Job Hunting & Career Exploration
Newspaper classifieds are a great place to find "live" job listings.The Poughkeepsie Public Library District subscribes to the Poughkeepsie Journal; Middletown Times Herald-Record; and others. Ask your local library about its holdings.
Try these Web links to find newspapers around the country:
NewsVoyager or Newslink
When you get to a specific newspaper site, look for the following terms as links: 'classified';
'employment'; 'jobs'; or 'help wanted.'
Hudson Valley Help Wanted : This is a web site
where local employers list job openings.
New York State Job Exchange : This site is sponsored by the N. Y. State
Department of Labor.
Indeed : An excellent meta-search site that gathers information from many different job listing sites all in one convenient search.
To find businesses in your area that engage in business or services that you are qualified to work for, try the 'Employer Locator' from the excellent portal site, Careeronestop, produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
For more job sites, go to the Poughkeepsie Public Library District's Useful Sites to find more helpful links in the Careers section.
Area Organizations
For useful one-on-one help, contact the One-Stop Center serving your county.
Each county in the Mid-Hudson region has a full-service employment center, sponsored by the New York State Labor Department:
Putnam County(and Westchester)
VESID: Employment assistance for people
with disabilities.
Resumes
Search the Mid-Hudson Library System's online catalog to find books with sample resumes, cover letters and job interview techniques. Most of these titles can be found under the Dewey call number 650.14 in any public library.
Microsoft Word has a 'Resume Wizard' that helps you format your resume. Open Word, go to 'File', then 'New', select 'Other Documents' and look for resume templates and wizard.
Our online database, Testing & Education Reference Center from GALE , also has an
'Online Resume Builder' function that is useful, with FAQs and expert advise for each component.
The Poughkeepsie Public Library District has MS Word in the library on public computers. It can
be used for 60 minutes with two additional session possible per day. Printing costs .10 cents per page. You can also bring your own thumb drive (USB), to save your work at no cost. Always SAVE your
work!
If you live outside Poughkeepsie, ask your local library about its computer resources and policies.
Career Exploration
Offices of Counseling and Career Services at local community colleges often provide free services to county residents. Call ahead to confirm availability.
Dutchess Community College:( 845) 431-8040
Ulster County Community College (845)
687-5091
Columbia-Greene Community College 518-828-4181
ext. 3396
Other resources to explore include:
Careerzone is an interactive career exploration tool from the N.Y. S. Labor Department.
Jobzone is a related site from the DOL
Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance (5 vols.) Describes over 700 careers and includes the educational requirements, salary range, and additional contacts for each.
Encyclopedia of Associations is a directory that includes professional & trade associations; useful contacts for exploring career options.
O*Net is produced for the U.S. Department of Labor, by the Occupational Information Center. This resource replaces the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), which was last published in 1991.
Occupational Outlook Handbook, which is also available online.
What Color is Your Parachute is a standard work that is updated annually.
Test Preparation
Use our online database Testing & Education Reference Center from GALE for test preparation and as an instructional web site with more than 100 online practice tests that cover civil service and other career exams, college entrance and placement exams, citizenship exams, and more.
The Adriance Memorial Library also has many job test study guides in print that may be borrowed, including both professional career tests and Civil Service sample exams. These are in the "Job Tests" area on the Main Floor, arranged alphabetically by job title. If you are unable to find what you need, please ask a Reference Librarian to help you.
Search the Catalog
For books on a specific career choice, search Mid-Hudson Library System's Online Catalog.
Try a keyword search using the occupation name + any of the following term(s):
career* or occupation** or vocation** or employment or job*
For example: engineering vocation**, or food service career*
(** retrieves various endings-e.g. occupation* will retrieve occupation, occupations, occupational,
etc.)
Browse the Collection
Many general career works can be found on the shelves in the Dewey call number section 331.
Contact (845) 485-3445 x3303 with any questions.