User Guide

📄 Resume Builder

1. Open the Resume Builder and fill in your contact details at the top.
2. Work down the form: work history, certifications, licenses, and the equipment you can operate. Nothing is too small; an OSHA 10 card or a forklift certification belongs on there.
3. Click the polish button. AI rewrites your wording so it reads professionally without changing your facts.
4. Download as a Word file. Logged in, it also saves automatically to Career Prep, My Documents in your dashboard.

💡 Best results: List everything and let the tool trim. Include real numbers: years on the tools, crew sizes, project values. Applying abroad? Open the tool from that country's page and it follows local resume conventions automatically.

✉️ Cover Letter Builder

1. Paste in the exact job title and company name from the listing.
2. Add two or three honest sentences about why this job fits you.
3. Generate, read it once out loud, and edit anything that does not sound like you.
4. Download as Word, or find it later in My Documents.

💡 Best results: Mention one specific thing about the company or listing. One specific detail beats five generic sentences every time.

🎤 AI Mock Interview

1. Pick your trade from the list.
2. The tool asks real interview questions one at a time. Answer in your own words.
3. Read the instant feedback after each answer, then keep going.
4. Logged in, your completed sessions are saved so you can see your improvement.

💡 Best results: Say your answer out loud before typing it. Do one full session before any real interview, then redo only the questions you stumbled on.

💬 Ask a Pro

1. Type any career or trade question in plain language.
2. Read the answer, then ask a follow-up. It remembers the conversation.

💡 Best results: Specific beats general. Instead of asking about electrician careers, ask what a second-year apprentice earns in your state, or whether a GED plus a forklift card is enough to start.

🧭 Find Your Trade quiz

1. Answer the short questions about what you enjoy and how you like to work. It takes about five minutes.
2. Get your matched trades, ranked.
3. Click any match to see its career ladder, pay, and how to start.

💡 Best results: Answer with your gut, not what you think sounds good. Retake it any time; there are no wrong answers.

📋 Career Assessment

1. Work through the full assessment. It is deeper than the quiz and takes a bit longer.
2. Logged in, your results save to your dashboard and power your Top Matches for programs and jobs.

💡 Best results: Do this one logged in. It is the single biggest input to the matches your dashboard shows you.

🧮 Calculators

1. Salary Calculator: pick a trade and location to see real pay ranges.
2. College vs. Trades: compare the true cost of a four-year degree against trade training, including debt.
3. Salary vs. Cost of Living: see what a paycheck actually buys in different places.

💡 Best results: Run College vs. Trades with a parent or partner if they are skeptical about the trades. The numbers usually end the argument.

💰 Funding tools

1. Start with the Funding Eligibility Check, a two-minute screener for WIOA and Pell eligibility.
2. Use the Pell Grant Checker to see if a specific program qualifies.
3. Browse Scholarships and Grants & Incentives for money you can apply for directly.

💡 Best results: Do the eligibility screener before choosing a program. Knowing what money is available changes every decision after it.

🗺️ Zero to Apprentice + Readiness Checklist

1. Zero to Apprentice walks the whole path step by step, from no experience to your first apprenticeship.
2. The Readiness Checklist tracks the concrete items: documents, cards, basics.
3. Logged in, your checklist progress saves in Apprenticeship Prep in your dashboard.

💡 Best results: Work the checklist top to bottom. Apprenticeship coordinators notice applicants who show up with everything ready.