Career Aid Through the Williamson County Public Library

Given the current state of the economy and the dramatic rise in unemployment, there are many in our community that may find themselves needing to bring their old resumé up to date and catching up on available career resources. While there is no way to make it completely stress-free, the library offers a variety of online resources, from career databases to online computer classes, which help with any career needs you may have. Whether you are at the beginning or mid-career the library offers completely online resources ranging from guidance in resume construction to citizenship assistance. The following are the databases are accessible through the Williamson County Public Library website:

Some Great Databases for Exploring Careers and Developing Your Resume, CV, etc.

• Peterson’s Career Prep : This new database for the library, available starting after September 30^th, is a great tool that provides resume aid through the database, career interest examinations, and access to regularly updated job listings. Two key components of this resource I personally found the most useful was the ability to take a career assessment that includes both your values and interest and provides an extensive list of possible career fields. Not only are you provided with a multitude of career options but within specific options you choose, you’re able to see the average salary of people within that career field, their skills sets, real time job listings, and a career video to help you better understand the profession. *Highly recommended for exploring prospective job interest* Not only is this resource great for discovering careers you’re interested in, but it has a fantastic resume template that makes creating or updating your resumé  fairly easy.
• Career One Stop: Career One Stop is a great resource to explore your career options, and provides an assortment of subcategories ranging from changing careers to workers with disabilities that allows you to research career resources based on your personal needs. This is also a great resource for assistance filing for unemployment due to COVID-19.
• Job Central: This resource is a great general search database for job openings based on location. Job Central can be utilized for those looking for up to date job listings as well as employers looking to post new job listings.

**For additional resources go to the WCPL website > Services tab > Career Center**

Computer Classes

Currently we are not providing in person computer classes for COVID-19 safety reasons. However, other online computer classes/aid that you have access to for FREE include:

• GCF Learn Free: This website is a great supplementing any knowledge you were looking to gain from any computer classes we provided here at the library. GCF offers a variety of free courses ranging from general internet skills to Microsoft and career planning skills. The material is taught using various methods depending on the topic you choose. Some topics are taught through instructional YouTube videos while others are broken down and explained in article formatting.
• Microsoft Digital Literacy Course: This is a really great free option to learn more about general computer skills such as how to ‘communicate online’ or ‘create digital content.’ I would recommend this for anyone looking for something a bit more interactive than the GCF learning option. The way the Microsoft literacy course (scroll down the page to find the start) is set up is more like a mini online class that has interactive steps, videos, and reading content.

One-on-One Online Help Sessions

This is a great resource! It is an alternative to  one-on-one in person computer assistance sessions, and is currently available to all Williamson County residents with a library card. In the online one-on-one sessions you may seek assistance from a Reference staff member who will be able to help you with general computer questions/issues via Zoom or WebEx. As mentioned on the career center page on the Williamson County Public Library’s website, these sessions may focus on a variety of topics including:

• How to modify your traditional resumé into PDF or scanned format
• Review Microsoft Office programs
• Review a resumé for content and appearance
• Setting up an email account
• Social networking sites

*** Availability is between 10am-12pm or 2pm-6pm on weekdays, and you may schedule an appointment using our phone number at (615) 595-1243, ext. 1 or you may come in person to schedule an appointment***

Additional Information

In addition to the resources provided above, the library does provide more online resources such as additional databases, information on identity protection, resume preparation, and more.

Instructions to find the Career Center Online

1. Go to https://www.wcpltn.org
2. On the main page locate the Services tab towards the right
3. Click on Career Center on the far left side