Tech Tips Archives
Google Career Exploration Tool
The Career Dreamer tool, https://grow.google/career-dreamer/home/ helps create a career identity statement based on skills, experiences, interests, and education. It then produces a list of potential career paths. Each career option includes a description of the role, skill match-up, a day-in-the-life, growth areas, and upskilling opportunities. Finally, it provides a prompt to use in Google Gemini to dive deeper and continue personal reflection. This can be a great start for any career exploration conversation. (Career Dreamer does not work in Microsoft Edge. Please use the latest version of Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox.)
Tech Tip submitted by Kadina Koonce, kkoonce2@unl.edu
Using Microsoft Copilot to Transcribe Virtual Meetings and Share Meeting Minutes
Microsoft Copilot can help streamline meeting documentation by transcribing virtual meetings and generating meeting minutes. During a Microsoft Teams meeting, click on the three dots (More Actions) in the meeting controls and select “Start transcription” to enable real-time transcription (if enabled by your organization). After the meeting, access the transcript in the meeting chat or calendar event. Use Copilot to summarize key points, decisions, and action items, then copy the generated minutes into an email or shared document for distribution. Always review the AI-generated minutes for accuracy before sharing. Learn more at Microsoft Support.
Tech Tip submitted by Candina "Dina" Janicki, candinajanicki@outlook.com
Making Surveys using ChatGPT
Need to survey participants after a career service event? I used ChatGPT to help create a short survey for each session of our university’s 2-day Senior Career Bootcamp. Simply by entering "Short Feedback Survey for Guest Speakers" in the ChatGPT prompt, I was able to create/copy/paste a one sheet printout for each of our sessions. I dubbed it "The 45 Second Survey", and all attending students quickly provided helpful and valuable information for each session. Watch my how-to video here.
Tech Tip submitted by Young Choi-Plass, ychoiplass@soka.edu
Scroll Through Webpages using the Spacebar
Did you know you can use your spacebar to quickly navigate webpages? Pressing the spacebar scrolls down one full screen at a time, making it a handy shortcut when browsing long articles or sites. Want to scroll back up? Just press Shift + Space to reverse the direction. Give it a try now—tap that spacebar and see how smooth your browsing can be!
Tech Tip provided by Jaana Kettunen, jaana.h.kettunen@jyu.fi
CareerBot 3000 Powered by ChatGPT
CareerBot 3000 is a free generative AI tool that helps people explore careers or get job search help. Enter your top priorities and resume to receive a list of ten job titles with explanations of why those might fit you. Select a preferred job title and location to get suggestions of top employers, keywords, and resume and interview advice. The final prompt allows you to seek additional guidance. Practitioners will appreciate CareerBot’s ability to help generate ideas and to be tailored (remixed) to fit clients’ needs.
Tech Tip submitted by Kathyy Battee-Freeman, kathyy@uis.edu
Why Shutting Down Your Devices Matters
Make it a habit to shut down and restart your devices regularly. Many apps run in the background, using memory and processing power, which can slow your device and drain the battery. Restarting stops these processes, potentially boosting speed and extending battery life. It also ensures updates are fully installed. As a bonus, use this as a reminder to take a break from your screen.
Tech Tip submitted by Jaana Kettunen, jaana.h.kettunen@jyu.fi
Create Designs Effortlessly with Canva’s Magic Studio
Need to create a quick flyer, presentation, handout, or other visual? Magic Studio brings AI-powered tools right to Canva. Magic Design can be used to create a design in an instant based on the prompt or image you provide. Magic Write can be used to summarize, expand, or reword sentences or paragraphs quickly. Great for career classroom instruction or private practice publicity. For more information about Magic Studio AI-powered tools, visit https://www.canva.com/magic/#features
Tech Tip submitted by Heather Hanssen, hhanssen@floridapoly.edu
Easy Ways to Unmute Yourself During Virtual Meetings
In today's world of Zoom calls and Teams meetings, it’s likely you’ve tried to speak up while muted. Try these audio shortcuts the next time you hear, “Hey, you’re muted!” In Teams: A simple tap of the Spacebar toggles your mute on and off: One press to speak, another to mute. In Zoom, Hold down the Spacebar while you talk to temporarily unmute. Release it, and you're back on mute. These easy tips save you embarrassment and allow your professional comments to be heard!
Tech Tip submitted by Jaana Kettunen, jaana.h.kettunen@jyu.fi
Collaborative Virtual Mind-Mapping with Miro
Miro is a versatile digital collaboration platform ideal for visualizing workspace communication and project management. Its online whiteboard allows real-time collaboration, making it an excellent tool for creating mind maps. Use Miro to explore various career topics and facilitate brainstorming sessions. By incorporating arrows and other visual elements, you can clearly illustrate connections between thoughts, organize ideas effectively, and highlight common themes. This approach not only supports career development but also helps generate actionable items for clients to pursue. For more information visit: https://miro.com/mind-map/
Tech Tip submitted by Heather Hanssen, hhanssen@floridapoly.edu
Automated Presentation Slide Capture & Notes with Otter AI
Otter AI, https://otter.ai/start-for-free, uses the power of artificial intelligence to make meetings and lectures easier. By using Otter AI in your meeting, you will be able to access images of the slide deck, real-time captions, and transcript of what was discussed while on each slide. At the end of the meeting, you will receive a summary of the meeting with notes. These tools are a part of an Otter AI free account and can be used to improve note taking and understanding of the content discussed, or can be a great resource to share for those who were unable to attend the meeting.
Tech Tip submitted by Heather Hanssen, hhanssen@floridapoly.edu
Snipping Tool vs. Print Screen: Increase Efficiency
If you're using Print Screen to add images to your materials, it's time to switch to the Snipping Tool. Embedded in Windows, it offers precise captures without the extra cropping. It has 4 modes: freeform, rectangular, window, or full screen and a delayed timer. You can add annotations, capture multiple screenshots to show a process, save snips as images, and/or directly paste your snips into documents or emails—saving you valuable time. Streamline your workflow and elevate your content creation process! If you are a Mac user, Grab has similar features.
Tech Tip provided by Kathyy Battee-Freeman kathyy@uis.edu
Use Canva to Create Headshots from Existing Pictures
If a client needs a professional headshot quickly, and doesn’t have time to shop for a new suit, use Canva’s AI editor tool to change an existing image. Log into Canva, https://www.canva.com/features/ai-photo-editing/ upload the image that needs to be changed, and click Edit Photo. Under the edit options on the left-hand side click Magic Edit. Next "brush" over areas, such as an outfit or background, then describe the image you would like created (ex: professional suit with a tie) and click Generate.
Tech Tip submitted by Allison Pirpich, apirpich@floridapoly.edu
Create Artful QR Codes with Quick QR Art
QR Codes are not new, but they have been gaining in popularity. Instead of the typical black and white code, use Quick QR Art, https://quickqr.art, to create colorful or graphic codes. Practitioners and educators can design the QR code to be scanned to open your website url, phone number, email address, PayPal account, Zoom or Skype link, etc. Practitioners can upload your logo or other graphic, and modify the colors and markers to match your color scheme. This is another way to enhance your brand.
Tech Tip submitted by Janet Wall, janet@careerplanningacademy.com
Paste Text-only Shortcut
You probably copy and paste text multiple times per day, especially when working on a writing project, creating career development exercises or revising job search documents. When copying and pasting text from one source to another, you may run into the issue of unwanted formatting being transferred along with the text. This can be frustrating and time-consuming to fix. However, there is a simple solution to this problem, using the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + V (on Mac: Cmd + Shift + V). This shortcut is especially useful when copying text from a website, where formatting may be different from what you want in your document. (This new feature may not work on older versions of Word.)
Tech Tip submitted by Jaana Kettunen, jaana.h.kettunen@jyu.fi
Teleprompter for Speeches
If you have ever needed to read your speech and wanted a teleprompter on your computer, CuePrompter can help. Just type or copy your speech in the designated space, set the font size, color, margins, background, speed and hit play. You can increase or decrease the speed to match your desired pace. It can work on your computer or smart phone so your presentations sound professional wherever you are.
Tech Tip submitted by Janet Wall, Career Planning Academy, careerfacilitator@janetwall.net
Build your Professional Website with Webflow
Webflow is a free, highly customizable web building platform for building out your professional web presence. Layout and design are easy through either drag and drop or getting under the hood and editing the HTML or CMS. Good for beginners in web design with the flexibility for advanced users. Paid upgrades allow for more features including creating blogs and online stores.
Tech Tip provided by Dirk Matthews, dirkwmatthews@gmail.com
Send Your Large Files Through a Wormhole
Do you have very large files to send – too large for email? There are several file transfer applications, like WeTransfer, and there is a new option. Wormhole https://wormhole.app/ has end-to-end encryption and the link expires in 24 hours. You can send files as large as 10GB. It works with any browser yet is not meant for mobile, so you won’t find it in Google’s or Apple’s app stores. Collaborating on or submitting large career development presentations or publications is now easier with Wormhole!
Tech Tip submitted by Janet Wall, janet@careerplanningacademy.com
LogoCreator Can Impact Your Brand for Free
LogoCreator is a free logo design application built for entrepreneurs, marketers, and nonprofits. The design process only takes a few minutes and it's very intuitive. Private practitioners and job seekers need to think about their personal brand and the impact images can make when networking. Unlike other logo makers, this one is actually 100% free.
Tech Tip submitted by Faith Woolley, faithwoolley85@hotmail.com
Scribbr – APA Citation Generator
One free tool for generating APA style citations can be found at: https://www.scribbr.com/apa-citation-generator/#/ Effortlessly create your reference list and in-text citation in the most up-to-date APA format using this site.
Beginning with the August 2020 issue of the web magazine, all submissions to Career Convergence are asked to follow the new 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual (2020), especially the citations and references. The editorial team will assist authors in conforming to the new style. There are many other sources of information about the changes to the APA Publication Style following the release of the 7th edition, including the APA site https://apastyle.apa.org/
Tip submitted by Ali Breen abreen@ncda.org
Get Feedback with Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere, www.polleverywhere.com, offers users the ability to build quick and easy polls for any online or in-person meeting. Create polls for icebreakers, quizzes, gaining insights into your audience and gauging reactions to your classroom topics, presentations, or career services events. Free accounts allow unlimited number of quizzes with a maximum of 25 respondents each (more for higher ed and K-12).
Tech Tip provided by: Dirk Matthews, dirkwmatthews@gmail.com
Download Your Entire List of Linkedin Contacts
Access connections from LinkedIn for the purpose of preparing for a job search, maintaining files offline, sorting, or strategizing marketing efforts. Download your connections' names, employers, job titles, and dates you first connected on LinkedIn via the following steps:
From your desktop, login to LinkedIn and visit Settings/ Privacy/ How LinkedIn Uses Your Data/ Getting a Copy of Your Data; Click WANT SOMETHING IN PARTICULAR and then click CONNECTIONS. Next click the REQUEST ARCHIVE button. You will then be asked to enter your LinkedIn password. Once requested, it will take up to 30 minutes for it to be prepared. When ready for download, LinkedIn will notify you or you can return later and download your spreadsheet.
Tip submitted by Debra Ruddell, debra@djrcareerconnector.com
Fix Your Writing with Hemingway's Help
If you want to make your writing more clear and accurate, consider the Hemingway app. Enter your text into the online app and it will highlight lengthy sentences, typical errors, sentences that are too complex and confusing, ways to simplify vocabulary, and other means to make your writing communicate clearly and simply. Polish up and clarify your writing so your clients and colleagues receive your career development message without distractions.
-Tip Provided by Dr. Janet Wall, careerfacilitator@janetwall.net
Create Flyers, Brochures, Reports and Social Media Content with Lucidpress
Looking for a new method for developing digital or print documents beyond what your Microsoft or Apple software can provide? Lucidpress is an easy web-based tool that allows you to build documents from a variety of templates or from scratch. The site will help you reach out to clients or build your brand with ease. A free version of the site can be added as an app through a Gmail account, or you can select from several paid levels.
-Tip provided by Christopher Belser, ctbelser@uno.edu
Distance Counseling with Zoom
Do you provide distance counseling services for your students or clients? If so, you might want to explore an online platform called Zoom. This application is easy to use for online meetings, video conferencing, desktop sharing, and group messaging. You can easily set up online meetings with students and use the screen sharing to review resumes and other career planning documents. Zoom offers a free basic version for users as well as several fee-based plans that provide more extensive application elements. An added feature of Zoom is that this system addresses HIPPA privacy and security standards. Such features help the counselor ensure the confidentiality and integrity of student/client information transmitted during distance counseling appointments.
~ Tip Provided by Barbara Thomson, thomson.barbara@rutgers.edu
Capture That Perfect Way of Saying It
Make wordsmithing career content a breeze just by talking it through. Voice Notebook is a free online speech recognition tool (in Google's chrome web store) that grants us the magical ability to capture exactly what was said word-for-word with impressive accuracy. Start recording, have your student/client talk about their accomplishments, copy/paste the transcription and draft the perfect content. As a bonus perk, you can also use it to draft those wordier email responses. It's a game changer that was serendipitously designed perfectly for our work as career educators.
Tip Provided by Mark Zammuto, mzammuto@champlain.edu
Improve Your Writing with the OWL at Purdue
Do you need a quick writing resource? Would your career clients or students like tips and guidelines when writing job search documents? Look no further than the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/). Designed as a resource for university students as well as a worldwide audience, the OWL at Purdue includes resources on the writing process, rules for grammar/mechanics, and the widely used style guides (APA, MLA, Chicago, and AMA). Additionally, the OWL has resource pages for job seekers and English language learners.
Tip provided by Christopher Belser, christopherbelser@gmail.com
Connect with NCDA on LinkedIn
Chances are that you are not only using LinkedIn, but also recommending it to your clients and students. But are you active in LinkedIn Groups? These digital communities provide space for users with common interests to connect in a more meaningful way, that includes sharing ideas and resources, posting relevant jobs, and engaging in discussion forums. Join NCDA's LinkedIn Group for all of this and organization updates. There are other related Groups that focus on specific areas of interest, such as the NCDA Business and Industry LinkedIn Group. You can also search for Groups managed by NCDA committees, State CDAs, and more.
Tip provided by Melissa A. Venable, melissa.a.venable@gmail.com
Keep Your Career Team Straight with Slack
Are you working from a distance, on the road, or with a distributed team, client or student? Then you need emerging tools to keep connected. Slack is a team management tool that offers private group communication. Create separate, custom "channels" within the system to which members can subscribe for updates. Real-time chat and direct messaging are also options, allowing for quick question resolution and notification of last minute changes. This system is also compatible with Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box for file sharing. The interface is engaging and social, and free plans let small teams connect via desktop or mobile app (iOS, Android). The Slack for Education and Slack for Nonprofits programs offer discounted access to premium features.
Tip Provided by Melissa A. Venable, melissa.a.venable@gmail.com
Developing a LiveBinder for Organizing Career Development and Planning Resources
Need a better way to organize, bookmark, and share online content as a visual portfolio (collection) for career development and planning resources? Then consider developing a LiveBinder -- a digital binder where one can create a central hub full of resources on any topic. Almost everything that is web-based, can be added to a LiveBinder—links to websites, YouTube videos, images, PDF/Microsoft Word/Google documents, and social networking content, to name a few. LiveBinders also allow you to share your binder via Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and in blogs or websites.
Tip Provided by Cindy Miller, cynthia.l.miller@ttu.edu
Technology Tips Now Available in Career Convergence
Provided by the NCDA Technology Committee, these technical tips are short lessons on some of the newest technology tools, trends, and apps, and how they can be used by career practitioners in a variety of contexts. Read newest tip in Career Convergence every month. If you have questions, please contact the author of the tip or the Technology Committee Chairperson Melissa Venable, melissa.a.venable@gmail.com
