Sources of Information

Many schools have career and guidance counsellors who can help you to find the information you need, as well as career libraries which have information on different occupational choices. The University of the West Indies and the University of Technology both have career and placement centres with relevant career publications and information which can be researched and which offer very assistance to students. Parents, family, friends and people you know who work in the field which you are interested in researching are all valuable sources of information. You can get useful information from them by doing an informational interview for which you should prepare a list of questions such as:

• What kind of work is involved?
• What are the entry requirements?
• What kind of opportunities are available?
• What do you enjoy about your job?

• A series called ‘Career Guidelines’ published by the University of the West Indies Placement and Career Services which gives detailed information on careers in different disciplines, the entry requirements and employment opportunities;
• ‘The Directory of Further Education and Training’ published by the Department of Teacher Education Development and Faculty of Education, lists institutions and organizations which offer more that 1,200 different kinds of further education training programmes in clerical, technical, vocational, professional, management, business studies, etc.;
• The Sunday Gleaner’s ‘Career Opportunities Column’ publishes information on career opportunities and career trends;
• Hamilton Knight Associates Limited publishes articles on career choice and career development and has a private career library which can be used for researches;
• The Jamaica Scholarship Pages’ which has been published on an annual basis since 1988, contains relevant up-to-date information on scholarships for post secondary study and awards available in Jamaica, the Caribbean, the United States, Commonwealth and others foreign countries;
• The Jamaica Employers Federation’s ‘Wage and Salary Surveys’ also provide relevant and up-to-date information on salaries and benefits for different jobs and positions;
• The labour market information systems (LMIS) working group, (which includes private and public sector organization in collaboration with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and other government institutions) has recently published a directory of labour market information which lists some of the main sources and suppliers of labour market information. The organizations listed in the directory are involved in researching and publishing relevant up-to-date data which can be used for researching and developing a strategic approach to career planning.
• All these different types of career literature can be explored and researched to get relevant information.