Geographic Solutions offers a comprehensive, secure career pathways system for justice-involved individuals preparing for reentry called Virtual OneStop Reentry Employment Opportunities (VOS REO).

The Habits of Mind framework describes and offers strategies for building 16 habits of mind with self-assessment rubrics and other resources contributed by practitioners.

Workforce Atlas is an online career pathways platform with workplace skills and interest assessments, occupational recommendations, career profiles, and job search and workplace success resources.

WholeStory prepares job seekers to develop their personal story to communicate and highlight their strengths and skills.

Edge Factor offers industry-focused career exploration video stories to inspire students and job seekers to explore and prepare for new career pathways while showcasing local opportunities.

English for Specific Careers from BurlingtonEnglish offers specialized career courses with contextualized vocabulary, workplace success skills, and real-life workplace scenarios to help students succeed in current or new careers.

First Step Act: Best Practices for Academic and Vocational Education for Offenders, a report from the National Institute of Justice, examines the best practices and outcomes in correctional settings when skill-enhancing initiatives, such as remedial academics and vocational programming, are implemented. A key component of successful re-entry for ex-offenders is the acquisition of new personal, academic, and employability skills through participation in skill-enhancing programs while still incarcerated. Best practices include participation in an ESOL program until reaching a minimum English proficiency level of eighth grade, classes to build foundational literacy skills, high school equivalency programs for inmates lacking a high school diploma, and occupational education courses to prepare inmates for reentry after release. An innovative life skills and behavioral/cognitive change program called Breaking Barriers is specifically highlighted and could serve as a model for future correctional program design. Additional findings include positive outcomes in the effort to reduce recidivism when drug and alcohol intervention programs and therapeutic communities are implemented.

This article describes how one in four employers now use pre-hiring assessments to find prospective employees. The assessments’ popularity is fueled by employers who no longer consider a college degree to be a measure of career preparedness and therefore no longer require a college degree. Employers also use pre-hiring assessments to ensure more equitable hiring, since fewer African Americans hold college degrees. Advances in technology and artificial intelligence make it possible to create assessments that measure whether an applicant can work in teams, communicate well, and make good decisions. Tech employers have been drawn to hackathons to find talented students who demonstrate their drive and ingenuity to solve a problem. Since COVID-19, with an increased number of job candidates, and health risks making it hard to meet in person, the use of pre-hiring assessments is growing faster than in the past.

The BurlingtonEnglish Career Exploration & Soft Skills blended course helps students learn English, identify career and academic pathways, and develop the personal and workplace success skills needed for career success.

Developing Soft Skills in CTE (Career and Technical Education) course for instructors offers strategies for personal and workplace success skills instruction, integration into programming, and measurement of skill development.