The StudentCounsellor.com Trainer’s Guide is designed for those individuals who plan to provide StudentCounsellor.com training sessions, workshops or presentations. Whether the audience is staff, students or parents, the Trainer’s Guide will assist workshop facilitators or presenters in providing a thorough orientation to StudentCounsellor.com.

Each section of the Guide has an estimated presentation time listed. While the Trainer’s

Guide has been written for training sessions anywhere from 2 to 3 hours in length, the

format can be easily modified to accommodate both longer and shorter sessions.

• If you are training other counsellors and teachers make sure that each individual has a specially designated username and password from StudentCounsellor.com by emailing your request to service@studentcounsellor.com. This will provide each individual with access to the Educator Resource Room along with the rest of the site.
• Bring a list of the usernames and passwords to the presentation even if you plan to distribute these prior to the day of the presentation.
• The preferred group size for effective training sessions is no larger than 15 people.
• If you are planning to present to a larger group then we suggest using one computer with a Proxima or multi-media projector for the presentation and setting aside time afterwards for each individual to log on to a computer and use StudentCounsellor.com.
• If you are presenting to students, remember to bring your school’s universal username and password for students to illustrate the registration steps when logging on.
• Make sure the computers you plan to use during the presentation meet the technical requirements for StudentCounsellor.com:

• Minimum Browser Requirements - Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0, Netscape Navigator 4.0 or more advanced versions of either browser.
• Cookies Enabled
• JavaScript Enabled

• PC Hardware requirements: Pentium Processor or better (Pentium 100 or better recommended); 32 MB RAM (64 MB or more recommended); Hard disk drive with a minimum of 50 MB free (70 MB or higher free space recommended); 56K modem (high speed internet recommended); 256 colour monitor

• MacIntosh Hardware requirements: Macintosh Power PC Processor (100 MHz

or better recommended); 32 MB RAM (64 MB or more recommended); System

7.1 (System 8.1 recommended); Hard disk drive with a minimum of 50 MB free

(70 MB or higher free space recommended); 56K modem (high speed internet

recommended); 256 colour monitor

• Make sure you have a chance to familiarize yourself with StudentCounsellor.com.

If you have any questions or would like to request a personal online orientation

contact our Customer Service Department at service@studentcounsellor.com.

• Type www.studentcounsellor.com in your browser’s URL to access the site.
• StudentCounsellor.com is an online academic and career planning service.
• Access information on nearly 1,000 careers, 15,000 academic programs and 1,200 Canadian universities, colleges and vocational schools, as well as 4,500 entry-level scholarships, amounting to over $30 million in funding.
• Match your actual or expected grades against admission requirements to programs of your choice.

• Take an assessment test, create resumes and build a career plan.

• Enter your username and password in the fields provided on the opening page.
• Students visiting for the first time enter their school’s universal username and password.
• Once students log on they can immediately begin using the site. As soon as students choose to access any of the personalized features on StudentCounsellor.com (e.g. My Hotlist, My Grades, My Planner and Career Profiler), a registration form will appear prompting the student to create their own personal username and password. The username and password they create for themselves will be what they use to access StudentCounsellor.com from that point on.
• If a student has forgotten their password, they can follow the link in the login box on the opening page of StudentCounsellor.com to retrieve it. Students can either enter their email address or answer a verification question to retrieve their forgotten password.

• Always the first page you will see when logging in from the opening page.
• Provides a description and links to the various features available on StudentCounsellor.com
• Use the Navigation Bar at the top of the page to access any area of the site.
• Find a Career, Find a Program, Find a School and Find a Scholarship are wizards used to search for careers, programs, schools and scholarships as well as to take the Career Profiler personality test located in Find a Career.

• My Hotlist is used to save the careers, academic programs and postsecondary institutions searched to a personalized list for ongoing use.
• My Grades is used to save actual and/or anticipated high school courses and grades to determine eligibility for gaining acceptance to postsecondary programs.
• My Planner is used to save the results from the Career Profiler test, maintain a personalized career and academic plan, build resumes and calculate a budget.
• Student Resources is used to access a variety of career and education information sources.

Completing a search using any Find a Career, Find a School and Find a Program will bring you to a Results Page providing information on schools, programs, admission chances, careers and scholarships.

• 4 ways to search for Careers: Career Profiler, Work Group Search, Alphabetical/KeyWord Search and Apprenticeship Search.

• Career Profiler: an assessment test where you are matched to suggested careers based on your personality. Career Profiler results provide a list of occupations and by clicking on each occupation you will access career profiles and relevant postsecondary schools.

• Work Group Search: allows for career searches by work group based on Career Profiler work groups. Follow the steps to access career profiles and relevant postsecondary schools.

• Alphabetical/KeyWord Search: allows for career searches by name of career.

• Apprenticeship Search: allows for career searches based on careers that require apprenticeship training.

Each feature will provide profiles on careers of your choice as well as match you to the post-secondary programs related to these careers.

• Used to search for postsecondary programs based on a chosen field of study.
• You are guided through a series of steps, making selections based on your study interests.

• Upon completing the steps you will arrive at a Results Page where you can access school information, program information, chances of admission, career information and scholarship information.

• Used to search for a specific university, college or vocational school.

• You are guided through a series of steps, making selections based on the location and type of school you plan to attend.

• Upon completing the steps you will arrive at a results page where you can access information on all of the programs available and the specific school you selected including: school information, program information, chances of admission, career information and scholarship information.

• Used to search for scholarships based on various award criteria.

• You are guided through a series of steps, with the option of making selections based on the province, institution type, school name, field of study, award amount and eligibility criteria.

• Upon completing the steps you will arrive at a Results Page where you can access information on all of the awards that match your selections. Information includes an award description, eligibility requirements and application method.

2. Sample Search

If you are doing a two-hour online presentation, we suggest doing a sample search in

Find a Program to show your audience the steps leading to the results page and the

different features available on the results page.

To begin, complete a sample search using Find a Program. Once you reach the results

page make sure to enter some marks in My Grades to calculate admission

chances.

• If you have not yet entered grades in your Grades Page, click the link in the Chances of Admission column to go to your Grades page.

• Actual or expected grades can be entered, saved and changed at any time.

• Value to academic planning by entering expected grades for possible future courses.

• Admission chances will be calculated and displayed on Results pages once grades have been saved.

1. Looking Good – you meet the admission requirements to the specific program.
2. You’re Close – you have all of the required courses but you are just meeting or barely exceeding last year’s admission cut-off level. Exceeding last year’s cut-off level by at least 3% is recommended to increase chances of admission
3. Marks too Low – you have all of the required courses but your percentage is below last year’s acceptance average.
4. Missing a Course or Courses – an additional course or courses are required for admission.
5. View Special Requirements – a certain amount of post-secondary education is required for admission.

Click on any of the links in the Chances of Admission column to access detailed information on your results, including required courses and required admission averages.

1. Add to Hotlist – All Results Page information for a specific program can be saved to your personal Hotlist by clicking ADD.
2. School Info – Click on the school and program name to access detailed information on the:

• School (institute including size, location, campus services and contact information)
• Program (description, length, degree awarded, tuition, class size and contacts)
• Admission requirements (for those who are not ready to use the Grades page)
• Scholarships (all awards available through that school and the specific program)

1. Possible Careers – Click on the link in this column to access profiles on careers related to each program.

All of the information on the results page can be saved in a Hotlist.

• Click ADD next to a school and program.

• Now use the Navigation Bar to go to the My Hotlist section and view the saved information
• Any information from a Results Page can be saved here for future use
• My Hotlist is automatically updated to reflect any change made in the My Grades page.

• Use the Navigation Bar to go to the My Planner section.
• My Planner lists five sections in the left-hand navigation bar: My Career Profiler, Make a Plan, Budget Builder, Resume Builder, and Personal Information.

1. My Career Profiler - Once the student takes the Career Profiler assessment test, their results are automatically saved to this section for ongoing use.
2. Make a Plan - Students can use this section to develop and record their career goals and postsecondary plans.
3. Budget Builder - Students use this section to determine their income and expenses for their first year of postsecondary studies.
4. Resume Builder - Students use this section to create any number of resumes. Students are able to build, format, print and save their resumes.
5. Personal Information – This section allows students to manage their personal login information.

My Planner also provides additional links to My Grades and My Hotlist.

If you are doing a three or four-hour presentation, we suggest doing a sample search in

Find a Program and walking through a sample Career Profiler test. Complete a Find a

Program search to show your audience one way to reach a Results Page and the different

features available on a Results Page. Take the Career Profiler test to show your audience

some sample test results as well as the steps leading to career profiles and related

programs.

Complete a sample search using Find a Program. Once you reach a results page make

sure to enter some marks in your My Grades page to calculate admission chances.

• If you have not yet entered grades in your Grades Page, click the link in the Chances of Admission column to go to your Grades page.
• Actual or expected grades can be entered, saved and changed at any time.
• Value to academic planning by entering expected grades for possible future courses.
• Admission chances will be calculated and displayed on Results pages once grades have been saved.

1. Looking Good – you meet the admission requirements to the specific program.
2. You’re Close – you have all of the required courses but you are just meeting or barely exceeding last year’s admission cut-off level. Exceeding last year’s cut-off level by at least 3% is recommended to increase chances of admission
3. Marks too Low – you have all of the required courses but your percentage is below last year’s acceptance average.
4. Missing a Course or Courses – an additional course or courses are required for admission.
5. View Special Requirements – a certain amount of post-secondary education is required for admission.

Click on any of the links in the Chances of Admission column to access detailed information on your results, including required courses and required admission averages.

1. Add to Hotlist – All Results Page information for a specific program can be saved to your personal Hotlist by clicking ADD.
2. School Info – Click on the school and program name to access detailed information on the:

• School (institute including size, location, campus services and contact information)
• Program (description, length, degree awarded, tuition, class size and contacts)
• Admission requirements (for those who are not ready to use the Grades page)
• Scholarships (all awards available through that school and the specific program)

1. Possible Careers – Click on the link in this column to access profiles on careers related to each program.

All of the information on the Results Page can be saved in a Hotlist.

• Click ADD next to a school and program.

• Now use the Navigation Bar to go to the My Hotlist section and view the saved information
• Any information from a Results Page can be saved here for future use
• My Hotlist is automatically updated to reflect any change made in the My Grades page.

• Career Profiler is an online test designed to match an individual’s interests and personality to specific careers.
• Career Profiler is a Holland-type test developed by educational psychologist Dr. Lawrence K. Jones and based on more than 15 years of research and field-testing.

• Begin by answering the questions in each of the 3 sections: School Subjects, Occupations, and Activities.
• Your Career Profiler results show how you score according to the six Holland Personality Types.
• Click on the personality type for which you have scored the highest to read a description.
• Click on the work environment link to read about the preferred work environment for this personality type.
• Click on the occupation link to access a list of occupations, which suit this personality type.

• Once you have accessed the list of occupations, click on a specific occupation to view that occupation’s career profile. A screen with various occupations in your chosen work group will be displayed – click on your chosen occupation again. Your occupation’s career profile will pop up in a new screen. If you scroll down to the last section of the profile called Educational Paths, you will see a link called Click here for relevant postsecondary schools. This will allow you to search for postsecondary programs that are related to this occupation.
• Once you complete the search for related programs you will arrive at a results page similar to the one you explored during the Find a Program search, however with schools and programs specific to the occupation you selected from the Career Profiler results.

Exploring this results page follows the same format as that of the Find a Program search

• Use the navigation bar to go to the My Planner section.
• My Planner lists five sections in the left-hand navigation bar: My Career Profiler, Make a Plan, Budget Builder, Resume Builder, and Personal Information.

1. My Career Profiler - Once the student takes the Career Profiler assessment test, their results are automatically saved to this section for ongoing use.
2. Make a Plan - Students can use this section to develop and record their career goals and postsecondary plans.
3. Budget Builder - Students use this section to determine their income and expenses for their first year of postsecondary studies.
4. Resume Builder - Students use this section to create any number of resumes. Students are able to build, format, print and save their resumes.
5. Personal Information – This section allows students to manage their personal login information.

My Planner also provides additional links to My Grades and My Hotlist.

0. Other Resources Estimated Presentation Time: 35 minutes

Note: The following two resource sections are easily navigated and can be explored individually. As a result, the presentation time for these sections can be shortened or eliminated to accommodate one-hour training sessions.

• Use the navigation bar to go to the Student Resources section. This section is for students.
• Student Resources contains three features: Career Café, Cool Links and the Glossary.
• Career Café contains articles about careers and education
• Cool Links provides links to various free web sites, including government sites, which provide information on careers and education.
• The Glossary provides definitions for a list of terms that students may frequently encounter as they research postsecondary and career opportunities.

• Use the Navigation Bar to go to the Educator Resources section. (Note: you will not be able to access this section unless you are logged in with a counsellor designated username and password provided to you by StudentCounsellor.com).
• Each feature of the Counsellor Resources is listed on the main page.
• Orientation Materials contains online orientation manuals and materials.
• Learning Materials contains 36 lesson plans, an index to help you find programs on StudentCounsellor.com, a parent brochure and a glossary of StudentCounsellor.com and post-secondary terms.
• Inside Tracks contains articles featuring individuals and activities from high schools in Canada.
• Activity Reports allow you to see how your students are using StudentCounsellor.com.

• Students set up their personal StudentCounsellor.com accounts using their school’s universal username and password provided by counsellors.
• StudentCounsellor.com can be used at home, school or anywhere Internet access is provided.
• Student questions and comments can be emailed using the form provided after they log out or by emailing service@studentcounsellor.com
• Counsellors and teachers may contact the StudentCounsellor.com Customer Service Department with any inquiries toll free at 1-888-617-7855, ext. 230, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday (PST.)