Learners need to be actively involved in creating their career plans in order for them to take ownership and
personal responsibility for setting and achieving their academic and career goals. To do this, information is
vital. The Career Planner provides career information and planning activities for each occupation in the MECA
System. Each program includes career information such as:

• Job requirements
• Related jobs
• Related interests
• Physical demands
• Working conditions
• Academic/technical skills
• Where to obtain these skills
• Helpful high school courses
• Ways to get a job
• Licensing and certification
• Wages
• Job outlook

Most career information systems rely on a lot of boring text and have approximately an 8th-10th grade reading
level . The Career Planner was designed to hold interest through extensive use of pictures, video clips
and limited use of text (4th-5th grade reading/listening level), along with full audio for low and
non-readers. The key to successful career goal setting and achievement is to enable users to be actively
involved in their own career goal-setting process. The Career Planner makes this possible. After completing
an occupation in The Career Planner, a simple questionnaire begins the “reality check” needed for creating
appropriate post-secondary outcomes. The Career Planner creates a career portfolio or summary of
performance, documenting post-secondary goals and setting a plan for achieving these goals.