Farmington Hills, Mich., September 15, 2011 — Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a leading publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, schools and businesses, today announced major enhancements to Career Transitions, its online career service tool. The features include a new user interface, reporting tools for gauging user activity and additional job-seeking and career exploration activities. These enhancements allow for easier and faster user access and career assessment, and were implemented based on extensive customer and user feedback.

“In these difficult economic times, more and more citizens are looking for efficient tools to help them find work,” said Gerry Sawchuk, publisher, public library solutions, Gale. “With these enhancements to Career Transitions, job and career seekers will be able to improve their chances of finding sustainable employment.”

In addition to the new interface, the following features were added to Career Transitions:
• Interactive Interview Practice: A custom interview simulation to help users get over interview intimidation and prepare in a safe and non-judgmental environment. In addition, users will find targeted tips and advice in the form of articles and videos on job searching and applying to networking and career strategies, among other topics.
• Match Experience to New Careers: This unique feature enables users to identify a job or military occupation they’ve held, and explore related new career opportunities based on their experience. Match Experience helps users translate their experience into new opportunities they may not have considered.
• Trends, Activities, Outcomes & Reporting: Provides detailed insight into the activities users are engaged in and what they are accomplishing. Helps librarians deliver measurable results to their institution, community and funding partners with:
- Visual, easy-to-generate reports detailing what users are accomplishing
- Optional user survey mechanism to identify transformative value (jobs, progress) and success

The new activities reporting feature added to Career Transitions will give librarians access to useful information and metrics that will demonstrate the success of their job and career resources in a visual, detailed report. Reports can be generated at any time, and cover every activity – including job searching and tracking, resumes, cover letters, assessments and more – that users can experience within Career Transitions. Librarians can also gather valuable user data on career search trends, such as ranked information on the top careers users are targeting and what specific advice they are seeking.

“Public libraries are prime destinations for career research, yet they are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their value to the community and provide quantifiable metrics and results to maintain their funding,” said Sawchuk. “This new reporting tool will allow libraries to instantaneously collect valuable data that can be used in many ways, including demonstrating success to legislatures and budget holders.”

Other additions to Career Transitions include updates for more than 1,100 careers; 1,000 videos including “Day in the Life” interviews with people in different fields; spotlights on new and emerging careers, as well as green careers; a career ladder that positions similar opportunities according to education/training level; and an education/training finder to match careers with education and training programs from nearly 9,000 postsecondary institutions across the U.S. and more than 300 online continuing education courses. In addition, the guided resume and cover letter creator helps users who are often intimidated to start this process find a quick and efficient path to presenting their background and abilities in the best light. It guides users step-by-step through each section of creating a resume and cover letter.

These new features have been added to Career Transitions at no additional cost to customers. For more information, visit http://www.gale.cengage.com/careertransitions/. To speak with a Gale publisher or to set up a trial of Career Transitions, please contact Kristina Massari at kristina.massari@cengage.com.

About Cengage Learning and Gale
Cengage Learning is a leading provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world's information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet. It is best known for the accuracy, breadth and convenience of its data, addressing all types of information needs – from homework help to health questions to business profiles – in a variety of formats. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.com.

###