
Anyone considering a midlife career change might be interested in a product like Career Design. It contains 50 activity modules that encourage you to explore your feelings about work. Almost every module contains an interactive exercise to help you gain a clearer picture of your career interests.
Career Design teaches how to write seven types of resumes (including chronological, functional, portfolio, and curriculum vitae), organize research, prepare proposals, and make presentations. And it provides tips on proper conduct during interviews, important interview questions to consider, and how to negotiate a more favorable contract.
Career Design is easy to use. it features a tutorial, help screens, and prompts that eliminate the need for memorizing tedious keyboard commands. Its mandatory password protection keeps your personal information confidential.
You can explore the Career Design modules in any order, but the publisher recommends an exploration sequence in its printed Flowchart of Modules.
If you follow the recommended sequence, Career Design begins by focusing on your interests, skills, likes, and dislikes. The objective is to give you a clear idea of what you do well and what you enjoy doing before you hunt for a j ob.
The files you type with the built-in word processor (your interests, goals, letters, and work preferences) are made more accessible through the use of markers in the text that let you return to them instantly.
The manual provides detailed program instructions plus a general-reference resource guide. You'll find information about business organizations and directories, U.S. nonprofit organizations, corporate news, how to locate the best places in the country to live, and much more. Career Design also includes a wall-size plan-of-action chart on which you can jot down summaries of your goals, interests, and preferences for work conditions so they'll be visible when you're talking to prospective employers on the phone.
Career Design offers practical advice for anyone interested in planning and implementing a successful career strategy. However, many individuals in search of new and exciting employment could probably do just as well by consulting career-planning guide books. The software doesn't use your answers to suggest possible j ob options. It merely poses questions that help you uncover your interests and abilities. All interpretation is left up to you.
One advantage Career Design has over conventional career-planning textbooks is that your personal data files are always instantly available. You can use the word processor to copy information from the modules to the letters that you write. This feature is a valuable timesaver if you plan to write letters with boilerplate text. In addition, data files are always instantly available. You can call them up with a few simple keystrokes if you need to complete a job application or access personal information during a phone conversation with a potential employer.
The product is worth its $99 price tag if you're the kind of person who prefers computers to pens. If you already have a word processor, you might learn as much by visiting the local library. However, the open-ended format may be freeing to some, and may lead to personal insights.
IBM PC and compatibles, 525K RAM,
DOS 2.0 or higher, 2.7MB of hard disk
space-$99.00 plus $6.95 shipping arid
handling)
CAREER DESIGN SOFTWARE
P.O. Box 95624
Atlanta, GA 30347
(800) 346-8007