MyFutureVT Overview
Advance Vermont has created Vermont’s only free, online hub for career and education resources. MyFutureVT provides Vermonters with the information and guidance they need to make informed decisions about their education and career journey. Having the right information helps Vermonters find the opportunities that will advance their careers, employable skills, income stability, and job readiness. It will also increase the number of people in Vermont who aspire to, access, and afford valuable post-high school credentials. The goal of MyFutureVT is to ensure that Vermonters achieve their maximum career potential — for the sake of every individual and Vermont’s economy.
What MyFutureVT Offers
MyFutureVT is a free and accessible resource that showcases the diversity of career and education pathways in Vermont. More specifically, MyFutureVT includes:
3 Interactive Databases
- The high-demand, high-pay jobs in Vermont. Users can find helpful information including median salary, projected openings, education requirements, skills, and much more
- The education and training programs to prepare for Vermont’s high-demand, high-pay jobs. Users can find information about duration, cost, location, delivery type, and more.
- Education and career support services in Vermont. User can sort these by the type of support, its focus, and where it is offered in Vermont.
Career Exploration and Preparation
- Free and fun quizzes to learn more about what type of jobs align with the users’ interests and strengths.
- Different ways to test out a job or career, like job shadows and informational interviews.
- Tips for how to confidently and successfully apply for new jobs, including help with resumes and cover letters.
Education and Training Information
- Information about different types of education and training pathways available in Vermont at every stage of life
- Explanations of the different types of credentials and how they can work for your career
- Creative and innovative ways to reduce the cost of post-high school education and training programs
Career and Education Resources
- Connections to free, in-person career and education counseling services
- Resources to help high school students make empowered choices about their future
- Resources to help adults make informed decisions about their next step
Audience
MyFutureVT reaches a statewide audience of job seekers, prospective students of all ages, and “navigators” — such as service providers, career counselors, employers, and influential family members like parents or spouses. It is designed to meet the needs of low-income Vermonters, first-generation students, and historically marginalized Vermonters. The site is written to be accessible for Vermonters with low levels of literacy and English Language Learners.
Why a portal?
Identifying, evaluating, and accessing education and training programs can be confusing, costly, and time-consuming.
There are many print and online resources available to Vermonters including information, tools, support services, and financial aid. But those resources are not always easy to find, and it is not always clear how to access what is available or who to turn to for support. This is a particular challenge among low-income and historically disadvantaged populations. According to Advance Vermont research, today’s students are juggling life, work, and education responsibilities like never before. Ninety percent of Vermont students currently or recently enrolled in post-high school education and training report an online resource like MyFutureVT would have been helpful as they sought to advance their job skills.
Public Viewpoint: COVID-19 Work and Education Survey. Strada Education Network. April 1-2, 2020.
COVID-19 has grown the need for MyFutureVT. An unsettled economy will have long-lasting impacts on the careers of so many Vermonters. Demand for a skilled workforce will grow in the wake of the pandemic as it did after the Great Recession—99% of jobs created in the economic recovery went to those with at least some college education. That is trend is bearing out in public perception today. Nationally, 1 in 3 workers believe that if they lose their jobs due to the current crisis, they will need more education to find comparable positions.
Project Approach
A statewide, cross-sector project steering committee advised the development of the portal. Advance Vermont has been working closely with key knowledge partners like the J. Warren & Lois McClure Foundation, the Vermont Department of Labor, and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, to ensure that MyFutureVT integrates their best thinking and existing materials. This also avoids duplicating efforts. We are worked with the McClure Foundation to incorporate and expand on their “Pathways to Promising Careers” initiative, which compiles lists of the highest-paying, highest-demand jobs in Vermont and highlights some of the local education and training opportunities that lead to them.
Connect
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We’re always looking to help make connections and support innovative projects.