The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has introduced a new website to help teens plan for the future.
The new website, www.coloradorealitycheck.com, established by the Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium Youth Council, demonstrates a real-world connection between a persons expenses (for the basics as well as luxuries) and critical factors such as education, employment and income.
There are a number of websites that offer assessment calculators. Users simply key in their responses to a few straightforward questions and then receive an instant report on a wide variety of topics. Assessment calculator websites can rank the risk level of a corporate project, your vulnerability to an IT breach in security, your future disease risks or your true physiological age.
At Colorado Reality Check.com, young people begin by selecting the city in which they would like to live. From there, they can quickly move through the various decisions that all adults must make, decisions about housing, utilities, food, transportation, health care, entertainment and more. As their choices are made, the website displays a running calculation of the costs of each choice.
Once teens begin to understand the costs associated with their chosen standard of living, they can think about either downsizing their expectations or exploring the various careers that will cover expenses and keep them solvent. In the careers section, they can learn about different occupations, salaries, working conditions, education and training requirements and projected job openings. If Colorado Reality Check.com promotes questions about career development or if teens need any assistance with the site, they are invited to contact their local Workforce Center.
The website is being provided free to the public and does not require any formal registration. Although geared toward high school and college students, the website can be helpful to a high schools guidance office or to anyone interested in career exploration and growth.