CRYSTAL MELERO: So you're ready to start working. But before you do, it's best for you to have a plan in place for your job search. And you can start by considering and writing down your career goals. I'm going to give you some examples of things for you to consider when writing down your career goals. What things are you passionate about? You want to make a note of those things. What types of things would you like to do? Would you like to work in sales? This is another thing that you would want to write down as one of your career goals. Maybe you can picture yourself owning and operating a small business. Again, write this down as your career goal. Maybe you see yourself working in a health or medical field or whatever it is that you can picture yourself doing. It is important to write down your career goals. Maybe you have an idea of a certain place you would like to live. You know from your budget and expenses how much income you need to earn, working condition you prefer, indoors or outdoors work or a desk job, or skills you have and most enjoy using. These are elements of your career goals as well. The whole idea of having career goals is to help you create a vision of where you're going, which can then guide your job search and can help you on your journey to find the types of jobs that match the goals that you have established. If you are not sure what type of job you would like to do and are unsure what types of skills you have, there are helpful ways for you to figure those things out. There are assessments that you can utilize to help you understand what skills and abilities you have and the types of jobs that you might be good at. You can find these assessments in a number of different places, perhaps at your school or at a workforce development center. Similarly, these assessments will be available through vocational rehabilitation services. All of these places will have assessments that you can take advantage of. Now that you have taken some of these assessments, you need to know where are good places to look for jobs. And there are a number of different places. You can look online for job postings, such as internet job boards, websites of companies you want to work at, and even digital newspaper want ads. And while there are many job postings online, it's not necessarily the best place to find a job. The best way to find a job is through networking. And networking refers to people you know-- family members, mentors, or relationships you've created on a job, in college, or in training venues, or in other social settings. You can utilize your network then to let people know that you are looking for a job. And if they are working at a place that happens to be hiring, they can pass along your information to the potential employer. And the reason why networking works so well is that when people in your network pass along your information, they can also put in a good word for you, let the employer know what a good job you would do if hired. In addition, there are a number of other places in which you can look for a job. If you know you'd like to work for a particular company, you can look on their website for the job postings they have listed there. You can use the internet searches and workforce development center services. You can also get in touch with employment agencies and see what job listings they have. Your school career counselor and vocational rehabilitation services counselor would also be helpful in finding jobs. Before applying for jobs, it is helpful for you to collect a number of different job search-related documents and to compile those in a job search portfolio. There are a number of documents that should be included in this portfolio, such as job applications, cover letters, resumes, list of job references, or interview checklists. These are all important documents that should be collected and compiled in your job search portfolio. And maybe you're unfamiliar with these terms-- cover letter or resume. We do have segments that will go into more depth and help you understand what these documents are, but they should be included in your portfolio. And not all employers who you interview with will require all of these documents, but it is good for you to have them ready so that the employers who do request them will be able to receive them from you easily. These documents will help you be prepared along your job search. You may have them saved in your portfolio as paper copies, and you may also have electronic copies of these documents saved. And this can be helpful because some employers may not want you to submit paper documents but will require for you to submit electronic documents, such as your resume, which you'll have saved and can easily submit to them. Or you have your paper documents ready to submit as well. Electronic documents can easily be customized to match the requirements of each particular employer. We have a number of other segments that will go into the types of documents that you should collect in your job search portfolio as you begin to apply for jobs. You see, an important first step in your job search is planning. And without a plan, you may be wasting your time, uncertain of where you're going. So take the opportunity now to begin considering what your goals are and to talk them over with family members, mentors, friends, and from these conversations to begin compiling the documents that will assist you as you begin to apply for jobs. I would encourage you to set up a schedule. And as you look for jobs and consider where you are going, as well as create a plan for your goals, you need to create time in your schedule that will allow all of these things to happen. If you fail to set a schedule, you'll delay the process of getting a job because you won't know where you are going. So start now by creating a plan for your job search.