Career Pathways
Use the following collection of resources organized by industry to assist with career training and academic learning. Click the drop-down arrow to view the list of resources in that category. This site will be updated as new resources are discovered.
Do you have resources that you would like to see added?
Share them with Mark at markcalvin@essdack.org to get them reviewed and added to the appropriate list.
Share them with Mark at markcalvin@essdack.org to get them reviewed and added to the appropriate list.
Know the DIFFERENCE!
General Resources
General Resource
Free Field trips for Home school kids (or anyone).
General Resource
US Government Site. You can search for apprenticeships in Kansas, your area, or any state in the US. It also has other supporting information.
General Resource
Print labels for folders, reports, etc using Avery Labels
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A FREE service to help students figure out what they want to do. More detailed and takes about 30 minutes to complete.
CAREER ONE STOP BUILDING BLOCKS MODEL
General Resource
Informational with some resources to help with career development and developing instruction to prepare students for a career. This was developed by BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY.
CAREER ONE STOP CREDENTIALS CENTER
General Resource
This website helps connect Careers/Occupations with the credentials needed AND places to find training for those credentials.
CASAS - Workforce Skills Certification System
General Resource
A system like WorkKeys. Not widely used in Kansas, but could have some validity to test workplace skills.
General Resource
A list of the competencies for the Workforce Skills System.
Central Region Educational Cooperative
General Resource
Multiple helpful links for various resources.
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NW KS free job board offered by the Innovation Center of NW KS.
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Online college courses from several universities worldwide. Cost varies.
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edX is the online learning platform from world-leading digital education company 2U, Inc.
edX was founded by Harvard and MIT as an experiment to make the world’s best education available to everyone. Today, as part of 2U, edX connects over 81 million people worldwide with online learning that delivers real professional progress across nearly every career discipline, from artificial intelligence and robotics to sustainability and public health. Together with universities and organizations at the forefront of their fields, edX offers thousands of job-relevant programs designed to give every ambitious learner a path to achievement.
General Resource
Activities for different size groups to teach concepts such as teamwork, etc.
General Resource
Various workforce and labor reports that can be downloaded. Various other services.
General Resource
This is a list that I am consistently updating. These are both Registered and Unregistered Apprenticeships. Clicking on the link will give you a copy of what exists now. 5 Components of a Quality Apprenticeship. This list will be updated periodically.
General Resource
Incredible places across the U.S. are welcoming new residents with incentives, signing bonuses and networking opportunities. We'll help you find your happy place, and get paid to move there.
General Resource
A quick way to narrow down what a student/person is interested in as a career/occupation.
General Resource
Innovation Center provides economic and entrepreneurial assistance to businesses in rural Northwest Kansas. The private operating foundation serves 26 counties in the region with a variety of programs. By working with existing businesses or entrepreneurs throughout the coverage area with targeted programs, Innovation Center strives to reverse the outflow of people and businesses from Northwest Kansas. Through its current and future initiatives that extend resources to these businesses and entrepreneurs, Innovation Center hopes to increase population and to foster economic innovation in Northwest Kansas.
General Resource
An organization that provides free remote work training/job placement assistance and always has a pipeline of diverse talent looking for remote work.
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FREE College course online that are recognized by several Post-Secondary Institutions.
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Scholarly Report Database by Ok State Graduate School Professors.
General Resource
Paragraph Analyzer. Make your headlines more effective!
Skills Assessment - CareerOneStop
General Resource
Paragraph Analyzer. Make your headlines more effective!
General Resource
SkillsCommons is an online workforce development library of work-related open educational resources sourced from community colleges across the United States. It was created by the US Department of Labor as part of its Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program.
The SkillsCommons team of professional librarians, educators, developers and technologists have leveraged the expertise of community colleges across the US to develop and deliver innovative workforce development programs with an aim of upskilling learners for free.
All SkillsCommons courses are reviewed by subject matter experts and developed in partnership with real industry and business leaders so that they provide learners with the actual skill sets required by employers. With a focus on pharmacy and physical therapy, these courses open up career paths into fields in which jobs are plentiful and can be highly lucrative.
General Resource
The TAACCCT program was an investment in the next generation of open educational resources (OER) by requiring that grantee products be openly licensed for free use, adaptation, and improvement by others. Grantees built upon and contributed to the body of by openly licensing all grant-funded work under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license, and uploading these resources to SkillsCommons.org, an online library of free Open Educational Resources for workforce training, funded by the TAACCCT program. SkillCommons.org resources continue to be available through California State University.
General Resource
Online college courses from several universities worldwide. Cost varies.
General Resource
In-Demand Occupations for Workforce Area 1 (Salina -West) 60 counties. These reports are updated every July. Workforce works directly with the B & I in their areas.
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In-Demand Occupations for Workforce Area 4 (Sedgwick County and 5 counties South) 6 counties total. These reports are updated every July. Workforce works directly with the B & I in their areas.
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We want to help people see the value in day-to-day safety functions. In order to overcome the hesitancy around following safety protocols, we have created a purpose-built tool that makes safety compliance interactive and engaging. This helps build a culture of safety.
General Resource
A list of organizations that recognize the WorkKeys certificate. Currently there are 415 statewide and counting (as of 11/1/2023).
General Resource
Inexpensive courses that are specific to training. Usually $100/course.
General Resource
Convert any file to the type you need.
General Resource
Online Typing Tutor
Agriculture
📚 Agricultural Inspector Courses
Agriculture
Free courses focused on Agricultural Inspector.
📚 Agricultural Equipment Operator
Agriculture
Free courses focused on Agricultural Equipment Operator.
📚 Various Additional Agricultural Career Courses
Architecture and Construction
Arch & Const
Internship opportunities at various locations around the state.
Arch & Const
Drafting detailed technical drawings and plans continues to be critical in modern-day construction and manufacturing processes, contributing to accurate, safe, timely and cost-effective project completion. However, there is growing emphasis on CAD (computer-aided design) drafting instead of laborious, time-consuming, space-intensive, and hard-to-edit manual drafting. CAD Drafters specialize in various software to generate schematics to represent the designs developed by engineers and architects.
Arch & Const
These classes will help you get started on your journey to becoming a Carpenter! Carpenters are artists who work with their hands, head, and heart to build beautiful, functional objects from wood and other materials. When you choose to become a Carpenter, you embark on a lifetime pursuit of acquiring tools and learning to use them.
Arch & Const
Ever looked at a skyscraper and wondered, "Who built this"? An architect? An engineer? A builder? Well, yes! All these professionals play a specialized role in designing and constructing a building. However, construction projects need many diverse workers to take them from blueprint to completion, including the brave souls, the Cement Masons, who work behind the scenes. A Cement Mason is a passionate artist who enjoys working with their hands and building structures with the help of concrete and other cement-based materials. Their craft is highly valued worldwide.
Line D: Organizational Skills: Read Drawings and Specs
Arch & Const
Open collections textbook for Drafting, Math, and other drawings. Including supplemental materials.
Career - Architecture
Open Education Resources, Architecture Design, Drafting
Mid-America Carpenters Apprenticeship
Arch & Const
Information and location of several carpentry related Apprenticeships.
📚Other Careers In Architecture And Construction
Free Training from Home Depot to get you started in the trades. PLUS connection to employers!
Career - Architecture
Series on Finish Carpentry and some other video resources.
Aviation and Aerospace
FREE AERONAUTICAL COURSES -EMBRY-RIDDLE AU
Aviation
Aeronautical Courses from Embry-Riddle
📚Courses to prepare for Aeronautical Engineer
📚Courses to prepare for Drone Pilot
📚FREE Welding Classroom Courses
Aviation
Aeronautical Courses from Embry-Riddle
Business and Business Management
Learn to use Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Business and Finance Courses -CFI
Bus Mgmnt
Courses centered around Business and Finance from the Corporate Financial Institute.
Playlist of MS 365 Word Videos
Bus Mgmnt
Several free courses through MIT
4 Hour Couse for 365 with supporting documents and activities.
Education and Training
Ed & Train
Praxis Information
Ed & Train
Info for the Paraprofessional Assessment and career option
Ed & Train
Various Educational Resource Database
Ed & Train
Merge, Convert, and Sign PDF forms.
Ed & Train
LMS - Safety Training for Employees. FREE!
English for Speakers of Other Languages
ESOL - Speaking
Various ESOL computer games and learning strategies.
ESL Games - Conversation Questions
ESOL - Speaking
Printable Conversation Questions for ESOL learners.
ESOL - Speaking
Random Conversations Questions for ESOL learners.
Graphic Design
Graphic Design
Create logos and text phrases with graphic fonts from their database.
Graphic Design
Find the exact HEX and RGB codes for the colors on a graphic you have.
Graphic Design
One Stop Shop for Graphics Editing
Graphic Design
Free graphics tool to remove backgrounds and alter photos.
Graphic Design
Easily crop, resize, and edit your images online for FREE at Pic Resize.
Graphic Design
Editable video segments that can be used in developing your own videos.
Family & Consumer Science
Academic - FACS
FACS EXAM Practice
Academic - FACS
FACS EXAM Flashcard Study Tool
AAFCS - Free Practice Questions
Academic - FACS
FACS Practice Questions
Health and Bio
Bio-Medical Equipment Training
Health & Bio
Analyze and Repair Bio-Medical Equipment
College of Healthcare Professionals
The College of Healthcare Professionals is an accredited post-secondary institution offering both online and in person training.
📚Courses to help prepare for Bio-Medical Equipment Repair And Testing
Health & Bio
Training for Bio Medical Testing - Maintenance on hospital machines
📚Community Health Workers are also called Public Health Educators
📚Courses to help prepare for CNA
Health & Bio
Various FREE resources for CNA careers.
Health & Bio
FREE Practice Exam that is accurate to the actual Certification exam.
📚Courses to help prepare for Dental Assistant
Direct Service Professional Certification Career of Caring
Health & Bio
Direct Service Professionals, career opportunities. Some will hire without the cert but working toward the cert. WSU Badges have the courses for the Cert.
📚Get a Diploma in Special Needs Training to support a DSP certification.
EMS, EMT, Paramedic Practice Quizzes
Health & Bio
Practice Questions for the certification exams
📚Courses to help prepare for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
Kansas Community Health Workers
Health & Bio
Assists patients with finding resources. Certification Info
📚Medical Receptionist Training
Career Pathways - Health & Bio
The co-founders of Mediphany are physicians who specialize in the field of Radiology and have trained at some of the most prestigious institutions in the world. Using their elite knowledge, they and their team of experts are greatly enhancing the way radiology results are given to usher in a new era of clear and complete patient understanding. This resource also includes a Self-Help section with instructional videos that explain different anatomical situations (Ex: Herniated Disc).
Hospitality and Tourism
Hosp & Tour
Online training and certification.
Hosp & Tour
Online and In-person training and certification.
Human Services
Human Svcs
FREE training to recognize Human Trafficking from the Department of Homeland Security.
Human Svcs
Registered Apprenticeship for Mortuary Science
National Institute of Corrections
Human Svcs
Training Courses for Correctional Staff
IT & Technology
600 Free Google Certifications
Career Resources
Google Certs
IT/Technology
Coding Courses, some free, paid.
IT/Technology
COMPTIA Certifications from the company.
COMPTIA FREE CERT CLASSES $ FOR CERT
IT/Technology
COMPTIA Certifications -YouTube
IT/Technology
Cybersecurity, Cyber Range, CompTIA
Federal Virtual Training Environment
IT/Technology
Free public CyberSecurity classes provided by the Federal Government.
IT/Technology
Learn to code, FREE. They also have a YouTube channel with many courses.
IT/Technology
Google Certifications, UX, CompTIA, etc
IT/Technology
Arduino, Raspberry PI, and Computer Science Tutorials, Automotive Diagnostic Tools, etc
Law & Public Safety
National Institute of Corrections
Law & Pub Safety
Training Courses for Correctional Staff
Tutorials for software used in the Legal System (YouTube)
LexisNexis CaseMap - Case Research
LexisNexisAcademic Channel - Case Research
LexisNexis Legal Channel - Case Research
LexisNexis Law Schools Channel
Sage Timeslips - Billing for time -Paralegals
Bill4Time - Billing for time -Paralegals
Manufacturing and Energy
Manufacturing & Energy
Free training and certificate of completion.
Manufacturing & Energy
Free training and certificate of completion.
Manufacturing & Energy
Electrical, Automation and Workforce Skills
Manufacturing & Energy
Free training and certificate of completion.
Manufacturing & Energy
Free training and certificate of completion.
Manufacturing & Energy
CEWD-EIF Certification. FREE. On the state list. Contact Kristie Kelley kristie@cewd.org
Manufacturing & Energy
Automation, Manufacturing, and Multi-axis robotics
Manufacturing & Energy
Solar Energy training courses.
Manufacturing & Energy
Automation Software Certification by Siemens.
WeldNotes - YouTube
Manufacturing & Energy
Math applications in Welding
📚Wind Energy - Wind Turbines To Grid Integration
Manufacturing & Energy
Get started learning about Wind Energy
Multi-cluster Resources
Multi-Cluster Res
Basic Blueprint Reading book.
FACT (FLUKE) MULTIMETER CERT OF COMPLETION
Multi-Cluster Res
FREE Multimeter training and certificate of completion. (Diagnostic Tool) Certificate view
Multi-Cluster Res
OSHA Certification - Online course
Multi-Cluster Res
From AutoDesk, learn to use CAD with this simple system. Can also be used to support other content.
Transportation & Logistics
Automotive Courses From Industry Professionals
Transportation
Free courses taught by industry professionals.
Transportation
Automotive 3D videos circa 2008
Car Corner Videos
Transportation
Community College of Philadelphia
Transportation
Class A CDL Training Videos
Driving Academy Training School
Transportation
Class A CDL Training Videos
Transportation
CDL Permit for HS students. Association membership.
Transportation
Class A CDL Training Videos