Career Pathways Advising
New Visions for Public School’s Career Pathways Advising initiative is designed to help educators guide students in New York City through the exploration of and transition to multiple post-high school opportunities. Click below to access our searchable Career Directory including career training programs, internships, apprenticeships, certifications, and more. Learn more about our Directory, what information is included, and our sources below.
For students who need support finding employment, or joining the military, or if you’re leaving high school undecided about next steps, click below to access our transition guides for other pathways.
About the Career Pathways Advising Initiative
What is the Career Directory?
The Career Directory is a web-based tool designed to give educators and students access to high-quality multiple postsecondary pathways. The Directory is a one-stop-shop for discovering a diverse range of opportunities, including vocational programs, apprenticeships, certifications, and transition support organizations. New Visions designed the Directory specifically to help identify best-fit opportunities based on student preferences and criteria. The Career Pathways Advising toolkit also includes student and educator-facing resources to support career and program research, and transition tools so students can navigate their postsecondary options confidently.
What programs are featured in the Directory?
The Career Directory features programs with accessible entry requirements suitable for high school graduates. For example, programs without substantial prerequisites other than a high school diploma or equivalency.
The Directory includes:
Free programs in NYC, including nonprofits and federally funded training programs
Local apprenticeships and union placement programs
Paid programs offered by public colleges or nonprofits that offer robust financial aid or income share agreements; and either offer the opportunity to earn transferable/stackable credentials and/or lead to quality jobs with a local living wage, benefits, and favorable working conditions
Paid programs in areas of high student interest where no comparable free programs in the above categories exist - at this time, we have focused on Cosmetology programs at 3 for-profit institutions and provided supplemental information about program outcomes (graduation rates and wage data)
Resources for students interested in the military or directly finding employment are available on our Other Pathways page
Is there a program we missed? Let us know here.
How do we get our information? How often is it updated?
The information in the beta version of the Career Directory was compiled from:
Program websites
1Degree’s database of NYC programs (see Our Partners below)
Conversations with program partners (programs verified by the organization are noted with a check mark)
Program information will be updated biannually, and program cards in the Directory display the date of the last update. If you would like to suggest a program to be included, or if you see an error, or want to suggest an update, let us know here.
Please note: different programs and organizations will provide different information, and some key distinguishers (wage data, program completion rates) are not publicly available at this time. We have provided Resources for Students to support with further research, including questions to ask of a program.
How do I contribute or provide feedback?
We invite you to join us for a virtual launch event in May or June! During these sessions, you will have the opportunity to test the beta version of the new Career Directory, practice scenarios for using the Directory with students, review planned features for Phase 2, and offer feedback on the Directory design and user experience. Please RSVP for a launch - all sessions will take place on Zoom.
You can also provide feedback by using our form, or email us at careerdirectory@newvisions.org if you would like to set up a demo or a meeting.
Our Partners, Approach & Timeline
Our Partners
As part of our tool development, we engaged in 25+ discovery calls with esteemed partners including counselors, other school networks, program partners, and NYC officials. These discussions have been instrumental in validating the Career Directory’s key goals and emphasizing its necessity. Through these conversations, we were able to assess the comprehensive needs of educators, and identify key features for the new Directory. Our stakeholders have expressed confidence in the resources that New Visions develops and our commitment to providing quality professional training and learning opportunities to support school staff and their students.
In our information-gathering stage, we collaborated with 1Degree to access the programs in their existing directory, and supplemented it with additional data points based on counselor and student need. As we move into Phase 2, we will continue to explore a partnership with 1Degree to standardize and routinize data updates.
This work is generously funded through a grant from the Heckscher Foundation for Children.
If you are interested in speaking with our team about partnering, please email us at careerdirectory@newvisions.org.
Hear from one of our educators:
“I have juniors and seniors in my College Seminar Class login to use the Directory each year. For students that are not interested in going to college or are unsure about college as their pathway, it gives them lots of information at their fingertips to find and explore. There is no way I could give them all these options to search. The students like that they can search by borough, by career type/program, and by free or fee. The seniors use it in the spring to find things to apply to after they have finished their CUNY Application, since all seniors apply to CUNY at our school. The juniors use it in the spring when we are making college lists and investigating pathways before senior year. I am excited about the improvements with more ways to search and more information!”
-- David Buie, College Advisor at Bronx Leadership Academy II
Our Approach
In addition to the web-app Directory, New Visions has organized this initiative around 3 key strategies:
Integrated Package: Our Career Pathways Advising toolkit includes an advising framework for educators in order to contextualize workforce and career training programs available for young adults in New York City
Counselor Tools: New Vision’s Career Pathways Advising tools will feature a range of resources to support educators including lesson plans, student-facing content, and training materials. (See Educator Resources)
Multiple Entry Points: This toolkit caters to students at various stages of their career identity development, ensuring inclusivity and relevance throughout their postsecondary planning journey.
Timeline & Next Steps
Beta Testing and Feedback | May - December 2024
Launch the Beta version of the revised Directory and provide targeted user training on its new features
Conduct pilot testing and user feedback will from May - July
Improve platform features based on feedback, adding resources like guides and blog posts, a user-driven quiz for program discovery, and the ability to save and share programs.
Phase 2 Launch and Training | January - May 2025
Launch of Phase 2 with expanded features
Learning sessions for professionals to use the tools & reflect on student scenarios
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please reach out to careerdirectory@newvisions.org or fill out our Career Directory feedback form.