The WOIS 2011 Fall Training Schedule is set and registration is available online at http://www.wois.org/about/events/index.cfm#event6.  Space is limited at each location, so register early!

If a training date or location does not work for you, but you are in need of training, please contact tami@wois.org.

If you use the WOIS Portfolio High School and Beyond Plan, we have added a new feature to the Portfolio Query that allows you to see groups of students based on their Post-High School Plans.

You have always been able to query for students interested in a specific career or college, but now you can also query for all of the students in your school who entered a general post-high school plan.  For example, you can request to see all of the students who said Community College is part of their plan, or who entered Apprenticeship, or Military, etc.

Once you have your query results, use the list of students to either send them notes ("Come to our after school workshop on financial aid on December 15th, 3:30 in the Commons") or generate reports, to see, for example, the complete post-high school plans for the selected students.

Thank you to Kris Howell at Olympic High School for this fantastic suggestion.

A few more enhancements to the WOIS High School and Beyond Plan are on the horizon, so stay tuned!

WOIS/The Career Information System is Washington State's most comprehensive career and educational planning resource and is used in over 700 sites in the state of Washington.  WOIS has provided career assessment tools, detailed information about occupations, educational programs, and postsecondary institutions, along with supporting activities and resources, for more than 35 years.  WOIS provides complete, accurate and up-to-date information for Washington State and NOW also provides national wage, outlook, and college information.  As a non-profit organization, our goal is to provide these resources, and related training and technical support, at the lowest cost possible, to the institutions and organizations in Washington State. 

If you make your school's course listing available for the High School and Beyond Plan in the WOIS Portfolio, check out this new enhancement!

Now you can specify the grade levels for each class!  Then when your students build their High School and Beyond Plans, only the classes they are able to take in the grade they are building will show up!

This is an important enhancement and we want to thank Tim Mahaney at Central Kitsap School District for helping us design this feature.

If you have questions about this feature,  or want to know the easiest way to build your course list, please email or call -- tami@wois.org or 1-800-700-WOIS.

WOIS/The Career Information System is Washington State's most comprehensive career and educational planning resource and is used in over 900 sites in the state of Washington.  WOIS has provided career assessment tools, detailed information about occupations, educational programs, and postsecondary institutions, along with supporting activities and resources, for more than 35 years.  WOIS provides complete, accurate and up-to-date information for Washington State and NOW also provides national wage, outlook, and college information.  As a non-profit organization, our goal is to provide these resources, and related training and technical support, at the lowest cost possible, to the institutions and organizations in Washington State. 

Get Real-Time Customer Service from WOIS

Get WOIS support and technical answers quickly and easily with Live Support!  Simply click on the Live Support link on the lower right corner of the WOIS screen to chat with customer support.  If customer support is offline, you can leave a message and your answer will be emailed to you as soon as someone is available.

Live Support is our latest effort to provide quality customer service to counselors, teachers, clients and students.

WOIS Renewal Reminder

Don't be caught without WOIS access on September 1, 2010.  Remember to return your WOIS order for 2010-2011 by August 31.

Only a few Spots are left for Great Futures University

Great Futures University is a workshop that provides hands-on training for teachers, counselors, and advisors in the new life, career and educational planning curriculum from WOIS.  This workshop is designed for people from sites that have already ordered Great Futures as an add-on to WOIS, or people who are interested in learning more about the Great Futures resources.   The workshop is two mornings.  It's free, with six free clock hours.
 

Dates and Locations for Great Futures University:

July 12 and 13, Columbia Basin College

July 14 and 15, Edmonds Community College -- FULL, but you can get on the waiting list.

July 21 and 22, Bower Learning Center, Olympia -- Only six spots available

July 26 and 27, Eastern Washington University -- FULL, but you can get on a waiting list.

July 28 and 29, Lower Columbia College

Register today!
 

WOIS/The Career Information System is Washington State's most comprehensive career and educational planning resource and is used in over 900 sites in the state of Washington.  WOIS has provided career assessment tools, detailed information about occupations, educational programs, and postsecondary institutions, along with supporting activities and resources, for more than 35 years.  WOIS provides complete, accurate and up-to-date information for Washington State and NOW also provides national wage, outlook, and college information.  As a non-profit organization, our goal is to provide these resources, and related training and technical support, at the lowest cost possible, to the institutions and organizations in Washington State.

You've patiently waited for WOIS to revise our School Search to work with our new national school database.  Your wait is over!  School Search is back in WOIS and better than ever!  Check it out -- you can link to it from Assessments (under Other Exploration Tools), Educational Programs or Schools.

Great Futures sites -- watch for new lesson plans in the next week or two that address college planning and incorporate the new WOIS School Search.

It's not too late to register for July's Great Futures University -- coming to a location near you -- Edmonds, Longview, Spokane, Olympia, and Tri-Cities.  Register today!  Free registration and Free Clock Hours.  Whether you have already ordered Great Futures, or want to experience the program to make a decision about ordering, you are welcome to attend this two-day (mornings only so you can still enjoy the afternoon sun!) workshop.

REMINDER!  WOIS Subscribers -- remember to place your WOIS order before August 31 to ensure uninterrupted service. 

WOIS/The Career Information System is Washington State's most comprehensive career and educational planning resource and is used in over 900 sites in the state of Washington.  WOIS has provided career assessment tools, detailed information about occupations, educational programs, and postsecondary institutions, along with supporting activities and resources, for more than 35 years.  WOIS provides complete, accurate and up-to-date information for Washington State and NOW also provides national wage, outlook, and college information.  As a non-profit organization, our goal is to provide these resources, and related training and technical support, at the lowest cost possible, to the institutions and organizations in Washington State.

Congratulations to Michael Severance from Richland High School for being chosen to receive the 2010 WOIS Scholarship.

Michael has used WOIS extensively to research his post-high school options.  This is part of Michael's description of his career and educational planning process:

"During my four years of high school I have changed my career path at least four times.  I have considered everything from commercial pilot, to a chef, to marine biologist.  Each time WOIS has played a major role by providing me with priceless information about each career field.  The section of WOIS that I found most helpful in my career search was the job description section.  I have a wide array of traits that could be applied in different careers, but WOIS helped me weed out ones that would not fit my needs."

After describing how he weeded out certain careers based on the information he received from WOIS, Michael tells us how he discovered that aerospace engineering would be a good fit for him:

"Finally I discovered aerospace engineering, which combines my fascination of flight with my love for designing and my skills in math and science.  I think this is the right career path for me, and without WOIS I might have never discovered it."

Michael plans to study aerospace engineering at the University of Washington and has already learned a lot about the research opportunities available through UW.   After he receives his degree, he plans to work for NASA or Boeing.

We wish Michael the best of luck as he works to create his successful future!

Thank you to all the students who submitted WOIS scholarship applications.  We would love to give scholarships to all of you, but unfortunately have to choose just one person.

WOIS has added a link to a list of jobs with Bright Outlooks, and another list of jobs in Green Economy Sectors.  These lists were developed by the US Department of Labor for the O*Net OnLine.  The link from WOIS provides easy access for your students, clients and patrons.

Bright Outlook occupations are expected to grow rapidly in the next several years, will have large numbers of new job openings, or are new and emerging occupations.

The green economy will cause a change in occupations' employment demand or work and worker requirements such as tasks, skills, knowledge, and credentials. Green occupations are linked to Green Economy Sectors.

These links can be found in the Resources box on the right side of the Occupation Index, which is accessed by clicking on Occupations from your main menu.

Easy!  If you have questions, please email tami@wois.org.

WOIS/The Career Information System is Washington State's most comprehensive career and educational planning resource and is used in over 900 sites in the state of Washington.  WOIS has provided career assessment tools, detailed information about occupations, educational programs, and postsecondary institutions, along with supporting activities and resources, for more than 35 years.  WOIS provides complete, accurate and up-to-date information for Washington State and NOW also provides national wage, outlook, and college information.  As a non-profit organization, our goal is to provide these resources, and related training and technical support, at the lowest cost possible, to the institutions and organizations in Washington State.

WOIS and Great Choices have teamed together to develop a powerful tool that is the answer to your challenges with advisories, culminating projects, career units, and high school and beyond planning.

WOIS subscribers will receive information with their renewal package (coming soon!) about the cost to integrate GREAT FUTURES with the WOIS tools. If you can’t wait to see this wonderful new resource and want a FREE demo right away, please contact Tami at 1-800-700-9647 or tami@wois.org.

Check out the new Interest Area sort in the WOIS Occupation section.  Choose the Interest Area you feel is your best match, then choose the level of education you wish to attain (or choose them all), and see the careers that match your choices!

To see all of this year's new WOIS features, attend one of the upcoming FREE WOIS Training sessions.  Free Clock hours are provided.

Wednesday, March 17, 3:00 to 6:00 -- Ballard High School

Friday, March 19, 8:30 to 2:00 -- Columbia Basin College

Friday, March 26, 8:30 to 2:00 -- Lower Columbia College

Space is limited, so register today.  For more information and to register, click here.