Career Collection

The books, web sites, and databases provide descriptions for a broad range of fields and occupations. These materials contain various information about careers including: duties and responsibilities, salary ranges, advancement opportunities, employer requirements, and the current and future job outlook.

Books in the College Library Career Collection

[Click on the call number following the title to check availability of print copies in UW-Madison libraries.]

[Click on the NetLibrary link for direct access to an on-line copy of the book.]

America's Top 300 Jobs
HF 5382.5 U5 A716

NetLibrary

America's Fastest Growing Jobs (by J. Michael Farr)
HD 5724 A583 2003
NetLibrary 2003 edition

Top Careers for Liberal Arts Graduates
HF5382.5 U5 T674 2004

200 Best Jobs for College Graduates (by Michael Farr and LaVerne L. Ludden)

HF5381 F4563 2006
NetLibrary   2003 edition

Harvard Business School Guide to Careers in the Nonprofit Sector (by Stephanie Lowell)
NetLibrary

Cool Careers for Dummies (by Marty Nemko)
HF 5381 N44 2001

25 Jobs That Have It All

HF 5382 A15 2004

American Almanac of Jobs and Salaries (by John Wright)
HD 8038 U5 W74

Careers for Courageous People & Other Adventurous Types (Jan Goldberg)

HF5382 G65 2005

Everything Alternative Careers Book (by James Mannion)

HF 5384 M355 2004

Enhanced Occupational Outlook Handbook (by J. Michael Farr)
HF 5382 E54 2000

Unofficial Guide to Hot Careers
HF 5381 F475

VGM's Careers Encyclopedia
netLibrary

Best Jobs for the 21st Century (by J. Michael Farr)
HF 5381.15 F37 2006

Books & Databases in Campus Libraries

MadCat --Books describing career fields and opportunities can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison Library Catalog. Copy and paste the following sample searches into the MadCat search box.

Use a BASIC search and select TITLE
Sample TITLE searches:
opportunities in

career opportunities in

Use a BASIC search and select KEYWORD.
Combine a word describing the field with the terms vocational and guidance. You may have to try more than one word to describe your field.

Format for KEYWORD search:

vocational and guidance and name-of-field

Sample searches:
vocational and guidance and computers
vocational and guidance and (medical or health or medicine)
vocational and guidance and biolog?
vocational and guidance and (horticult? or botan?)

Once you have found a useful title, display the FULL record and select a Subject Line, e.g. Computer Science - Vocational Guidance.

To find the most current books, enter your search. When the results list displays, click on the arrow in the SORT AGAIN box and select DATE (NEWEST FIRST).

More hints for searching MadCat are available at: Using MadCat to Find Information on Careers

Databases

[Note: These databases are licensed by UW-Madison and are restricted to UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff]

ACT Discover Career -- American College Testing -- Discover is an extensive program covering all aspects of career decision-making and planning. It is designed to assist in systematically identifying interests, skills, work-related values, personal potential, and educational and career options. It provides information on hundreds of fields and occupations.

[Note: ACT Discover Career is available ONLY through UW-Madison Library workstations. Fully functional versions are available through the Cross-College Advising Service and through the Adult and Student Services Center as a supplement to their comprehensive career counseling services.]

Associations Unlimited -- learn about various associations and organizations related to specific career fields in this database with information on more than 154,000 organizations.

Campus Resources

Cross-College Advising Service -- The services offered through Cross-College Advising including career counseling, workshops, and Career Exploration Center.

Adult and Student Services Center -- The center offers assessment inventories such as Myers-Briggs and job opportunity assistance.

Career Resources for Students -- Wisconsin Alumni Association, 650 N. Lake Street (265-9074) -- Career exploration and networking programs for students and alumni, including Badger Career Network, a program that matches students with alumni volunteers for information and advice about career options and/or geographic relocation. Requires membership in the Wisconsin Future Alumni Association.

Internet Sites

WISCareers -- Descriptions of 1,000 occupations include employment outlook, salary, educational path, and references to additional information. This site is provided by the UW-Madison School of Education Center on Education and Work.

Occupational Outlook Handbook -- U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics -- describes the nature of the work, the working conditions, size of the workforce, training and educational requirements, job outlook and salary projections for a wide range of occupations. Also includes sources for additional information.

Career Development eManual -- University of Waterloo, Canada -- This award-winning resource provides a series of exercises to assist in career and life planning. The Occupational Research section gives forms for collecting information on an occupation, including the duties and responsibilities, knowledge and skills required and working conditions. It also suggests methods and sources for finding the information including interviews, personal experience, and books.

WI Labor Market Information -- Wisconsin's WORKnet -- Gives information on wages by occupation, profession, and location in Wisconsin. Also includes information on in-demand occupations.

Career Exploration -- University of California at Berkeley, Career Counseling Library -- Includes a searchable database of links to sites with occupational information for specific fields. Provides information on the nature of the work, working conditions, training and/or educational requirements, job outlook, and earnings.

America's Career InfoNet -- a searchable database of information about employment outlook, wages and trends, skills required for specific occupations, and state labor market predictions.

O*NET -- search for information by occupation title or to specify skills and find occupations that best utilize them.

JobStar's Guides for Specific Careers -- this page offers links to career planning information for over 50 fields.

Jobstar's Salary Info -- gives links to over 300 general and profession-specific salary surveys.