The Career Key Blog

What Job is Best for Me? 2012 Career Decision E-Book Now Available

2012-01-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

"What Job is Best for Me? How to make a decision you won't regret," our most popular career decision e-book, has just been updated for 2012, expanded to 97 pages.

In "What Job is Best for Me?" Career Key author Dr. Lawrence K. Jones guides people through their career decision, relying on methods, information and techniques based on the latest research and career counseling practices.

The e-Book includes recommended activities for the critical four steps to choosing the right career:

Consider all the Alternatives,
Weigh the Consequences of each,
Search for Information about each choice, and
Make details Plans.

In the 2012 edition, we added two new sections of advice related to education: "Choosing a College Major" and "Learning about Training and Education Options." Readers can take advantage of recent research on personality-major match and learn how it fits in with choosing a career.

You can purchase "What Jobs is Best for Me?" for $8.95 in our eBookstore. When you add The Career Key career test, you get a 20% total discount over separate purchases: both for $14.95.

Career Clusters, Career Pathways & Our Updated E-Book

2011-12-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

"5 Steps to Choosing a Career Cluster, Field, or Pathway" has just been updated. It includes the most recent updates to The Career Key test and the most recent assignments of Career Clusters and Career Pathways found on O*NET OnLine.

Found in our eBookstore, "5 Steps" costs $9.95 with a special discount for purchasing both the Career Key test and the e-Book together.

Career Key's approach is to use its valid assessment of Holland's six personality types to match students to occupations, then to the clusters and pathways related to those occupations.

Our e-book is the only one that matches students' interests in this way. We also have a free online article called "Choosing a Career Cluster, Field or Pathway" with a free downloadable Career Key Map of the 16 Career Clusters.

The 16 Career Clusters and 79 Career Pathways are not organized by interests (but by industries and required skills, knowledge). So it's important to give students a scientifically valid way to match their interests to occupations within those clusters and pathways.

I uploaded to YouTube a video overview of Career Key's Career Clusters and Career Pathways resources, including the new version of the e-book.

If you are interested in Career Clusters and Career Pathways, you might read these related blog posts:
Career Clusters Interest Survey Validity Questioned by Study
NCDA Article on Using Interests to Organize Matching College Majors, Career Clusters and Pathways
NCDA (National Career Development Association)

Please see the related press release, "Career Key's Updated e-Book Enables Students to Choose the Best Career Cluster and Career Pathway."

The Career Key Career Test Adds New Occupations

2011-11-21T13:50:00.001-08:00

We just updated the career options and occupations listed in The Career Key career test to keep pace with changes in our economy and the world of work.

For all six Holland personality types (RIASEC), test takers will get to choose from:

Occupations with a real future, most with a positive job outlook; and
A variety of occupations with different skill and education requirements.

Here are a few samples of new occupations we added:

Realistic: Railroad Yardmaster
Investigative: Network Engineer
Artistic: Medical and Scientific Illustrator
Social: Nurse Informaticist
Enterprising: Medical and Health Services Manager
Conventional: Production, Planning, or Expediting Clerk

These occupations were also added to our self-scoring, paper-pencil version of The Career Key test, found in our eBookstore.

Other related and helpful Career Key articles:

Here is the full PRWeb press release announcing the new career options in our career test...

Green Careers: How to Choose One in this Economy

2011-11-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

If you are exploring green careers and care about the environment, try following the tips in our newly updated web article, "Green Economy: Match Your Personality to Green Jobs". In addition to showing you how the green economy impacts you, the article gives you 4 steps to follow in your career decision-making.

It shows nearly two hundred Green Jobs by Holland personality type and recommends you look at other career options that make "green" contributions, like teachers and clergy.

Don't limit yourself to thinking that a "Green Job" only means occupations like "wind turbine technician" and "solar panel installer." If your strongest personality types are Artistic or Social, there are plenty of green contributions you can make.

First, match your interests to occupations, then brainstorm ways your green values can fit in. What can you do with a nursing degree that might be "green"? What about focusing on public health or occupational health? For more ideas on how to learn about your career options, visit our Green Jobs article.

Even though the Green Economy has gotten a fair amount of negative press recently, with the solar panel manufacturer Solyndra's bankruptcy and the use of Federal green job training dollars topping the news, I don't think it means green jobs are not promising. Here's one NYT commentator who thinks solar power is more than a "hippie fantasy." The current job market and economy is challenging for just about any industry other than software and Internet commerce.

Regardless of one's politics, global warming and impacts on humans of environment factors are not going away. And I wouldn't wait for a clear job outlook prediction in this politically charged and slow economy. Besides, you may be living in a nursing home by the time the boxing match between China and the U.S. solar power industries is decided.

Don't wait for others to give you a green light.

My favorite green economy and green career information links:
Government
Occupational Outlook Handbook Green Careers
O*NET Green Economy
CareerOneStop's "Find Education and Training"
Industry (I'll be updating this shortly - but until then, check the industry associations for careers you're interested in, like alternative energy, environmental health, etc.)

See also our PRWeb Press release on Green Jobs.

How to Choose an Encouraging College Major Environment that Leads to Success

2011-11-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

When you choose a college major, you are also choosing an environment- with surroundings and conditions that an encourage and discourage you.

For you to be successful, research shows that you should choose a college major environment compatible with your Holland personality.

To learn about how professors create this environment, and how to learn more about whether it's the right personality fit for you, visit Career Key's new 3 part series of self-help articles:

Personality-College Major Match, Why it is Important - recommendations on matching your Holland personality to majors;
The Holland College Major Environments - how they are created and a description of what the six Holland environments are; and
Learn More about College Major Environments - practical, concrete steps you can take to investigate the environments that interest you.

Be sure to explore Career Key's other articles on college major advice, like:

Choosing a College Major

Liberal Arts, Humanities, and General Studies Majors

Choosing a Career Cluster, Field or Pathway

and our related free PDF e-books:

Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality; What does the research say?

Personality-College Major Match and Student Success: Professionals Guide

Love Halloween? Business Opportunities and Self-Employed Side-Career Ideas

2011-10-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

If you love Halloween – I mean, really LOVE it – you mightconsider a self-employed side business centered around the holiday. According to Value Village (a popularHalloween destination retailer), the average family of four will spend $300 tocelebrate the holiday. To learnmore about Halloween economics, both in the U.S. and Canada, check out these links:

About.com’s Halloween Business Opportunities article;

National Retail Federation’s “Big Blog” post on Halloween Econ this year, with a related CNN video

National Retail Federation consumer spending study results

Value Village’s Press Kit for its annual online survey results (Trends and Survey Data)

Top 5 Halloween Businesses, from the Intuit blog

Halloween Industry's Evolution to a $6 Billion Business, from the Huffington Post

If you don’t love Halloween, you might browse the Holiday and Consumer Trends News at the National Retail Federation website for ideasabout other holidays.

As you can see from the above photo, I am probably not the best potentialcustomer, encouraging my son’s idea to “make my own [crow] costume.” Being a crow and the wingdesign were his ideas – not bad for Pre-K engineering. Cost: zero. Added bonus - his black turtleneck outfit could conveniently convert to a Steve Jobs costume in case of costume malfunction/destruction.

For the record, this year our familyspent $30 on Halloween candy, $30 on pumpkins and $30 on two trips through corn mazes. Shows where our prioritieslie: gourds, navigating maps (but you knew that already) and stuffing ourselves with leftover candy….

Happy Halloween!

Promising Conventional Careers 2011: Administration, Health, and Records

2011-10-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

If you're a Conventional personality type, employers are looking for your structured, orderly approach to records, numbers or machines in many promising careers. Administrative careers involving mathematical detail or the ability to work well with material or records processing systems are in demand. In the last post of this 6 part series, Promising 2011 Careers that Match Your Personality, we list occupations compatible with the Conventional Holland personality type.

We recommend starting with Part 1, our introduction and tips on how to use this Promising Careers list. To see promising careers for the other five Holland personality types, see our other posts in this series:
Realistic Careers, Investigative Careers, Artistic Careers, Social Careers, and Enterprising Careers.

The world of Conventional occupations has greatly changed in the last 50 years. Paper handling and filing occupations of the past have disappeared with better computers, information technology, and outsourcing. But if you combine the needs of a more high-tech world with analytical skills and attention to detail, you will find Conventional jobs that pay well and have a positive job outlook.

Combining an occupation (from any personality type) with a growth industry (health care, information technology (see my previous post on high-tech in particular), energy, and materials moving and processing) is a recipe for more job opportunities.

When researching career information, make sure to use BOTH the O*NET (occupations below link to it) and the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). There is a link to the OOH at the end of each O*NET occupation page. Read this previous post about their different advantages and disadvantages.

Promising Conventional Careers by Career Key Work Group

Holland's Theory of Career Choice and a description of the Conventional personality type

Mathematical Detail

Actuaries

Bill and Account Collectors

Billing and Posting Clerks and Machine Operators

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

Energy Auditor

Computer Security Specialists

Cost Estimators

Database Administrators

Investment Underwriters

Mapping Technicians

Web Developers

Network Designers

Financial Detail

Financial Analysts

Material and Records Processing

Cargo and Freight Agents

Freight Forwarders

Logistics Analysts

Medical Records and Health Information Technicians

Administrative Detail

Clinical Data Managers

Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists

Dental Assistants

Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

Web Administrators

Medical Secretaries

Purchasing Agents

Regulations Enforcement

Compliance Managers

Environmental Compliance Inspectors

Government Property Inspectors and Investigators

Licensing Examiners and Inspectors

Quality Control Analysts

Regulatory Affairs Specialists

Risk Management Specialists

For ideas on how to learn more career information about the occupations and jobs that interest you, visit these Career Key website articles:
Learn More About Occupations
Learn More About the Jobs that Interest Me
3 Tips to Finding a Promising Job in High-Tech or Any Growth Industry

Promising Careers 2011 Part 5: Enterprising Careers

2011-09-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Explore these promising Enterprising career options, and consider how you might combine them with a growth industry (see my previous post on finding careers in high growth industries). In part 5 of our series, Promising Careers 2011, we focus on careers compatible with Holland's Enterprising personality type.

While business, finance, and sales careers took big job loss hits in the last few years, you can see how much of a difference it makes to be in the right industry.

For example, real estate and banking have had massive layoffs and restructuring this recession. But it's different story when you look at similar Enterprising careers in finance, business, management and sales jobs in growth industries like health care, technology, and the green economy. No job is perfectly secure, but an aging population and the continued importance of energy makes managing projects and manipulating (in a positive way, right?) systems in these fields more promising.

To learn more about how to use this list and what "promising" means, please visit Part 1- our introduction and 4 Smart Strategies for Career Planning. We recommend starting with our valid career assessment that measures Holland's personality types, The Career Key test. You'll also want to explore the careers for other personality types that fit you (see list at the post's end).

Promising Enterprising Careers by Career Key Work Group

Holland's Theory of Career Choice and a description of the Enterprising personality type:

Sales and Purchasing

Customs Brokers

Energy Broker

Insurance Sales Agents

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing,Technical and Scientific Products

Securities and Commodities Traders

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

Finance

Accountants

Auditors

Treasurers and Controllers

Financial Managers, Branch or Department

Investment Fund Managers

Personal Financial Advisors

Business Administration

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes

Chief Executives

Chief Sustainability Officers

Clinical Nurse Specialists

Clinical Research Coordinators

Construction Managers

Employment Interviewer

General and Operations Managers

Logisticians

Logistics Managers

Loss Prevention Managers

Personnel Recruiters

Quality Control Systems Manager

Supply Chain Managers

Government and Public Administration

Curators

Regulations Enforcement

Financial Examiners

Fraud Examiners, Investigators, and Analysts

Regulatory Affairs Managers

Legal Practice and Support

Lawyers

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Promotion

Public Relations Specialists

Other promising careers by Holland personality type in this series (there will be links when posted):

Promising Realistic Careers

Promising Investigative Careers

Promising Artistic Careers

Promising Social Careers

Promising Conventional Careers

Promising Careers 2011 Part 4: Social Services, Nursing and Education Careers

2011-09-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in promising social careers, like different careers in social services, nursing and education? In part 4 of our Promising Careers series, we list careers that are compatible with Holland's Social personality type, linking them to career information from the U.S. Department of Labor. Our series has one post for each Holland personality type.

For the introduction and 4 Smart Strategies for Career Planning, feel free to start with Part One of our Promising Careers series. It also has a description of what we consider to be a "promising" career.

When you click on each career, you'll see career information from the O*NET. But while they have good information about skills required and local job openings via CareerOneStop, I highly recommend you either click on the "Sources of Additional Information" at the bottom of each O*NET occupation page - the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) specifically, or visit the OOH separately to search for the occupations that interest you. The OOH has much better education and training information than the O*NET (see my previous post comparing the two). Using both sources is ideal.

If Social Services interests you, you might download this excellent new (September 2011) PDF from the Occupational Outlook Quarterly called "Helping Those in Need: Human Service Workers."

Promising Social Careers by Career Key Work Group

Holland's Theory of Career Choice and a description of the Social personality type

Social Services
Child, Family and School Social Workers
Clergy
Emergency Management Specialists

Equal Opportunity Representatives and Officers

Medical and Public Health Social Workers

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

Mental Health Counselors

Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors

Nursing, Therapy, & Health Promotion

Acute Care Nurses

Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses

Hearing Aid Specialists

Informatics Nurse Specialists

Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists,and Vision Rehabilitation Therapists

Nurse Midwives

Nurse Practitioners

Occupational Therapist Assistants

Occupational Therapists

Patient Representatives

Physical Therapist Assistant

Physical Therapist

Radiation Therapist

Registered Nurses

Respiratory Therapists

Child and Adult Care

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

Education and Library Services

Elementary School Teachers

Instructional Coordinators

Middle School Teachers, except Special and Vocational Education

Preschool Teachers

Secondary School Teachers

Self-Enrichment Education Teachers

Special Education Teachers, Pre-K, Kindergarten, Elementary

Training and Development Specialists

Sport, Recreation and Fitness

Adaptive Physical Education Specialists

Fitness Trainers and Aerobics Instructors

Explore other Holland personality types in this series (I will add links when they are posted):
Promising Realistic Careers
Promising Investigative Careers
Promising Artistic Careers
Promising Enterprising Careers
Promising Conventional Careers

Related Blog posts:
3 Creative Approaches to Gathering Career Option Information (using nursing as an example)
5 Ways to Channel your Inner Career Choice Optimist - Being Realistic but Optimistic
Job Outlook for Careers Matching the Social Holland Personality Type (2009)

Promising Careers 2011 Part 3: Art Careers

2011-09-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Are there promising art careers for Artistic personality types out there? You bet. In part 3 of our 6 part Promising Careers 2011 series, we list careers that are compatible with Holland's Artistic personality type. Visit part one for an introduction and tips for "how to use" this list.

Unsurprisingly, there are few Artistic jobs given a "bright outlook" by the U.S. Department of Labor. Maybe if you lived in Renaissance Florence, creating art would be considered a "growth industry," but in today's world, pursuing an Artistic career with a living wage requires - well - a little creativity.

Expand your career options: Combine your Artistic interests with other strong interests
One way to expand your Artistic career options in a creative way is to combine your Artistic interests with other strong interests you have. For example, when you take The Career Key test, we recommend that you explore at least your two strongest personality types indicated by your test scores. Make sure you read this short summary of Holland's Theory that explains the relationship between personality types and which ones are more compatible than others.

Common combinations of top two strongest types might be:
Artistic and Investigative
Artistic and Social

So we added a few Investigative and Social careers that can have a strong Artistic aspect to them. For a complete list of promising Investigative Careers, go to Part 2 of this series. For Social Careers, I'll post that list later this week and link it up.

Combine Art with a Growth Industry
While they may not have a large number of job openings, you may be able to find your niche in growing industries like the sciences and healthcare. Try combining:

Photography with the sciences: Scientific Photographer
Illustration with the Health Sciences and Medical Field: Medical and Scientific Illustrator
Graphic design with Computer Science: Video Game Designer

Last caveats:

A few of these careers did not meet the U.S. Department of Labor's "bright outlook" standards but have at least an average or above average rate of growth if data is available.
You can combine artistic interests with the commercial world in ways that you might not have thought of - and in ways that satisfy your values. Keep an open mind.
Make sure to read the Occupational Outlook Handbook summary on Artists and related occupations. It will be updated in late March 2012 (from 2010) but is still relevant now.
Self-employment is common in the arts. Learn more about Self-Employment here and whether self-employment might be right for you at the Self-Employment Key website.

Promising Artistic Careers by Career Key Work Group

Holland's Theory of Career Choice and a description of the Artistic personality type

Literary Arts
Technical Writers

Visual Arts
Architects
Graphic Designers
Landscape Architects
Multi-Media Artist or Animator
Scientific Photographers
Medical and Scientific Illustrators

Communications
Interpreters and Translators

Promising Social Careers with a strong Artistic aspect (SA)
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
Self-Enrichment Education Teachers
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
Special Education Teachers, Preschool, Kindergarten, and Elementary School
Training and Development Specialists

Promising Investigative Careers with a strong Artistic aspect (IA)
Anthropologists
Biochemists and Biophysicists
Sociologists
Video Game Designer; learn more in "Work for Play: Careers in Video Game Development" in Occupational Outlook quarterly, September 2011 PDF article.

Explore other posts in this series (I will link to them as they are posted):
Promising Realistic Careers
Promising Investigative Careers
Promising Social Careers
Promising Enterprising Careers
Promising Conventional Careers

Related Blog Posts on Artistic Careers that might interest you:
Self-Employment and Artistic careers - including my grandfather's story as an artist (illustrator and sculptor)
Artistic Careers Job Outlook (2009)

Why Maps (and related promising careers) Still Matter

2011-09-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

As I was working on the blog's new Promising Careers list, I came across several map related occupations (see list below) and I admit thinking at the time - really? I love maps and nautical charts and prefer using them to GPS, but I admit I was a little skeptical about promising job outlooks for careers in geography and cartography.

Then this morning I heard this fascinating public radio program (KUOW Seattle): "The History and Adventures with Maps with Ken Jennings." (The podcast is free) It really made me think about maps' roles in history and where we are going now with Google Maps and technology. The program gives insight into why maps are still relevant today. Ken Jennings's infectious enthusiasm about maps makes for a great interview. If you liked the movie "National Treasure" and making history come alive, you'll enjoy it.

Promising Careers involving maps...
Cartographers and Photogrammetrists (Realistic Personality Type)
Mapping Technicians (Realistic)
Surveying and Mapping Technicians (Realistic)
Geographic Information Systems Technicians (Investigative)
Geospatial Information Scientists and Technologists (Investigative)
Geographers (Investigative)

Promising Realistic Careers
Promising Investigative Careers

For more tips on learning more about certain occupations, visit our website article, "Learn about Occupations."

Promising Careers 2011 Part 2: Investigative Careers that Fit Your Personality

2011-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our Promising Careers 2011 list continues with the second Holland personality type, Investigative. If you score high in the Investigative personality type using a valid Holland career test like The Career Key, then consider these promising careers that fit you. You'll find careers in science, technology, engineering and math: a.k.a. "STEM" careers.

To catch the intro to this 6 part series, including what we consider a "promising career", 4 Smart Strategies for Career Planning, and how to use our career list, see Part 1: Promising 2011 Careers that Match Your Personality.

To explore the other Holland personality types, see Promising Realistic Careers, Promising Artistic Careers, Promising Social Careers, Promising Enterprising Careers, and Promising Conventional Careers. And to see lists by personality type of college majors and training programs, green jobs, career clusters and pathways, visit The Career Key website.

Make sure that when you click on each one below to see career information from U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET, go to the bottom of that O*NET page to see other recommended resources, like the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). Both O*NET and the OOH offer different career information so be sure to explore both.

Promising Investigative Careers by Career Key Work Group

Holland's Theory of Career Choice and a description of the Investigative personality type

Physical Sciences

Environmental Scientists and Specialists

Geodetic Surveyors

Geographers

Geographic Information Systems Technician

Geospatial InformationScientists and Technologists

Life Sciences

Biochemists and Biophysicists

Biologists

Geneticists

Medical Scientists, except Epidemiologists

Molecular and Cellular Biologists

Health Sciences

Allergists and Immunologists

Anesthesiologist Assistants

Family and General Practitioners

Internists

Naturopathic Physicians

Neurologists

Neuropsychologists and Clinical Neuropsychologists

Nuclear Medicine Physicians

Nurse Anesthetists

Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Physical Medicine andRehabilitation Physicians

Preventative Medicine Physicians

Prosthodontists

Psychiatrists

Radiologists

Sports Medicine Physicians

Urologists

Veterinarians

Veterinary Technologists and Technicians

Laboratory and MedicalTechnology

Cardiovascular Technologistsand Technicians

Cytogenetic Technologists

Cytotechnologists

Environmental Science andProtection Technicians

Forensic Science Technicians

Computer Science &Technology

Bioinformatics Scientists

Bioinformatics Technicians

Computer and Information Scientists, Research

Computer Software Engineers, Applications

Computer Software Engineers, Systems Software

Computer Systems Analyst

Computer Systems Engineers/Architects

Network and Computer Systems Administrators

Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts

Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers

Mathematics and Data Analysis

Biostatistician

Financial QuantitativeAnalysts

Mathematicians

Operations Research Analysts

Engineering

Automotive Engineer

Biochemical Engineers

Biomedical Engineers

Civil Engineers

Energy Engineers

Environmental Engineers

Industrial Engineering Technologist

Logistics Engineers

Management Analysts

Microsystems Engineers

Photonics Engineers

Robotics Engineers

Transportation Planners

Validation Engineers

Social Sciences

Anthropologists

Archeologists

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

Market Research Analysts

Sociologists

Survey Researchers

Promising 2011 Careers that Match Your Personality

2011-09-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

This practical, promising 2011 careers list from career guidance leader Career Key shows you how to match your personality to livingwage (or better) careers that make sense in today’s economy. Holland’s Theory of Career Choice is one of the most widely used and respected career choicetheories used by professional career counselors.

This will be a 6-part series (all linked together at the end) - 1 post for each personality type. Included are 4 Smart CareerPlanning Strategies to put it all in perspective.

It’s time for us to choose more promising careers….

Of the largest 10 occupations in the U.S., only one(registered nurses) had an average salary over $44,410. That’s the mean for allU.S. occupations. (BLS, 2010) When you consider what food costs and the money ittakes to support a family, that’s a staggering number of people making verylittle money – many of them in so-called “growth” a.k.a “service-related”jobs like cashiers and fast food workers. It’s also consistent with the latestCensus national poverty rate of 15%.

While it's true accountants, engineers, nurses and practically any occupation in the sciences is the ticket to good job opportunities and wages, there are many other options, with a variety of education and training requirements.

What is a “promising” career?

It’s a career that,

requires more training and education beyond a high schooldiploma*;
has decent projected future job openings – a “bright outlook” according to the U.S. Department of Labor;
exists in a growth industry or industries found nationwide**; and
provides a “living wage” job (one with which you could possiblysupport a family) (minimum median $30,000/year).

*99.9% of all living wage jobs require at least a high schooldiploma, but not necessarily a 4 year college degree. (If you disagree, send me stats that say otherwise)

**I excluded careers that I thought were too specialized or narrowly focused (like biofuelsprocessing). Explore our Green Jobs article for more promising, specialized greenand energy-related jobs.

Begin with 4 Smart Career Planning Strategies

Take theright approach to work – the “Free Agent Outlook.”
Take apractical, 3 step “end-game” approach to career planning.
Explore ourpromising career list below to help you decide on your career path. Find moreresources at The Career Key website: Match Your Personality to… Careers, Green Jobs, College Majors and Training Programs,and Career Clusters and Pathways.
As youconsider your options, think about the costs and benefits. Some careers require a big educationinvestment (time, money) but prepare you for jobs that do not pay verymuch. Consider the repayment ofstudent loans. Consider theindustry in which you will be employed.Ask yourself: Are there better paying, more promising options, in growingindustries that fit your personality that you hadn’t considered before? Go back to our "Match Your Personality with..." Lists for more ideas.

How to use our promising careers list:

Take our valid career test and career assessment to identify your Holland personalitytypes you are most like, jobs that interest you, and learn more about each one;
Explore our promising careers list, and identify careersyou’d like to learn more about. Click on each one to visit the U.S. Departmentof Labor’s O*NET website description for that career. Don’t forget to click on links at the bottom of the O*NET page to(1) “Wages and Employment Trends” to get more local information relevant toyou, and (2) “Sources of Additional Information”, which takes you to theOccupational Outlook Handbook. The OOH gives you much better education and traininginformation than O*NET (see my recent post about using O*NET vs. the OOH for researching career information).
Do the activities listed in “Learn About Occupations” and “Learn More About the Jobs that Interest Me.” Pay a lot ofattention to your local situation – or the location you intend to work. Talk to (ideally face to face) realpeople working in the careers that interest you before investing in any training oreducation program.
Follow all 4 Smart Career Planning Strategies listedabove.

Career Key's promising careers list by Holland personality type and Career Key work group...

Promising Realistic Careers

Holland's Theory and a description of the Realistic personality type

Safety and Law Enforcement

Correctional Officers or Jailers

Fire Fighters

Forest Fire Fighters

Municipal Fire Fighters

Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers

Private Detectives and Investigators

Security Management Specialists

Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs

Engineering

Automotive Engineering Technician

Cartographers and Photogrammetrists

Computer Support Specialists

Electrical Engineering Technologists

Electromechanical Engineering Technologists

Electroneurodiagnostic Technologist

Electronics Engineering Technologist

Endoscopy Technicians

Environmental Engineering Technicians

Histotechnologists and Histologic Technicians

Manufacturing Engineers

Manufacturing Engineering Technologists

Mechanical Engineering Technologists

Non-Destructive Testing Specialists

Photonics Technicians

Precision Agriculture Technicians

Robotics Technicians

Surgical Technologist

Surveying Technician

Transportation Engineers

Construction Crafts and Support

Carpenters

Construction Carpenters

Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

Solderers and Brazers

Crafts – Mechanical

Automotive Master Mechanic

Automotive Service Technicians & Mechanics

Automotive Specialty Technicians

Hearing, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

Medical Equipment Repairers

Crafts – Electrical-Electronic

Electricians

Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers

Crafts – Metal, Wood, Plastic, Fabric

Museum Technicians and Conservators

Welders, Cutters and Welder Fitters

Manufacturing and Production

Manufacturing Production Technicians

Ophthalmic Medical Technologists and Technicians

Other Posts in this Series:

Promising Investigative Careers

Promising Artistic Careers

Promising Social Careers

Promising Enterprising Careers

Promising Conventional Careers

Career Key Offers New College Match Up! Service: New Participant, Community College of Rhode Island

2011-09-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

We're pleased to announce our new service, College Match Up! for U.S. and Canadian college/university career services, academic advising, offices of retention and admissions.

For each college or university participating in this new service, we create on The Career Key website a Match Up! page that will:

Publicly display online that college's majors by Holland personality type and Career Key work group, helping students scientifically match their personality to majors,
Provide information about each major,
Link visitors to important departments like Advising, Career Services, and
Give sound advice based on best practices and research in the field.

As usual, our websites have no ads, no registration requirement, or marketing to students.

Community College of Rhode Island, the largest community college in the Northeast, is the first to take advantage of the service. This is their new Match Up! page:

"Choose a Community College of Rhode Island Major and Related Career That Matches Your Personality"

To see a short YouTube video overview of the new service...

It's easy to participate and affordable. If you'd like to learn more, please contact me!

Study in Canada: 7 Tips to Canadian Career & Education Success

2011-08-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

If you’d like to study in Canada, start by looking at who you are, your career interests and options, then choose the right college/university major to make your dream career and life in Canada.

Learn More About Yourself. Take valid career interest assessments, like Career Key Canada or the Strong Interest Inventory. Unfortunately, none of the Canadian government websites offer a valid career test and neither do any of the “free career test” websites. But don’t just take assessments; try the other recommended activities too.
Identify Your Skills. Find out what skills you enjoy using the most, what's marketable, and how to choose a career that uses them.
Learn About Canadian Occupations and Careers.
Learn More about the Canadian Jobs that Interest You.
Match Your Personality to Canadian Majors and Educational Programs. See how Holland’s Theory can help you relate your career and education interests to the real world of work. Our new e-Book, "Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors" contains over 1,400+ Canadian and U.S. college/university majors to explore - organized by Holland's 6 personality types. Download the free "Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality" report from our home page. It explains how the personality major match is related to college success.
Learn More about the Majors that Interest Me.
Make a Good Decision about Your Major and Where You Want to Study in Canada.

Also explore our recommended web resources with Canadian career and education information.

Career Key Canada Test Adds New Canadian Career Information

2011-08-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

The Canadian version of our career test, Career Key Canada, now links to the most up to date Canadian career and occupational information available from "Working in Canada," the Canadian government's newest resource.

After choosing Canadian occupations that match your personality, we link you to specific careers from "Working in Canada." You can look up, by province or territory, important information like:

- Job and skills requirements,

- Main job duties,

- Licensing and certification requirements,

- Job outlook,

- Wages,

- Education and training requirements, and

- Current job openings

If you'd like to see an example of the occupations we use in our career test, look at "Match Your Personality with Canadian Careers".

3 Steps to Finding a Promising Career in High-Tech or Any Growth Industry

2011-08-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

In choosing a career or changing careers, consider all the career options and choices in a growing, promising industry. Don’t assume you know all an industry’s possible careers. There are likely more types of occupations that fit your personality than you might think. To show you the wide variety of careers available, I’m using the High-Tech industry and employer Amazon.com as an example. It’s not just for software engineers.

I’ll focus on three steps to exploring a growth industry that interests you to find the right career path. I’m assuming you’ve taken a valid career test to measure your Holland personality types like The Career Key or Career Key Canada.

Learn more about a growth industry from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Career Guide to Industries.
Make a list of occupations in the industry that match your personality.
Think “big picture” about your interests and how they fit into a promising industry.

But first, my inspiration for this post...
Last week, I took my young son to visit and have lunch with Dad on a workday. My husband works for a software company (not Microsoft) here in Seattle as a senior developer. Seattle’s lunchtime streets are crowded with very well-dressed (mostly) men and women, from 20 somethings to 50+ year olds, who work in the software and technology industries. I see workers’ Amazon, Google, and Adobe work badges as we walk by.

Not all are software engineers. Many work in sales, finance, human resources, customer service, and graphic design to name a few fields. And yet many people assume that you need to be a math whiz to be a part of the high-tech industry. Make sure you’re not limiting your career options.

3 Steps to Finding Your Career in a Growth Industry (the High-Tech Example)

1. Explore the Career Guide to Industries (CGI) at the U.S. Department of Labor website. For each industry, they have a list and description of “Occupations in the Industry”. Like...
Software Publishers (Microsoft, etc.)
For Software Publishers it says that in addition to computer programmers,

“[a] substantial number of marketing and sales workers also are employed in this industry. In order to compete successfully in the online world, the presentation and features of software and other content related to information technology becomes increasingly important.”

Similarly, look at, Computer Systems Design and Related Services

In addition to the CGI, look around your geographic area (if you don’t want to move) and see what employers are hiring and doing well. What types of jobs are they filling now?

2. Make a list of occupations in the industry that match your personality. When you take The Career Key test, you’ve seen and explored careers that match your personality. Our “Match Your Personality with Careers” article has that list. With that list in mind, make a note of the occupations you see listed in the Career Guide to Industries (see Step 1). For Investigative occupations like Software Engineer, that will be easy. But don’t overlook Realistic engineering occupations like, Engineering Technician.

What kinds of occupations can you find at a real High-Tech employer? Amazon.com
Amazon.com Careers. These are current job openings as of today - with an "All" search for "All" locations. (Education requirement in parentheses) Personality type in bold - in RIASEC order (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional).

Fulfillment Center IT Technician, computer repairer, (work experience & training), Realistic
All occupations in Career Key’s Investigative, Computer Science and Technology group of careers: Computer programmer, Computer software engineer, Computer Support Specialist...
Hardware Quality Technician (BS in Computer Science), Investigative
CAD Sculptor/3D Modeler (BA in Fine Art, Industrial Design, etc) Artistic
UI (user interface) Designer (5 yrs experience in graphic design, or related) Artistic
Advertising Manager, Display advertising (BA in Marketing, Advertising, or Business preferred) Enterprising
Corporate Counsel (BA, J.D. law degree) Enterprising
Investigation Specialist with Chinese language skills (no education requirement, but knowledge and skills like Chinese language, knowledge of Chinese banking systems, etc) ... to authenticate customers and complex transactions/accounts. Enterprising.
Assistant Buyer, Fulfillment Center - (HS Diploma plus work experience) Enterprising
Marketing Manager (BA in Business, Marketing, Math/Statistics or related field) Enterprising
Leave of Absence Associate (BA or equivalent HR work experience, Human Resources Administration) Enterprising
Payroll Analyst (BA in Finance or related field) Enterprising
Human Resources Business Partner (BA - no required field) Enterprising
Costa Rica Site Trainer (BA in Learning/Development, Adult Learning or related) Enterprising
In-Stock Manager, Inventory Supply Chain Planner (Degree in business, engineering, or supply chain) Conventional, Enterprising
Employee Resource Center Associate, customer service & support (work experience, BA preferred) Conventional

3. Think "big picture" about your interests and how they fit into a promising industry. If you’re Artistic, what needs do industry employers in your area have for Artistic services? Check your matching careers at the “Match Your Personality with Careers” article, Artistic. You might even come up with some self-employment ideas - ways you can sell your Artistic talent to companies with money to buy them. The Self-Employment Key website has more information for becoming self-employed.

In Internet focused companies, visual presentation is very important. They need workers in the visual arts, like graphic artists, modelers (see Amazon job openings above). Content writing companies need writers, etc. Technology companies that manufacture consumer devices (like the Kindle) will need modelers and designers.

After you find some attractive career options, find out more recommended actions to learn more about the jobs that interest you in “Getting Started Choosing a Career”; and get tips for your career decision making process. Good luck!

Make Career and College Major Decisions Based on Research: What we might learn from Bill Gates

2011-07-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

Given our obsession with using research to help students make better career and college major decisions – this particular quote stuck out to me from Bill Gates’ Wall Street Journal interview last weekend, “Was the $5 BillionWorth It?”:

"I bring a bias to this," says Mr. Gates. "I believe in innovation and that the way you get innovation is you fund research and you learn the basic facts." Compared with R&D spending in the pharmaceutical or information-technology sectors, he says, next to nothing is spent on education research. "That's partly because of the problem of who would do it. Who thinks of it as their business? The 50 states don't think of it that way, and schools of education are not about research. So we come into this thinking that we should fund the research."

Fortunately for people making career and education decisions, a huge amount of peer-reviewed research has already been done.

Research shows what leads to job and career satisfaction – using Holland’s Theory to match your personality to careers and college majors. And for you to see the benefits, you have to use a scientifically valid assessment of Holland's 6 personality types. To learn more:

Holland’s Theory of Career Choice
Choosing a College Major
Choosing a Career Cluster, Field or Pathway
Choosing a College Based on Your Personality; What does the research say? (PDF for students, parents, counselors and career development professionals)
Key Piece in College Completion Missing: Personality Major Match (PDF for educators, counselors, and policy-makers)
The Career Key Manual (more about our scientifically valid Holland assessment and our personality match to careers, college majors, and career clusters)

Excellent Review for Career Key E-Book "Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors"

2011-07-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

Choosing a college major? "Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors"(Canadian link), a popular Career Key® and Career Key Canada e-book, will help you make smart career and college major choices. Thanks to an excellent review from National Career Development Association President, Dr. Debra Osborn, you can be confident of our e-book's quality and helpfulness.

The American Counseling Association just published Dr. Osborn's review in its July 2011 issue of Counseling Today. Click on this link to see her Match Up! review at our website.

According to Dr. Osborn,

“Match Up! will be of great use to students and counselors who quickly need a list of options related to personality.”

She also found “the e-book makes reading not only easy and enjoyable but reader-centered.” She continues...

"The authors state that their goal is to “help young people and adults make the best career and educational decisions possible.” Jones and Jones have created an interactive book that provides a strong framework for accomplishing this goal. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for busy school counselors, and others who work with adolescents and young adults and have that same goal. It is a great resource that provides solid information necessary for making effective career decisions."

In “Match Up!” readers see:

Which majors fit their personality,
A description of each major,
Related occupations, and
How to find colleges that offer those majors.

“Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors” contains over 1,400 college majors in the U.S. and Canada. It is available for sale in the Career Key eBookstore: Adobe® PDF, 343 pages, US $14.95, 2011. There is a special discount when you purchase both The Career Key test and the "Match Up!" e-book together. For information on group discounts, please contact me.

More information...

“Match Up!”, by Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, NCC and Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D., GCDF, is the first publication to show students and adults returning to school all college majors matching their Holland personality types. All of the majors (1400+) currently used by the U.S. Department of Education (and Canada) were scientifically analyzed and organized according to the Holland personality types. Studies show that the closer the personality-major match, the more likely students will earn good grades, persist, and graduate on time.

Comparing Top Career Information Resources: Occupational Outlook Handbook and O*NET’s My Next Move

2011-06-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

When you’re looking for occupational information, which U.S. Department of Labor resource is better - the OOH or O*NET’s new My Next Move? My answer - use both, starting with the OOH for the best overall occupational information, then moving to the O*NET (or America's CareerInfoNet) for local salary and education information. I found that:

The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) was better for:

practical, detailed information overall about an occupation;
understanding the variety of work someone might do in that occupation;
learning about working environment - financial (private vs. public sector employers), physical (office vs. field work) and mental aspects (stress, number of hours worked);
exploring related occupations, especially ones with lesser education/training requirements in the same field (compare Veterinarians in the OOH vs. My Next Move); and
Understanding education and training requirements - learn more than just what degree or certificate is required.

O*NET’s My Next Move is better for:

Lightweight, visually attractive career option browsing;
Accessing and understanding local salary information;
Finding local schools offering the education or training required by an occupation (I found it easier to use but more limited in options than the U.S. Dept. of Education's College Navigator);
People or counselors needing lists of required skills and abilities, and technology use (i.e. vocational rehabilitation);
Learning about green occupations and industries (start with our Match Your Personality to Green Jobs article); and
Finding apprenticeship programs.

Note: Unfortunately, My Next Move’s “Tell us what you like to do” free career test is the invalid O*NET Interest Profiler. So if you want to measure your Holland personality types accurately, take a scientifically valid, Holland-based career assessment. You can still use O*NET’s Holland interest areas once you have your valid score.

For ideas on how to learn more about occupations, explore these Career Key articles:
Learn More About Occupations
Learn More About the Jobs that Interest Me
Green Careers and the Green Economy

Practical Tips For Using the “What’s It Worth?” College Majors Report in Choosing a College Major

2011-06-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

What might you earn if you choose a college major in _____? Try the new, free “What it Worth?” college majors list and earnings report from Georgetown University. I have a couple of tips below to quickly gather the information you need for your college major decision making. After matching your personality to majors, learning as much as you can about your options is part of smart career and education decision making.

The most practical value comes from “What’s It Worth’s” free, short PDF downloads about groups of majors - and specific information about each major. I don’t think the “big picture” graphs are as helpful. Everyone knows engineering majors make more money than social work majors. What’s more interesting is to learn about specific majors, comparing them to one another in the same group, and the variety of occupations and majors within industries.

Tips for Using the “What’s It Worth?” Economic Value of College Majors Report:

1. Go to their “Interactive” webpage, click on “Where is my major?” to download their PDF college majors list. Print it (2 pages) or read it online and highlight the majors that you’re considering - and the “major group” that contains them.

The report's "major groups" do not necessarily line up with the Holland personality types. Most, like Agriculture and Natural Resources, contain majors for multiple personality types like Agricultural Economics (Investigative Majors) and General Agriculture (Realistic Majors). These groups aren’t helpful for a personality-major match, but do help you explore and learn more about a whole industry or study area.

2. From the main report page, click on each group of majors you want to explore to download the PDF for that group. I clicked on the green tab and downloaded “Agriculture & Natural Resources”.

You learn about a particular major’s:

Popularity
Median earnings of graduates (not including anyone with graduate degrees)
Earnings’ boost from a graduate degree
Destination industries (where graduates end up working)
Gender and racial composition, earnings comparisons

The full report is called, “What’s It Worth? - The Economic Value of Majors” from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. It’s based on newly released Census (2009) data. You can compare the median earnings between groups of majors. But there are limitations to the data, so check out what others are saying (including critiques)...

The New York Times “The Choice” Blog on "What It Worth?"
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Earnings Graphic)
(The comments on both are helpful - read them if you have time)

Career Key’s Most Popular Free Lists of Matching Careers and Education Options

2011-06-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Take The Career Key test once and match your Holland personality types to several different kinds of career and education options. Don’t miss all our free personality match lists using John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice, at The Career Key and Career Key Canada. This is Part 2 of a series - see Part 1: my top 4 free Career Key career development downloads post here...

In our "Match Your Personality with..." series of articles, we,

List careers, college majors, career clusters and pathways, and green jobs for each Holland personality type (and for Canadians at The Career Key Canada);
Organize them into groups (by worker traits, skills, abilities...) using The Career Key test’s “classification system,” which was developed (and continues to be updated) by Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC. An important goal is to make exploration easy and practical - so that you can go beyond the usual doctor/lawyer/accountant options;
Give you accurate, up to date information about each option; and
Include specific advice and steps for making a good decision based on the best practices and science of career counseling and career guidance.

Please feel free to recommend these articles to friends and colleagues, and link to them. Career test purchases (both individual and group discount) not only give you a valid, accurate assessment of your personality types with additional interpretation help, but they (along with e-Book sales) help us update and sustain these free resources. Here they are!

Match Your Personality with Careers
Match Your Personality with Careers in Canada
Explore matching occupations by Holland personality type and Career Key work group. See up to date information about each career like the job description, education requirements, and job outlook.

Match Your Personality with Career Clusters or Career Pathways
Learn about career clusters and pathways and tips for making an informed decision, using Holland’s Theory. Our map (also a free download) helps you visualize your choice.

Match Your Personality with College Majors and Training Programs
Match Your Personality with College Majors and Training Programs in Canada
Learn the steps for choosing a college major, along with lists of many sample majors for each personality type. A full list of all college majors and training programs in the U.S. and Canada is available in our new “Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors” e-Book, for sale in our eBookstore.

Match Your Personality with Green Jobs
Learn about the “green economy” and explore green careers by Holland personality type and Career Key work group. Provides career information from the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET. Tips for making a good decision. (Career Key Canada's Green Jobs article)

Top 4 Free Career Development Downloads from Career Key and Career Key Canada

2011-05-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Looking for free, high quality career development resources for yourself or a group? This is the first in a 4 part series highlighting Career Key's most popular, low-cost downloads and articles. Some you may already know about - others may be new to you. First, a little Q & A:

Why do we do we charge so little? We want to make professional-quality career development available to everyone. Reading Career Key author Lawrence K. Jones's personal story, our mission, and our donations to charity give a little context.

Why isn’t everything free, like The Career Key test, Career Key Canada test, and Match Up! to College Majors? We need to support our websites and we decided:

not to show ads,
not to mine/sell your personal data (via registration requirement), and
to subsidize and offer counselors & non-profits low cost group discounts for scientifically valid career assessments and ePublications.

Crazy? Maybe. But retiring in the Bahamas was never our goal...

Here are Career Key and Career Key Canada’s websites’ top 4 most popular free downloads - and where you can find them. Please link to them (without framing) and share the links with others!

1. “Foundation Skills - Job Skills all Workers Need for the 21st Century”
Foundation Job Skills at The Career Key website
Foundation Job Skills at The Career Key Canada website
Good for: individuals, discussion groups, workshops, classrooms
PDF, free for non-commercial use. If you want to purchase a license to make copies (and help support us), go to our eBookstore and pay only $5.95 to make 25 copies of “Advice and Actions for Making Smart Career Decisions” - a 25 page collection of our most popular web articles, including this “Foundation Skills” handout.

2. Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality: What does the research say? (Canadian version)Describes Holland's Theory of Career Choice, the supporting research for using it to choose a college major, and 5 strategies for making a good college major match.
Good for: students, parents, counselors and educators
Find the article here:
Choosing a College Major at The Career Key website
Choosing a College Major in Canada at The Career Key Canada website

3. Choosing a Career Cluster, Field, or Pathways? Download our free, Career Key Career Clusters and Career Pathways Map. You can use it to match your Holland personality with Career Clusters and Pathways.
Good for: students, parents, school counselors, and educators
Find the PDF and the "Choose a Career Cluster, Field or Pathway" article at The Career Key website

4. Guide to Using The Career Key to Meet the ASCA (American School Counselors Association) National Model Competencies
Good for: school counselors interested in affordable ways to fulfill student competencies in career development (part of the ASCA National Model).
Find the article at The Career Key website
Find the article at The Career Key Canada website

Next post.... Our top free Holland personality match website articles...

New Career Information Resource - InsideJobs.com

2011-04-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

I recently found a new career information resource called InsideJobs “Career Day Every Day” that I would recommend. After matching your personality to careers using The Career Key, you can supplement the recommended activities in our articles “Learn More About Occupations” and “Learn More About the Jobs that Interest Me” by looking at career information at the InsideJobs website.

What I like about it is that in addition to offering easy to read job descriptions, InsideJobs gathers quality career information in one spot. For example, they use government sources like the Occupational Outlook Handbook and the O*NET, as well as Web resources like Wikipedia. They also add interactive media like informational interviews from YouTube.

While I did not read all the job descriptions, the ones I read were informative and well-balanced. Some career information resources are, in my opinion, too simplistic or gloss over the "real world" aspects of an occupation - but I did not find that true of InsideJobs' listings.

I would be cautious about taking at face value online information about salary and working conditions (including career information Career Key provides). There is no substitute for conducting informational interviews with regional people working in that job. For example, for InsideJobs' description for "Public Defender", typical salary is listed as $113K and the schedule as Monday through Friday. That is a little optimistic (on both counts) for many lawyers, including public defenders on contract with a government agency. But the point is to help you learn about a variety of career options and this website definitely succeeds. And there is also some limitation to how any website can describe work schedules - basically, anyone "salaried" has the potential to work well over 40 hours a week (Monday through weekend) - some jobs (any lawyers) work more than others.

It’s a challenge to make career information fun and substantive at the same time - and I like how InsideJobs does that.

As always, our recommendations are just that - no affiliate links, etc.

Pessimism, Choosing or Changing Careers, and Job Satisfaction

2011-03-10T15:23:00.000-08:00

What expectations do you have in choosing a particular career, changing careers, or in life, for that matter? Alain de Botton's video about pessimism may put things in perspective - and make you more cheerful. De Botton is a writer/public speaker who has been described as a "philosopher of everyday life." In this video, he talks about the over-romanticizing of work (and life) and the pitfalls of viewing everything through an optimistic lens.

Our 6 Principles of the Free Agent Worker complement some of his ideas in that we clearly say, "work is labor for pay." Not very romantic, but sometimes you need to be realistic about what work truly is to achieve greater job satisfaction. Do you agree?

Alain de Botton - On Pessimism from The School of Life on Vimeo.

3 Creative Approaches to Gathering Career Option Information

2011-02-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

With such poor or varying quality career information found online, it’s important to adopt a creative approach online. Here are 3 approaches to getting more useful, reliable & locally relevant information about the career options that interest you.

Listening to a public radio show this morning, I heard about the future of nursing. The pros and cons of associate degrees vs. bachelor’s & higher degrees in nursing was one topic. They had great information that I would definitely pass on to someone considering a nursing career.

How can you find information like this? Many might suggest Google “nursing” or “nursing career” but the career information on the web can be so poor, biased or locally irrelevant that it’s often best to try a different approach.

That’s true, especially in highly regulated careers that put you into close contact with other people & children like nursing, social work, fire fighting, teaching, etc. State and provincial governments are likely to have different requirements so where you intend to work is a big factor in your research.

Start first with our basic tips in “Learn About Occupations” and “Learn About the Jobs That Interest Me.”

Next, try these creative approaches (I used nursing as an example):

1. Find Hot Topics
Find out the “hot topics” in a career field. Are you interested in learning about some of them - which ones and why? Ask yourself, what do my topic interests tell me about what part of this field might fit me best?
(Nursing examples) Healthcare reform, long term care, child nutrition, infection reduction in big hospitals, your state or province’s current issues with changes in government funding.

Find hot topics through informational interviews, subscribing to newsfeeds, social media, and Step #2 below.

2. Make Contact with Policy Making Organizations & Non-Profits
Look up the local and national policy makers & nonprofits related to a career field that interests you. Join up with them on social media and learn their language. What are they talking about? What problems need to be solved? Want to be part of the answer?

To find national organizations related to a career field (it's quicker than using a search engine), find the career's listing in the Occupational Outlook Handbook and click on "Sources of additional information". For local groups, do an Internet search using your state/city and the career field. Like "Washington state" nursing.

3. Go Off the Reservation
Are there career options within a field that complement your other strongest Holland personality types you haven’t considered or know little about?

Don’t Limit Your Career Exploration to the “Nurse” Job Title
Average grades in biology, intimidated by nursing curriculum, don’t like needles, but still interested in nursing & health care? You can still work with nurses or in the health care industry (and with other Investigative personality types) without taking heavier science courses - if you truly don’t think you’re cut out for it.

What about:

getting involved in financial aspects of health care (If you’re also strong in Enterprising or Conventional)?
lobbying local, state, or federal government on behalf of nurses?
Working for a union that represents nurses?
Starting a business that helps improve nurses' and patients' lives?

These are all jobs that can pay well, where you work with the nursing community, but do not have to have strong science schooling.

Just to show how one thing leads to another...
Just using this Nursing radio show as an example, I looked up one of the presenters listed on the radio show website, who works for the Washington Center for Nursing. They have a whole section describing Nursing Education in Washington. This section leads to other valuable information:

“You have various options to develop your career as a nurse. Which path you choose will depend on a combination of factors, including your location (or ability to relocate), which career you are planning (link to Nursing Practice - Roles in Nursing), your financial means, acceptance into a nursing program, and many others.”

That same webpage they even have a free PDF of “questions to ask when investigating nursing schools”.

One Last Career Information Recommendation: look for unbiased, non-commercial sources for career information. Know your source. For example, be a skeptic when a school gives you information about a career (salary, job requirements, job outlook) while marketing itself as a direct route for a popular career area (nursing, construction, web designer...) Make sure you double check claims of strong need for certain jobs in your area. Nonprofits have their biases too.

Missing Piece in College Retention Improvement Efforts

2011-02-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

Significantly improving college retention is only possible when state and national policymakers consider increasing the number of students who choose a college major that fits their personality. Unfortunately, states and the federal government are making this personality-major match more difficult to achieve. Learn more by visiting our new "College Retention, Completion, and Graduation" article at The Career Key website.

UPDATE: our PRWEB college completion press release went out today (March 9, 2011).

Click here to download the new PDF report, "Key Piece in College Completion Missing: Personality Major Match," by Career Key author, Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC.

For a long time, Dr. Jones has been active in the professional career development community, advocating for the use of scientifically valid assessments in career guidance. To download reprints of his articles on this issue published by the National Career Development Association and the American School Counselor Association, please visit our Press Room and click on the "Articles" section.

New College Majors E-Book: "Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors 2011"

2011-02-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

Our new "Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors" e-book launched today is the first to show students and adults in a career change all college majors in the U.S. and Canada matching their Holland personality types. Career Key author Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC and I coauthored the book.

Choose a college major based on your personality and interests.

That's what the research indicates. Major studies over the past ten years show that with a good match you are likely to,

Earn higher grades,
Stick with your choice of major through graduation,
Graduate on time, and
Be more satisfied and successful in your career.

Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors is the first and only book to take advantage of this research. It helps students and adults returning to school. It,

Shows you college majors (and occupations) that fit your personality;
Lists and describes all 1,400+ college majors and programs of study found in colleges and community colleges in the U.S. and Canada (with related jobs);
Organizes them by Holland personality type, and
Links you to the colleges that offer them.

Visit The Career Key and The Career Key Canada websites, and today's press release for more information.

SPECIAL LAUNCH PROMOTION: the first 20 people to "Like" The Career Key on Facebook* (or already Like us) and purchase (or have purchased in the past) The Career Key test, will receive the Match Up! e-book free of charge (a $14.95 value when purchased by itself). Just send me an email with your test order # (U__) and I'll email you the book! My email is julietjones at careerkey.org.
*If you don't have a Facebook account (and don't want one), sign up instead as a Feedblitz email subscriber at the top of this blog.

We think once you've seen Match Up, you'll want to recommend and tell others about it. In addition to our reliance on real science and best-practices, remember that we are ad-free and have a 10% sales donation policy - so you can feel good about referring others to us.

Career Key Blog Featured on Career Digital List of Career Blogs

2011-01-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Career Digital for inviting The Career Key Blog to join their rank of featured career blogs! Career Digital pulls together career and job search related news from the top career blogs. To try it out, you'll see in the righthand column of our blog a Career Digital button. Click on it or on any of the topics listed and you can explore what they offer.

New College Major-Personality List Promises Better Grades & College Retention

2011-01-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Career Key is the first to classify all current college majors in the U.S. and Canada according to Holland's six personality types. Because research (PDF) shows that choosing a college major matching your personality predicts grades earned, persistence, and graduation rate, creation of this list of college majors is an important advance for students and college retention in general.

To learn more, please read the latest Press Release at PRWeb.

Top 2010 Green Jobs and Green Career Exploration Resources

2010-12-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

For people exploring green job and green career options, here are my Best Green Jobs and Green Career Exploration Internet Resources for 2010:

15 ways to rev up for a job that's good for the environment, fills your wallet, and makes a difference, from the American Solar Energy Society. This advice is not limited to careers in the solar energy industry. Honestly, I think this is one of the most helpful green job articles I've seen.
Match Your Personality to Green Jobs, at The Career Key website (yes, I'm biased, but you will not find Green Careers accurately organized by Holland personality anywhere else.)
Careers in Wind Energy, an excellent, new article at the USDOL's Occupational Outlook Handbook website. Thanks to federal funding, more articles like this on other green careers are coming.
"Green Economy" section of the O*NET's OnLine resource center. Link directly by occupation to some of this information from "Match Your Personality to Green Jobs" at the Career Key website.
CareerOneStop's Explore Green Careers. What I like about it is that you can explore careers in 12 green economy sectors, where for each occupation they will show you the level of education required and link you to local college and training programs.
Green Careers Resource Guide. This free PDF eBook by Jim Cassio is a great resource with one exception, the "career assessments" section recommends free resources with an invalid Holland measure*. Otherwise, it's very helpful.
Job-Hunt.org's Green Industry Job Search Guide. This series of articles covers a variety of helpful topics, including some I think are very needed but you don't find much about elsewhere like "Non-Technical Green Careers"and "Any Job can be a Green Job".
Khake.com's Environmental Career Guide. Khake.com is one of my longtime favorite websites with so much great information - this environmental section is no exception.
About.com's Job Searching Green Jobs & Careers resources list. The "Job Searching" section of About.com is very comprehensive and helpful if your focus is on finding a green job right now.

*Career assessments on nearly all government websites like the O*NET and CareerOneStop are not scientifically valid (learn more ...), so I recommend taking a valid Holland measure (Career Key offers one, but is not the only one - ask a counselor or career development professional for recommendations), selecting careers and occupations at our website that match your personality, and then visit these other websites for career information.

If you can recommend other online resources that offer high quality green career exploration information (as opposed to job boards (more about job openings than career information), marketing gimmicks, or link farms), please let me know. I'd love to hear about it!

Career Guidance Holiday Gift Idea #2: Scholarship America

2010-12-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Making college degrees accessible to everyone is an important strategy to improve access to high quality career options. So Gift Idea # 2 is Scholarship America, "the largest non-profit, private sector scholarship and educational support organization." Their "Dollars for Scholars" program has over 1,200 chapters run by local volunteers to distribute millions of dollars in scholarships.

Among its special initiatives is the "Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund" to provide education assistance for postsecondary study to financially needy dependents of those killed or permanently disabled as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

And last but not least, Scholarship America has had a 4 star rating from Charity Navigator for 9 consecutive years.

Click the blog label "Holiday Cheer" below to see my other career-focused holiday gift ideas.

I know I personally tend to think more during the holidays about charities related to basic necessities - like food and shelter. But given the current political climate in Washington D.C., I've been trying to buck the trend of thinking short term - and give with an eye to more long-term success.

Speaking of other giving, thanks to Career Key's visitors and customers, we've been able to donate 10% of our sales this year to many charities like:

UNICEF,
Doctors Without Borders,
The Nature Conservancy,
Charity Navigator, and
The Center for Dependable Strengths.

I hope you're having a great holiday season so far. . .

Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality

2010-12-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

Deciding on a college major, training program, or career cluster/career pathway? Or know someone who is? Please check out and share with others our new free PDF e-book called "Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality: what does the research say?" by Career Key author Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC. For more visual overview of the e-book, I just posted the above on YouTube and this slideshow on Slideshare:

Choose a College Major That Fits Your Personality

View more presentations from Juliet Jones, GCDF, J.D..

To read and share the press release that just went out, visit this college majors news from PRWeb.

The e-book briefly explains the research investigating the match between personality and college majors. Then it gives students, parents, and adults changing careers practical advice for taking advantage of the research.

Counselors and educators will also be interested in the research findings - to enhance their programs helping people achieve success in college.

Whew! This has been a lot of work but worth it . . . Tell me what you think about this new e-book report - we're looking forward to feedback.

Your Career Development & Hope – 7 Ways To Improve Your Career Resilience

2010-11-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

The positive emotions of hope and optimism can help your career development, whether you are choosing a new career or trying to make peace with your current occupation. Research in positive psychology shows hope and optimism can help you be more “resilient” in the workplace. That means you’re better at overcoming adversity, adapting to and thriving in our rollercoaster economy.

Being resilient in the face of change is crucial considering the amount of career changes we undergo. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. worker will hold more than 10 jobs in their lifetime (and that was in 2006! Imagine what they’re forecasting now). Job change is stressful, even if you consider it a positive change, like being promoted, taking a “time-out” to have a child, or taking a new job you eagerly want.

How does hope and resilience work together? Resiliency requires people be ready and able to respond to opportunity. And the more hopeful we are, the more likely we are to notice and act on opportunities.

So what can you do to strengthen your resilience, so that you notice and are ready to act on opportunity? Here are seven ways, based on research:

Assess your optimism and improve it. You can take an optimism test for free at Dr. Martin Seligman’s Authentic Happiness website at the University of Pennsylvania. Then follow his ABCDE method of improving optimism. Before you say all this is hocus pocus, keep in mind that decades of research shows cognitive psychology (simplistically, how you think determines outcomes) self-help approaches like this do work.
Upgrade your support system at work. Do you need to socialize with more positive, supportive coworkers? Do you spend time with doers or complainers? Is your supervisor a blamer or problem-solver? If you can’t change supervisors, can you counteract the negativity with a new, motivating mentor elsewhere (or a new job with a better boss)?
Upgrade your support system outside of work. (ask similar questions to those above about friends and family).
Make sure you're working in an ethical and trustworthy culture. Does your employer use an inclusive decision-making process? Do they have a bottom line beyond financial outcomes? (like certain standards of ethics) If not, change to a place that does is likely needed.
Ask: Does your employer invest in you? Is its organization team oriented? Is there any training available to you AND that you’re able to make time to take advantage of? And for that matter, are you investing in yourself? Are you learning new skills? What steps have you taken recently to use and grow your motivated skills both off and on the clock?
If you are self-employed or want to run a small business, will the work environment you create for yourself and others strengthen resiliency? (see tips above)
Follow the recommended strategies in our “Free Agent Outlook on Work” article.

You may also be interested in our articles on Job Satisfaction and Career Change.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have safe travels to be with friends and family.

References:

Froman, L. (2010). Positive Psychology in the Workplace. Journal of Adult Development, 60, 62-63, 59-69.

Youssef, C.M., & Luthans, F. (2007). Positive organizational behavior in the workplace: The impact of hope, optimism, and resilience. Journal of Management, 33, 774-800.

Career Guidance Holiday Gift Idea #1: Donorschoose.org

2010-11-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

This holiday season, consider helping young people explore careers and find rewarding career options through charitable donations. What is that tired but true proverb... "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for a lifetime." Well, all of us must agree that financially sustaining work that one enjoys is a gift worth giving.

Over the next month or so, I'm going to trickle out a few career guidance related gift ideas.

Idea #1:
Donorschoose.org
"An online charity connecting you with classrooms in need"

On the site, do a search for "career exploration" and you'll come up with lots of career guidance projects needing funding in schools. I like how specific the funding requests are - so you know what you're paying for, and the fact they are vetted for accuracy.

Thank you to the CareerTech Testing Center Blog for posting about this website!

Choose a college major that fits your personality - not someone else's expectations

2010-10-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

Don't feel pressured to choose a college major or educational option that you're not passionate about - just because it's a "top" major or it's your parents' choice for you. But don't shut out other recommendations either, just because your parents suggest it. Do your own research and make your own major choice - you're the person who has to live with it (and God forbid, enjoy it!). Start by putting together your own post-graduation plan (see High Quality Decisions).

It’s easy to get drawn in by media coverage and surveys about the “top college majors”, the ones it seems you’re supposed to choose if you want a job after graduation. For example, according to a recent National Association of Colleges and Employers survey, the top 5 academic majors that had the highest percentage of job offers at graduation in 2010 are:

Accounting (46.9% got job offers)
Business (45.4%)
Computer Science (44.1%)
Engineering (41.0%)
Social Sciences (40.5%)

Surprise: When you dig further into the numbers, you see that there are other strong fields: visual and performing arts majors (40.5% got job offers).

This list is great for Enterprising and Investigative personality types - but still limiting, even for them - and extremely limiting for everyone else. I have nothing against Accountants (please ignore our Facebook Page link to Monty Python's Vocational Guidance Counselor) or Business (as I am a businesswoman now). It's just that there are so many other options to consider alongside them.

So looking at “top” or “best” majors can be a very narrow way to look at the job market post graduation. The most important information is whether a major fits you - your interests and personality. The key is to think outside the box when it comes to choosing a major, and make sure you've truly explored the many options that match your Holland personality type. Then look at job outlook - there are promising jobs for all 6 personality types.

And by exploring college majors, I'm referring to the activities in:

Learn about Occupations that are associated with different majors
Learn More About the Jobs that Interest Me
Learn more about the college majors that interest me.
and don't forget,
Self-Employment...

Please check out the many other "career exploration" articles on the Career Key website to explore.

John L. Holland's Papers Now Available at the University of Missouri

2010-10-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

If you're a graduate student or scholar doing research on John L. Holland, the author of Holland's Theory of Career Choice on which The Career Key test is based, his papers are now archived in the Western Historical Manuscript Collection (WHMC) of the Ellis Library at the University of Missouri (UM). Read more about his papers and Dr. Holland's relationship to the University at the UM College of Education website.

For a preliminary listing of the collection's contents, please visit the John L. Holland Papers page at the WHMC website.

8 Strategies for Parents to Help Their Children's Career Development

2010-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

We just released a new update to our popular eBook, How Parents Can Help Their Children's Career Development, available in our eBookstore for $4.95 a copy, $6.95 for a license to make 25 copies for your group.

A note from Career Key author Dr. Lawrence K. Jones about this eBook:

As a parent, I understand some of the demands you face and the dream . . . that your child have the brightest future possible. My wife and I raised two children who have turned out just as we had hoped.

From this experience and work as a counseling psychologist in the fields of career and human development -- I have distilled eight strategies that will have a significant impact on your child’s career satisfaction and success. These eight recommendations are clear, concise, and practical. Many parent educators, youth leaders, and counselors request permission to make copies. They require self-discipline and work, but following them will repay you many times over.

This eBook now includes a 2-page handout with the 17 Foundation Skills needed for all workers in the high-performance workplace of the 21st century.

Make sure you go to the right hand side of The Career Key home page to click on the parent resource page that matches you:

Parents - Middle School

Parents - High School

Parents - Community College

Parents - College

As always, we appreciate your feedback. Don't hesitate to email me or make a comment on the blog.

Refocus Your Career Development: The Power of Connecting In Person

2010-10-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Are you reading the same career networking and “personal branding” advice over and over again - it’s all about your Internet presence and your appearance to others. Blog! Tweet! Update your Facebook/LinkedIn/(fill in the blank here) status. Welcome to 21st century narcissism. That all being said, I appreciate Facebook for keeping up with friends and enjoy writing this blog. But it’s only part, maybe a smaller part than you think, of your career development.

What’s truly important are our connections we make with people, particularly in person. That's true for career networking - meeting people who you can help and who can help you, be successful in a career path.

Think back to the people in your life who have given you the most joy, the most fun, and sparked the most rewarding work. How did you meet them? How did you connect with them? Chances are, even if you met through the Internet, your relationship didn’t really gel until you talked by phone or met in person.

Recently, I got out of the office to meet my former Career Development Facilitator (CDF) instructor at a local lakeside walk. After spending more time than I had anticipated with her, I got back to my office, energized. New ideas were flowing. Talking with someone outside of my employer but in my same field was invaluable - I needed to escape some tunnel vision. Plus, she’s a really great person - that positive feeling stayed with me for days.

I honestly never feel like that when I connect with people online - by email or via networking services like LinkedIn. I’m pleased to establish online relationships, sometimes excited, but I just don’t get the same warm feeling unless I talk by phone or meet someone in person. Maybe I’m just unusual, but I doubt it.

Here are some ways to refocus on “in person” connections (I’m doing them too):

Who on your contacts list haven’t you talked or met with in awhile that you miss?
Are there some people you only call when you need something? Try calling just to say “hello” - maybe you can offer to help them with something. If you sense their hesitation when you call, you know you’ve outworn the welcome mat and you need to redeem yourself.
Is your list of contacts a mile wide and an inch deep? Maybe you need to spend more time on more rewarding connections - people you really like or want to get to know.
Are you having lunch/coffee with the same people over and over again? Is there much new to talk about or learn? Maybe it’s time to meet new people.
Are you having trouble picking up the phone? Making the time for an in person meeting? It's easy to sit in front of a computer - sometimes hard to write an email that expresses what really want to say. But it's definitely more of a challenge, especially for the less outgoing, to talk to people. Consider it practice for improving your communication skills - one of the 17 Foundation Skills.

Maybe you need to spend a little less time on social media (like I have), and more time setting up coffee “dates” LOL, and OMG picking up the telephone!

P.S. If you need convincing (or a reminder) about the power of that in person connection... I recently got hooked on the BBC’s The Choir, a series about a choirmaster who starts a community choir in South Oxhey, a place north of London that’s seen better times. It’s moving and inspirational. It makes you think about the power of community - and the power of personal connections between people. If you can get it on Netflix or see it on cable OnDemand, I highly recommend it.

United Kingdom Career Information at The Career Key

2010-10-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to input from our new customer British Airways, we've created a special career information page for all United Kingdom visitors to The Career Key website. We've put together a list of recommended links* to United Kingdom specific career and occupational information. This includes UK specific:

job profiles and duties,
education requirements,
salary; and
job outlook.

We also have portals to career information sites in Wales and Scotland.
So once you've matched your personality with careers using The Career Key test, you can now look up UK specific information about the occupations that interest you. Click on "United Kingdom" at the bottom of The Career Key home page. You already have the ability to see matching Canadian careers and occupational information, in addition to the U.S. information available during The Career Key test.

This has been a long time coming - it's a relatively recent development that the UK government has made occupational information available online.

*The Career Key does not accept advertising or paid links. We only recommend and link to sites we think provide the greatest benefit and most objective information to our visitors.

Career Clusters Interest Survey Validity Questioned in Recent Study

2010-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Career Clusters Interest Survey (CCIS) is a scientifically invalid measure for measuring your students' or clients' interests for choosing a Career Cluster or Career Pathway, according to Dominic R. Prime and Terence Tracey's article "Psychometric Properties of the Career Clusters Interest Survey" in the May 2010 Journal of Career Assessment (JCA). It's available through your public or local university library.

The first study ever done of the CCIS, offered by the States' Career Clusters Initiative, shows that the CCIS has serious flaws. For example, it does not measure 3 of the 6 Holland personality types, specifically the Conventional, Realistic, and Investigative personality types.

According to the JCA article, "[u]sing the CCIS to guide students could result in a very restricted examination of occupations."

If you'd like to use an affordable, scientifically valid measure of Holland's 6 personality types to match students' interests with career clusters and career pathways, please visit our "Choosing a Career Cluster, Field or Pathway" article at The Career Key website. You can download a map that shows how the clusters and pathways are related to interests, the Holland personality types, and occupations.

The Journal of Career Assessment article mentions other scientifically valid measures as alternatives to the Career Clusters Interest Survey if you want to explore more.

Which Engineering Career or College Major Matches Your Personality?

2010-09-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

If you are considering an engineering career, college major, or training program, Holland's Theory of Career Choice can help you narrow down your choices and specialty. It can help you sort out what kind of engineer or engineering technician you'd like to be.

According to a recent, excellent Wall Street Journal article, "A Career in Engineering",

"Even though you'll have to decide on a specialization while in college, most recruiters say engineers fall into their specific niche by identifying what they're naturally good at, or what they most enjoy."

Holland's Theory gives you a scientific way to do just that - identify your interests. Through 6 personality types, you can measure your interests and see occupations and majors that match. Research shows a good match between your personality type and your career choice lead to greater job satisfaction and success. If you're choosing a college major or training program, a good interest-major match will likely result in higher grades.

So it's important to choose a engineering career compatible with your Holland personality type.

Not all engineering careers fall under one personality type. In fact, they fall under two: Realistic and Investigative. More "hands-on", practical and mechanical kinds of engineering careers are associated with the Realistic Personality type. And the more scientific and precise engineering disciplines are associated with the Investigative Personality type.

In engineering, matching occupations can be basically broken down into groups like this:

Realistic Personality Type
"Engineering" Group* (see examples below)

Mechanical Engineering
Materials Engineer
Engineering technologies (technicians, technologists...)
Surveyor

Investigative Personality Type
"Computer Science and Technology" Group

Computer Software Engineer

"Engineering" Group

Biomedical Engineer
Civil Engineer
Computer Hardware Engineer
Petroleum Engineer

You can see all the matching careers for the Realistic and Investigative personality types by visiting our article "Match Your Personality with Careers."

See more "Green Jobs", including engineering-related careers, at a similar article, "Match Your Personality with Green Jobs."

*The Career Key method of grouping matching careers by "Work Groups" within each personality type allows you to explore careers associated with similar worker traits, skills, abilities, temperament, and interests.

Being married to an engineer with a love of Dilbert, I can say that puzzle-solving skills, an interest in science and math, and a sense of humor are also ingredients for success.

Using Holland's Theory and Career Interests to Help Your Clients

2010-09-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

I just got back into town from giving a presentation on Holland's Theory of Career Choice. I focused on how vocational rehabilitation counselors can use career interests to help their clients make good career decisions.

After a passport fiasco (of my own making), I finally made it to the beautiful shores of Lake Waskesiu in central/north Saskatchewan where my gracious host, Jac Quinlan (at left) from the Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board was nice enough to let me speak a day late. The reward was a welcoming crowd and beautiful scenery.

The bottom line questions most counselors or career development professionals helping people make career changes and choices ask are:

How can you make my job easier?
What are the best, most effective, affordable tools for helping my clients?

Without a doubt, Holland's Theory of Career Choice is a necessary tool in the toolbox. And The Career Key and Career Key Canada websites give professionals the scientifically valid, affordable resources to put it into practice with their clients.

Holland's Theory is intuitive and easy to explain to people. It's visually attractive too:

See the Holland Hexagon, and
The Career Key's method of organizing matching careers and college majors by each of the 6 personality types and easy to explore "work groups."

I really feel passionate about the usefulness of our work based on Holland Theory. It's not the only proven theory out there but it certainly is one of the most easily understood and put into practice; an excellent starting place for clients. I guess that means I'm "drinking the [Career Key] Kool-Aid." But you already knew that.

Now that the summer is over and my travel is done, I'm ready to start blogging again.

Career Choices in an Uncertain Economy: Placing Your Bets

2010-08-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

Job Outlook for...
High Skilled Careers? Good.
Low-Skilled Careers? Good.
Middle-Skilled Careers? Not so good.

If you look at job boards and reports from economists and the U.S. Labor Department (read this interesting Wall Street Journal article last week about employers who can't fill jobs), it looks like you find the best job outlook in careers at either end of the skills spectrum: highly specialized, high-skilled jobs or low-skilled jobs.

If you’re concerned about ending up in the “middle-skilled” group now suffering the worst unemployment (a situation likely to continue into the near future), several articles at our website can help you make your next career decision.

Knowing Yourself

Activities to help you find out what Job Satisfaction means to you;
Activities to Identify Your Skills, including your motivated skills;
Foundation Job Skills: Job Skills all Workers Need; and
The Free Agent Outlook on Work

Include what you learn from these activities, along with your Career Key test results, to help narrow down your options as part of the 4 step ACIP decision making process.

Considering Further Education & Training
If you’re weighing your options for a college major, going back to school or taking on an expensive post-secondary training program, start by planning out what you want to gain from it.

Some may object this approach as dreaded “careerism” or too much focus too soon, but no one says this path can’t be fun and exploratory. Even a narrowly tracked engineering degree will allow for some broader classes like literature and writing, which you should take anyway to learn needed Foundation Skills.

No one says you have to have your one future job title picked out when you enroll, but you need to know why you’re studying what you’re studying.

See our recommendations on how to Choose a College Major or Training Program, including some food for thought on choosing a program in the Liberal Arts, Humanities & General Studies.

While you don’t have to choose between becoming a research microbiologist or a Quickie Mart attendant via your next career move, the jobs data clearly shows that a lack of specialization and focus - regardless of skill level - will lead to a lack of opportunity now and in the foreseeable future. That's a sure bet.

Exploring Other Career Development Theories in addition to Holland's Theory of Career Choice

2010-07-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Understanding and using John Holland's Theory of Career Choice is a highly recommended part of one's career planning. It is the most popular and researched career theory used by professional career counselors - and The Career Key test is a scientifically valid measure of Holland's 6 personality types to help you match your personality with occupations and educational programs.

But there is more than one road to your destination. You should explore other theories and approaches in addition to Holland's Theory. In fact, you would be making a mistake to rely on just one theory or one scientifically valid assessment in your career planning. Theories and resources recommended below involve prominent, well-respected academics in the field of career guidance and counseling.

For professional help in applying Holland's Theory or any of these career approaches, seek out a professional career counselor or Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) established by the National Career Development Association and certified by the Center for Credentialing and Education.

I personally recommend these additional ways of looking at careers and related scientifically valid assessments (if any) or informal self-exploration activities (in alphabetical order):

Developmental Theory using Dr. Donald Super's Life-Career Rainbow worksheet (PDF, from the University of Oregon Career Information Service)
Integrated Life Planning by Dr. Sunny Hansen; her holistic approach is described at her website and she also wrote a book called, Integrative Life Planning: Critical Tasks for Career Development and Changing Life Patterns
Learning Theory and Planned Happenstance by Dr. John Krumboltz, ask a GCDF or professional career counselor for his Career Beliefs Inventory self-assessment, but you can find a detailed description on page 13 of this UK career guidance newsletter PDF.
Transitions Through Life, by Dr. Nancy K. Schlossberg. Her website and transition tips are relevant to other transitions in addition to career transitions.

You can then return to The Career Key's "High Quality Decisions" article to put this information together with your Career Key test results in a proven process to making a high-quality career or education decision.

As we pointed out in our article "Learn More About Yourself", you need to know as much as you can about your "unique qualities" to choose a career path that will fit you best. Doing the activities on The Career Key website and looking into the resources above will help do just that - and help you make a career decision you won't regret.

Choose a Career Using Your Motivated Skills

2010-06-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

Bernard and Jean Haldane pioneered a powerful new approach to career planning (see the remembrance blog post last week). We will remember their important contribution.

Their basic method was to help people identify the skills that they enjoy using -- a “motivated skills” analysis. Then, with this knowledge, choose a career that uses these skills.

Many of their ideas were popularized in Richard Bolles' What Color is Your Parachute. My experience in using it was very positive.

I first came across it in Bernard’s book How to Make a Habit of Success (1981). A review of this book on Amazon.com describes its promise and limitations,

"This book was a Godsend for me in my search for my new career. It showed me how to identify the things in my past that were the building blocks of a long, successful and enjoyable career. It works best for methodical people who follow its instructions in detail. The results are well worth the effort. I have given copies to all of my children and many of my friends."

You can learn how to do this analysis in our article, Identify Your Skills (see the second page). Being “methodical” is important. Study this article carefully.

Many find it hard to recognize their personal achievements, to analyze and articulate the skills involved, and to relate the results to their careers.

Ideally, you want to work with an analytical person trained in this process or to attend one of the workshops offered by the Center for Dependable Strengths. [Note: “Motivated Skills” now called "Dependable Strengths" -- in deference to cultures that might find the former confusing or objectionable.]

For more resources, Amazon.com has a bibliography of Bernard and Jean Haldane’s work.

Remembering Career Development Pioneer Jean Haldane, 1926 - 2010

2010-06-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

We would like to take a moment to remember the career development pioneer Jean Haldane, who passed away on May 15. Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, The Career Key's author, was acquainted with both Jean and her late husband Dr. Bernard Haldane, having used their work in his undergraduate teaching and continuing to recommend it today.

I took the liberty of copying the Puget Sound Career Development Association announcement below, with their links to her Seattle Times obituary and the Center for Dependable Strengths.

If you are not familiar with the Haldanes' work or Dependable Strengths, I strongly encourage you to visit the Center's website, take part in Dependable Strengths workshops, and read related books. One in particular I can recommend by Dr. Haldane: Career Satisfaction and Success: A Guide to Job and Personal Freedom. Dr. Jerald R. Forster recently published an excellent book adapting some of the Haldanes' work called Articulating Strengths Together (AST): An Interactive Process to Enhance Positivity.

Jean Haldane
1926 to 2010

Jean Haldane, the beloved wife of Bernard Haldane, died on May 15 — four years after suffering a stroke. Jean had been a partner with Bernard in all his work from the time they married in 1965. Jean was much loved and respected by all who knew her. Below is a link to the Seattle Times obituary where you also have an opportunity to write about your memories of Jean.

A memorial service honoring Jean's life will be held Saturday, June 19, 11 a.m. at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church located at 4805 N.E. 45th St., Seattle, WA 98105. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church or to the Center for Dependable Strengths, c/o Highline Community College, P.O. Box 98000, MS 99-85, Des Moines, WA 98198-9800.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=jean-haldane&pid=143327361
Seattle Times obituary. At the top of Jean’s photo, click on “Visit Guest Book" to share your remembrances.

http://www.dependablestrengths.org/news/sp06/resources/forster.htm
A description by Jerald Forster regarding a major training session that Jean would have had a key role at, but could not attend because she suffered a stroke in 2006.

http://www.dependablestrengths.org/originator.htm
A summary of Bernard and Jean Haldane’s work together.

http://www.lib.washington.edu/speciaLcoll/findaids/docs/papersrecords/HaldaneBernard5428.xml
A listing of the entire collection of the work of Bernard and Jean at the University of Washington.

Summertime at The Career Key

2010-06-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Finally, the sun has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest and it stays light until 10 p.m. (See Mt. Adams, 12,000 ft at left - seen across the apple orchards of Hood River, Oregon) And in accordance with Murphy's Law, I've been swamped with major Career Key projects - trumping my best blogging & tweeting intentions.

As you might guess, The Career Key websites are heavily used by secondary schools, colleges and universities. So the summer is really the best time for us to do major updates to the content on our websites including our eBooks and website articles.

Even so - we did get some major new content out in the last 6 months (in addition to updating the careers displayed in The Career Key test itself):

Match Your Personality to Green Jobs

New eBooks:

The Education Key: Choosing the Right College Major, Training or Instructional Program

5 Steps to Choosing the Right Career Cluster, Field or Pathway

I'm also working with a large community college to organize all their majors and programs according to Holland personality type and Career Key work group. If you're with an institution that would be interested in matching students' Holland personality type to your school's programs, please contact me at julietjones at careerkey.org.

So I'll be posting a little less than usual while we focus on these summer projects and updating our website. But we're still here....

Can’t Decide on a Career or Education Program? Get Career Planning Momentum in 20 Minutes

2010-05-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Try sitting down with your favorite beverage and taking 20 minutes to ask yourself, “What are my career planning goals and how do I achieve them?” If you are spending at least 20 minutes to surf your smart phone's app store, then you have time to spend on this activity.

A new job? A new career path? Direction in school? If you have trouble defining what your career planning goals are, write or type out what is causing you to think about career planning:

“I don’t like my job.What I don't like about it: _________”
“I’m not sure what to do after high school/college/grad school...”
“I’m not making enough money in my current work. I need a better paying job.”
“My last child is going to school next year and I need to reenter the workforce.”
“I just got diagnosed with a chronic illness and I can’t do my old job anymore.”
“I’m unemployed and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to find another job.”

If you’re making a lot of negative statements, try rewording them into positive, more forward looking statements. Like (in the same order as above),

I want to find a job where I enjoy going to work.
I want to study in an education program that leads to a successful career choice, one where I’ll enjoy the work and make enough money to pay off my student loans.
I want a job (or career path) where I can make enough money to comfortably support my family.
I want to start (or restart) a satisfying career path that will allow me to spend time with my family but satisfy my need for meaningful work and income to help pay our family’s bills.
I want to start a new career using my unique talents, skills, and abilities.
I want to find a new job that pay my bills right now and that will support me while I prepare for a new career in a growing career field.

Do a real “brain dump.” Don’t try to be short or fixate on finding the exact right words; just write out your thoughts and concerns about your situation.

To get some momentum, make a few short-term self-assessment goals (ones you can do today or tomorrow) related to the statements you just made. For example:

Read the article “Identify Your Skills” and make a list of skills, especially your “motivated” skills - ones you enjoy using and are good at.
Read about Holland’s Theory of Career Choice and think about how it applies to your current work or school studies. What future choices will you be making and how can you apply Holland’s Theory to them?
Do one other activity from “Learn More About Yourself.”

Hopefully after doing these activities you'll feel you've gathered information that will help you reach your career planning goals - and gained some momentum for decision-making. Don't be surprised if you spend longer than 20 minutes working on this - in fact, I was hoping to trick you into investing more time than you thought. The point is that it doesn't take much time to make real progress.

My next post will be about gathering information about your career options. What other information do I need to make good decisions?

Thank You to My Mom (and Moms everywhere) for Their Career Choices

2010-05-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

This Mother’s Day I’d like to focus on my Mom’s career choices and to thank her for all the work it took to make them.

I love this photo of my mom, Jeanine Wehr Jones, who (in my admittedly biased view) looks like a movie star with her smile, blonde hair and big sunglasses. In 1966 when this photo was taken, she taught English in Turkey as part of a Peace-Corps type of program. She was taking her students on a hike, sharing with them her interest in nature - just as she later shared it with my brother and me.

During teachers’ orientation, she met a fellow new college grad and my father, Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, The Career Key’s author. A couple of weeks later, he proposed to her on the boat from New York City to Turkey. More about his story at The Career Key website.

After getting married and returning to the United States, Mom worked as an elementary school teacher in Philadelphia where my father was in graduate school. Later, she would follow him to Missouri and finally Raleigh, North Carolina where she stayed at home to raise my brother and me for a few years.

When I was in middle school, my mom went back to school to get a master’s degree in library science, commuting a long distance in the pre-Internet days before online degrees and distance learning. At the same time, she helped care for her mother and raise her own family.

From graduation with honors until her retirement, she worked in the media center for an “alternative” high school. My mother’s Brooklyn, NY style humor was a hit with disadvantaged kids who didn’t know what to make of it. She told one streetwise kid to press his “whisper button” on his shoulder. He looked at his shoulder and then at her, puzzled. Then he laughed and was quieter. Her love of information and research led her to library science, but in the end she spent more time disciplining teenagers than she would have liked. She tries to make light of that job’s challenges, but it was stressful.

Later, Mom supported my father’s efforts back in 1997 to create The Career Key website; she was and still is an integral part of making Career Key successful. Her feedback, suggestions, and research skills continue to help it grow.

My mom’s first step in a series of career paths began in the 1960s but her story is just as relevant to today’s mothers. Caregiving aging parents and raising children, while working to earn a living to support the family is very much a current story. Many mothers (and more fathers) juggle all these balls and some even more.

Thank you, Mom for setting a good example for how a mother can successfully handle the career journey while helping to improve the lives of her children. For helping young people through teaching and education, while doing all the hard and often tedious work it takes to keep a household functional. Hopefully I can do as well for my son and family. Happy mother’s day!

Poking a Hole in Blogger Seth Grodin’s Higher Ed Melt Down Idea

2010-04-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

In the Pacific Northwest this morning, I woke up to a storm of Tweets about Seth Grodin’s catastrophic blog post on higher education’s future. While I like some of Seth’s work and agree with many of his points in this post, I disagree with his view that:

“4. The correlation between a typical college degree and success is suspect..The solutions are obvious....[t]hings like gap years, research internships and entrepreneurial or social ventures...”

Gap years, internships & entrepreneurial ventures are great options or alternatives for some students (particularly single people with access to parents’ money), but to say that the link between traditional education and success is suspect is just plain wrong. I’d like to know what “data [he’s] seeing” that supports his view; I know there are statistics showing the opposite.

Some might say I’m biased because I work for a company that provides career guidance resources to students and schools. But the science and data don’t lie. Not everyone is entrepreneurial and social - as over 30 years of research with Holland’s Theory of Career Choice has shown. And many satisfying, well-paying jobs require a college degree, certificate or formal training. Is there anything wrong with being an engineer instead of a self-made entrepreneur or blogger? (I don’t think so).

The real problem is that many people go to college and choose a college major with little to no career planning. What do you want to get out of your education? What areas of study interest you the most? If you don’t know or are not ready to decide, wait to go to school until you do. The obvious solution to this problem is to make a series of good career decisions throughout your life.

Hasty, directionless education choices are not all the fault of school counselors or parents. Individuals need to take control of their own destiny, even though it’s more difficult for young people more easily swayed by peers, parents, and marketing. We need to create a more open, honest discussion of all career options people have - and to help people do the work (and yes, have the fun) necessary to explore them. Sometimes that means college, a gap year, job shadowing, or a Road Trip.

If more students made high-quality, creative career and education decisions, with the help and support of parents, counselors, and even peers, more people would enjoy success from a college education.

Let’s focus on supporting creative, well-researched career decisions for everyone instead of overemphasizing entrepreneurial, non-traditional career paths. Choosing to be an entrepreneur is no better or worse than someone choosing to be an engineer - the important thing is to choose a series of career paths throughout your life that fit your interests and your passions.

Want to graduate on time? Choose a college major or training program that matches your Holland personality.

2010-04-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Scientific studies show that if a student chooses a college major or program that matches their Holland interests, they are:

Less likely to switch college majors (Allen & Robbins, 2008), and
More likely to graduate on time (Allen & Robbins, 2010).

In a study involving over 3,000 students at 15 four-year colleges and 13 two-year institutions, the authors found that this interest-major match or “interest-major congruence” has a direct effect on students’ timely graduation for both 4-year and 2-year institutions. The study's findings appeared in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Counseling Psychology (see full citations below).

To learn more about how to measure your 6 Holland personality types using the scientifically valid Career Key test and match the test results to careers and all 1,300+ college majors in the U.S. and Canada using our new, affordable e-Book, The Education Key, please read our article “Choose a College Major or Training Program.” In the article we describe the 4 step process to making a good educational decision.

Copies of these articles are available online and from your school or local library:

Allen, J. , & Robbins, S. (2010). Effects of Interest-Major Congruence, Motivation, and Academic Performance on Timely Degree Attainment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 57, No. 1, 23-35.

Allen, J., & Robbins, S. (2008) Prediction of college major persistence based on vocational interests and first-year academic performance. Research in Higher Education, 62-79.

Career Guidance from Dr. Mehmet Oz's Father

2010-04-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Are we sometimes too soft on ourselves or our children when it comes to our career decision status and career development? What do you think about the story I quote from below about Dr. Mehmet Oz, the popular and talented doctor you see on Oprah who now has his own TV show. Here it is from page 3 of Frank Bruni's Sunday NYT Magazine article, "Dr. Does-It-All":

"Reared in Wilmington, Del., he [Mehmet Oz] decided to become a doctor at age 7, in line in an ice-cream parlor. “I remember it like yesterday,” he said. “There was a kid in front of me who was 10. My dad, just to pass the time, said, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ The kid said, ‘I don’t know, I’m 10.’ My father waited until he was out of earshot and said: ‘I never want you to tell me that if I ask you that question. I never want you tell me you don’t know. It’s O.K. if you change your mind. But I never want you not to have a vision of what you want to be.’

“I told him that day that I wanted to be a doctor,” Oz added. “And I never changed my mind.” (emphasis added).

What's your reaction to that story? Was Dr. Oz's father, a Turkish cardiothoracic surgeon who was born in poverty in the Depression, being too harsh or pushy with his son? Or is it right sometimes to push ourselves and our children into action?

I have mixed feelings, leaning more toward pushing yourself or your child into action. Although age 7 seems a little young to demand a career direction for someone. For me, the key phrase is"it's okay if you change your mind." Time and time again we are told (and we know to be true) that setting goals gets results. (see step 4 "Plan" of our High Quality Decisions article) If you have no career goals, it's safe to say your results will reflect your lack of direction.

What do you think?

Work From Home Jobs and Careers That Match Your Holland Personality Type

2010-04-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my recent Bizymoms.com interview, I decided to take a look at "work from home" jobs and how you can use the best science and practices of career counseling found on the Career Key’s website to help you choose one. After a little explanation, I organized a number of work at home jobs by personality type using Holland’s Theory of Career Choice. My goal is to help you choose a home-based career that is most likely to lead to job satisfaction.

Having often worked in a home office throughout my career, I know the benefits (and challenges) of working at home. Working at home is especially attractive to parents and caregivers, people with disabilities, and anyone else who values flexibility in time and location of work. The challenge is to find a satisfying career path that fits how you want and need to live your life.

As an overall approach, I recommend evaluating your career options using The Career Key website’s 3 step career choice process:
1. Know Yourself.
2. Know Your Options.
3. Make a High-Quality Decision.

For a crash course on work at home jobs, I recommend reading Alison Doyle’s series of “Work from Home Jobs” articles at the Job Search About.com website. She does an excellent job of explaining what’s involved and how to filter out scams.

Using Holland’s Theory of Career Choice to “Know Yourself”
Step 1: In addition to many other self-exploration activities, we recommend taking a scientifically valid interest inventory based on Holland’s Theory like The Career Key test.

As an alternative, you may want to consider taking the special version of The Career Key called The Self-Employment Key, which focuses specifically on occupations where at least 10% of the workers are self-employed. Test-takers also receive scores for two “Big 5” personality dimensions research shows linked to self-employed success. There are also special sections on women entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs. You can also use your Self-Employment Key scores at The Career Key to see more careers that match your personality.

Step 2: After you’ve measured your top two or three Holland personality types and selected occupations that interest you, the next step is to look at whether there are “work at home” options that match your personality.

To do that, it’s important to actually understand what Holland’s Theory means and how your personality relates to careers. So even if you see a job title or business activity that is not listed as one of the 250+ on The Career Key or on The Self-Employment Key, you will know how it may or may not be compatible with your personality.

For example, if you see “Online Tutor” and it is not listed on The Career Key test and website’s list of matching careers, you can look at the job duties and see that teaching is the main component; enjoyment of teaching is a characteristic of people with a “Social personality type.” Therefore, someone scoring high in the Social personality type would likely find this job compatible and satisfying.

To jump start the process, I’ve organized by Holland personality type the unique Career Key “work groups” of careers, along with job title examples found in home-based work. This is not an exhaustive list; consultants who work at home could be based on many occupations not listed below.

The Career Key test and our “Match Your Personality with Careers” article not only list matching occupations but also link each one to accurate, comprehensive career information at the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

A Selection of "Work at Home" job titles (in Red) organized by Career Key Work Groups and Holland Personality Type

REALISTIC
Crafts-Metal, Wood, Plastic, Fabric (Jeweler, Upholsterer)
Food Preparation (Baker, Chef)
Manufacturing & Production (Woodworker, Textile/Apparel/Furnishings Worker)

INVESTIGATIVE
Computer Science & Technology (Computer Programmer, Computer Specialist)

ARTISTIC
Literary Arts (Writer)
Visual Arts (Artist, Graphic Designer)
Communications (Editor, Technical Writer)

SOCIAL
Nursing, Therapy & Health Promotion (Registered Nurse, Dietitian or Nutritionist)
Education & Library Services (Teacher, various types)

ENTERPRISING:
Sales & Purchasing (Sales Agent)
Business Administration (Chief Executive Officer - think “self-employed” or business owner)
Promotion (Copy Writer, Public Relations Specialist)

CONVENTIONAL:
Mathematical Detail (Bill & Account Collector)
Oral Communications (Customer Service Representative, Receptionist, Telephone Operator)
Materials & Records Processing (Medical Transcriptionist, Word Processor)

Don’t try to be someone you’re not: Do what you enjoy and the money will follow
There is strong sales and entrepreneurial aspect to most self-employed work at home jobs. So make sure that if your Holland scores are low for Enterprising, that you seriously rethink whether self-employment, particularly in sales, is right for you. Don’t be seduced by the promise of making large sums of money. The people who are successful are the ones that enjoy selling, who score high in the Enterprising personality type.

If Enterprising is not one of your top two personality types, working for someone else doing work that fits your personality types is a better option than direct sales. You’ll save money by not purchasing inventory you never sell, and you’ll save yourself heartache and stress from doing work you don’t enjoy.

Additional Work at Home Resources*:
Alison Doyle’s “Work at Home Jobs by Company Directory”
Bizymoms.com’s “Top 40” Business Ideas

*My links to About.com or Bizymoms.com imply no endorsement of either site or the jobs/companies linked to from those sites. Although these sites link to us, we do not get any financial benefit from external links and as a policy do no reciprocal linking. If we think a web page is helpful and contributes to our mission, we link to it.

The Career Key Blog Named a Top Blogger by Bizymoms.com

2010-04-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

has recognized me as a

Top Blogger

Interview on

Good Career Choices

Thank you to Bizymom.com for the honor of making me one of their Top Bloggers. They just posted an interview with me on "Good Career Choices" (click on the graphic above). Since 1997, Bizymoms.com has been a top resource to moms interested in working at home and entrepreneurship.

5 Tips for Handling Internships in Career Exploration & Career Development

2010-04-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Along with suggesting specific career exploration activities, we advise people who want to learn more about a particular career to do volunteer work or take an internship. Recent controversy about the legality of unpaid internships gives me a timely opportunity to offer some personal perspective and advice to would-be interns.

5 Tips for Handling Internships
(to read more about my personal experience and for more elaboration on these tips, scroll below)

Talk with previous interns before accepting the internship.
Be distrustful of industries or employers with a cutthroat reputation.
Have reasonable expectations of the internship.
Get out early if it is not working out.
Try very, very hard to find a paid internship. People do not value what they do not pay for.

My own desperate offer to work for free
In a desperate moment, in a different recession, at the beginning of my legal career, I offered to work for free for an employment discrimination law firm. I offered to “follow your paralegal around and do whatever she tells me to do...”

As a recent law school graduate, still waiting to hear whether I passed the bar, I had little valuable, practical experience practicing law - just the usual required research, writing, and some administrative hearing pro bono work. I was truthfully worth less than a good paralegal at that point. Getting hired straight out of law school for a plaintiff’s (employee-side) firm is pretty difficult - they do not want to put a lot of time or money into training someone, especially one without a bar card. And after knocking on a lot of doors, I was a little stressed out and discouraged. So I can understand would-be interns’ desperation in the current economic situation.

Fortunately for me, my future mentor declined and offered a full-time time, “at will” job with a modest but liveable wage for a thrifty, single gal like me. Not only was he being nice, but smart (and legal) to do so. And in paying for my services, they expected me to do something meaningful in return - so I was given meaningful work that trained me for my profession. I will be forever grateful for that first job opportunity.

But before that offer, I had dozens of dead ends and unreturned phone calls, letters, and emails. I got my future boss’s name from another lawyer with whom I conducted an informational interview - I had no special favors or connections other than my school alumni organizations. Just persistence in the face of rejection.

5 Tips for Handling Internships
I suggest that students approach internships (paid or unpaid) from a cost/benefit standpoint. What skills would you be gaining? See "Identify Your Skills" for ideas. If there is no practical or educational benefit to you other than having a certain company appear on your resume and uncertain networking contacts, just say no. The government’s definition of a legal unpaid internship (see their PDF with the 6 criteria) basically says that you, the intern, should be the main beneficiary.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that just by being an intern you will have the keys to the Magic Networking & Hiring Kingdom. You’ll need an an opportunity, through meaningful work, to demonstrate your value and potential to make people want to help you in the future.

Ask to talk with previous interns before accepting the internship. You should be able to find out whether photocopying and sweeping out bathrooms as part of the unspoken job description. In addition to asking whether they learned something valuable, ask whether they made useful networking contacts - if not, what’s the point? And if past interns don’t call you back or are reluctant to speak to you, maybe there’s a reason.
Be distrustful of industries or employers with a cutthroat reputation. I know this sounds a little obvious but some places like law firms, financial institutions and some IT companies have a well-developed reputation for “eating their young.” Chances are that if workers are themselves “eaten,” you will be too - for free. You should be networking and doing informational interviews in your field anyway - ask around about a company or department’s reputation.
Have reasonable expectations of the internship. Just because it’s educational doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect to make coffee on rare occasion. That’s real life for most people (unless you’re Donald Trump)- we pitch in and make coffee. But if you’re making coffee every morning and you’re spending more time on menial tasks than educational ones, that’s a problem.
Get out early if it is not working out. If you see that you’re being taken advantage of, talk nicely with your supervisor about doing more educational work. If that doesn’t work, leave. Your “free” time is better spent elsewhere. And unless there was illegality involved, you may want to keep your negative experience to yourself (unless a future prospective intern calls you - in that case, talk to them in a factual way on the phone - not email). Blogging/tweeting/complaining in some permanent, "written" form will not benefit you in any way.
Try very, very hard to find a paid internship. People don’t value what they don’t pay for, which is why I think this unpaid internship abuse issue is coming up. Old-fashioned networking through your school’s alumni association or community organizations (think Lion’s Club, Toastmasters, etc.) takes a lot of time and effort, but it does pay off. No well-connected daddy or mommy needed.

Desperation in a poor job market or enthusiasm for a particular company or career field are just part of career development. Just don’t sell yourself short in pursuit of your career goals.

Afraid to Choose a Career with a Narrow Focus? 6 Thoughts on Highly Specialized Career Choices

2010-04-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

How do you choose a career when some occupations are so narrowly focused or specialized? What if a recession or technology change renders your career choice obsolete or less attractive? It’s hard enough to decide on a career path, even if you know it is just one choice of many you’ll make throughout your life. Add to that the fear of being stuck with a degree or training that is no longer needed or has few job openings - it’s intimidating.

Education is becoming more specialized
Specialization is on my mind because we just finished matching the Career Key to all the new majors, training & instructional programs added in 2010 to the U.S. and Canadian government’s database of post-secondary programs. (Our Education Key e-Book will be updated this summer) This is the first update since 2000, and the specialization trend in education is striking. Here are a few examples:

Medicine and Health Care fields, both for professionals and technicians, are continuing to become more specialized.

For example, Nursing is now subdivided into four categories (registered nursing, administration, research & clinical nursing, and practical nursing) with multiple programs for each.

Interdisciplinary studies are growing. You need to be an expert in more than one field - which may make it more interesting for you, but more challenging.

As an example, see this recent NYT blog “Can ‘Neuro Lit Crit’ Save the Humanities”

Careers are becoming more specialized
My software engineer husband and I were talking recently about how in his field, job openings are often driven by one particular language and one platform. Windows or Linux? C++ or Ruby on Rails? (whatever that means - you get the picture) Companies may say they want a “jack [programmer] of all trades [languages]” but really they want someone to know exactly the specific language and code they’ve got and what to do with it. And there are a lot of languages - more being invented all the time (like the new D language at DigitalMars).

Anecdotal evidence aside, 2010 changes in the U.S. government’s organization system for occupations (the Standard Occupational Classification or SOC) reflect many more focused career paths in technology and health care. The number of occupations in some industries are shrinking (like printing and photograph processing) while others are expanding (information technology and nursing).

So what does all this mean for choosing a career right now?

Here are my 6 thoughts on making a more specialized career choice:

Remind yourself that your current career choice, whether it’s your first or you think it’s your last, is probably not your permanent, final one. Embrace the cliche that “change is the only constant.” See #6 below.
Focus on what you have control over. You can control and improve your adaptability to change, by:

building your support system (family, friends),
paying attention to the health and progress of your newly chosen field,
staying up to date with your certifications and education, and networking with other people.
You can’t control (among other things) technology advances (unless you’re an inventor), economic recessions, or age discrimination.

Learn about Holland’s Theory of Career Choice and how to use it to narrow your options to compatible groups of careers. Take a close look at the careers and education programs that match your top two personality types. If you’re interested in a career field with a lot of narrowly focused, specialized jobs, like medicine (Investigative), therapy (Social), and engineering technicians (Realistic), use what you know about your personality types through Holland’s Theory to combine your interests in one field.

For example, if you score high in Social and your second highest score is Enterprising, you can see how choosing a Social occupation that may allow you to operate your own business (like physical therapy or clinical psychology) would be a compatible choice. You’d want to do informational interviews with self-employed practitioners to learn more about those options. See other suggested ways to learn more about the careers that interest you.

Take the time to identify and write out a list of your motivated skills, skills you enjoy using, are good at, and are proud of. Our article “Identify Your Skills” will help you do that, along with the other activities in “Learn More About Yourself.” You can use these exercises to develop a list of transferable skills, which can help you find related, compatible careers if you need to.
Specialization does not necessarily mean more risky career choices. Some well-paid, rewarding and specialized jobs are not going to disappear unless robots from The Terminator take over the planet. (And then career choice will be the least of your problems). Maintaining and installing utility lines (utility company lineworkers), helping people through knee replacement rehabilitation (physical therapy), and gatekeepers (financial auditors) are not going away anytime soon. Careers that work directly with computer hardware or software? Be prepared for big changes as devices become more mobile and smaller.
Follow the 6 principles of the Free Agent Worker described at The Career Key website. I also wrote a series of blog posts on them.

The beauty of relying your Holland personality types and interests as a career compass is that you should have little trouble staying up to date on a career field that interests you. Apply a little thoughtful creativity and your goal of being adaptable to changes in the world of work will be within your grasp.

What’s in My Garage: Getting My Career Portfolio Up To Date

2010-03-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I had my last Career Development Facilitator class where we each presented a project and talked about our career portfolios. First, about my project...

I created a sample career development program for a community college that helps students choose a major or program offered by the college that matches their interests, using The Career Key. Essentially, a customized list of programs. So when you take The Career Key test and get your results, you could then see your own college’s programs organized by Holland type and Career Key work group, the same way we organize careers. See an example for the Artistic personality type from The Education Key e-Book.

The project was fun (believe it or not) but took some time so I haven’t been able to blog or tweet much recently.

Then my class talked about Career Portfolios, a way of organizing your career planning information like self-assessment results, resumes, letters of recommendation, etc. Activities you complete from “Learn More About Yourself” would go in it.

What I found, in preparing for my class, is that my career portfolio didn’t really exist, much less in a single place. I have bits and pieces of my career self all over the place. Here are some random things I collected from my home office and the garage:

Strong Interest Inventory and MBTI results from 1989 (wow, who knew I carried those out here to the West Coast from NC where I grew up?)
My Career Key assessment results
My college transcript (a little scary to see how little I remember about my coursework)
Writing samples from my first year of law school
Research memos I wrote in my first legal job
Copy of articles I wrote for local legal publications
My resume and cover letters for my last two jobs
Photographs from my last job at a law enforcement agency (you've got to love uniforms!)
Certificates of completion for training courses

The list goes on. And you likely have similar random things lying around that seen alone, may not mean much. But when you put these things together, you see valuable insights into your career planning process:

patterns about yourself,
things that you enjoyed (or not so much),
accomplishments you’d forgotten,
“good experiences” - things you’ve done that you enjoyed and are proud of...

Gathering scraps of paper about my life was very helpful for self-exploration. A reminder of the things I’m passionate about, the things that have changed about me, and about new things I want to do.

What’s in your garage?

Best Careers for Women Online Resources: Happy Woman’s Day!

2010-03-08T15:18:00.000-08:00

In honor of Woman’s Day, I’ve put together a few “Best Careers for Women” resources you may want to visit on your career choice journey. As you work through your career options, it helps to think of your current and future work-life balance needs. Some of these resources will help you think about them.

Being a mom to a toddler, my view of what “work-life balance” means and its importance are a little different from when I first hit the grownup job market in 1996. And balance doesn’t only relate to motherhood - more and more women are taking care of aging parents. And if you have none of these responsibilities, maybe you'd just like to have a well-rounded life!

The reality is that most women continue to shoulder the larger burden of family care - whether "family" means a partner, a child, or a parent. So your job will need to accomodate your needs as they change. (If you have a SuperNanny and/or Merry Maid for a spouse or partner, keep your good fortune to yourself!)

When I see lists of best paying jobs for women I cringe a little. If it was all about the money, wouldn’t career choice be simpler? But it’s not. Salary does matter but there are many other factors (like your personality) to take into account. (And the issue of salary equality with men is a whole other discussion).

What’s important to you? What life stage are you in? Find out by doing the activities recommended in “Learn More About Yourself.”

And in the meantime, I hope you’ll find these resources generate some ideas as you work through the career choice or change process:

The Self-Employment Key’s article “Work-Life Balance: Decision-Making for Women”

Best-Paying Jobs The Women Aren’t In (Forbes, 2/17/2010)
with an interesting response by blogger Lylah Alphonse (The 36-hour day) with some valid counterpoints.

More Mag’s “10 Best Jobs for Over-Forty Women”
You could argue this is not a list just for 40&overs...

U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau

Working Mother Magazine’s Work-Life Balance section
And many other articles on the site with “best companies” lists...

Role Model Project for Girls

Khake.com’s “Girl Specific” career exploration guides

I am fortunate to have a flexible schedule so I can spend more time with my son. And I remember that one of the reasons I chose my first career, law, was because of the flexibility in hours and cases a solo practice would offer me. This turned out to be accurate and a good plan; I used my self-employed time to travel and explore my interests. What career can you carve out for yourself that fits your life?

Green Jobs that Match Your Personality: New Unique & Free Article

2010-03-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to see Green Jobs organized by Holland personality type and Career Key's unique, helpful work groups, please see our new, free article on matching your personality to green jobs and careers. It includes the "green economy" jobs added to the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database in the fall of 2009.

Our new article is the only place online you can find green jobs organized by personality type, using the popular, respected Holland Theory of Career Choice. It's also the only green jobs resource based on a scientifically valid measure of Holland's 6 personality types, The Career Key.

Please feel free to link to this new article by following our linking policy.

Reminder: 10% of website sales (of our valid tests and e-Books) go to charities like The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and UNICEF.

Please email me your feedback on the new article or post a comment here. Thank you!

5 Ways to Channel Your Inner Career Choice Optimist - Being Realistic but Optimistic

2010-02-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

If you’re in the process of choosing a career and looking at career options, you’re surrounded by enough bad news to make you a “paralytic decision-maker.” Like discouraging findings from the new report, “The Labor Market, Then and Now” from the John J. Heldrich Center on Workforce Development:

U.S. Government employment projections have historically been proven wrong.
Job satisfaction is at its lowest level since the data was first tracked.
Baby boomers are not retiring like they were supposed to so there are fewer jobs than expected.
In the last decade, the time it takes to find a job has gone from 3 to 6 months (there go your savings!).

and the list goes on....

Not to mention all the doom and gloom predictions about the U.S. “empire” going down the tubes due to “do-nothing” politics and overwhelming deficits. It’s been so bad I substituted watching Stephen Colbert’s Winter Olympics for online news this week.

So instead of putting on Leonard Cohen CDs and opening a bottle of strong medicine, what’s the forward-looking, hard-working career decision-maker to do with all this gloomy outlook? I call it channeling your inner optimist - being realistic but optimistic. Here are 5 ways to do that:

Make sure you have realistic expectations of the career choice process. No matter how much research you do, how many assessments you take, what informational interviews you conduct - your choice is a calculated risk. That’s why important decisions are hard - you can never be 100% sure your choice will result in success. Prepare to be adaptable and surprised.
Explore all aspects of the career decision process in a methodical way - confronting your fears and negative consequences of your choice with a plan to respond to them. Use our 4 step “High Quality Decisions” article and the downloadable “decision balance sheet” to get started. Write down your thoughts - it's called bibliotherapy and writing therapy - it works and it's free!
Rely on the best resources for career information you can, knowing their weaknesses and strengths. Although the government job outlook data can be proven incorrect (maybe God should be hired as a consultant to predict job growth), it has also been proven correct for many occupations. The government uses data from individual states and provinces, relying on labor economic experts to compile it but it often lags a few years behind. As long as you treat it as only one piece of the puzzle, government information can be useful.
Rely on scientifically valid self-assessments - ones that are proven to measure what they say they measure. Otherwise you may make a decision you regret. The Career Key is not the only valid test; we recommend you take other tests and assessments in addition to The Career Key. Just be careful and discriminating about tests on the Internet because very few have scientific validity. If you are a college graduate, make sure you take advantage of your school’s career center that may offer valid tests for free or a nominal fee.
Think “right” thoughts. Your thoughts help determine your behavior and actions so treat your career choice and career development with a positive outlook. If you believe you will fail, you will. Cognitive psychology research has shown this to be true. Books from positive psychology thought leaders like Dr. Martin Seligman and cognitive psychology experts like Dr. David Burns can help. Make sure to surround yourself with positive people to support your efforts.

New Study: Matching Your Holland Personality with Your Career Boosts Earnings

2010-02-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

Matching your Holland interests or personality to your career choice or "job congruence" leads to higher earnings, according to a new research study involving alumni from 300 U.S. colleges and universities. The study appears in the journal Labour Economics and authors are from the University of Iowa, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth, and ACT, Inc., respectively. (Citation below)

In short:

choosing a career that is consistent with or matches your Holland interests (RIASEC types) results in higher earnings;
Job congruence affects earnings almost to the same order of magnitude as additional years of schooling.

To take advantage of these findings and all the research supporting Holland's Theory of Career Choice in career and education decision-making, it is very important that you use a scientifically valid measure of Holland's personality types. You need to be confident that the test has been proven to accurately measure what it says it measures.

On the Career Key website, we have tips on how to tell whether or not a test is "scientifically valid", including a download of a recent National Career Development Association Career Developments magazine article about evaluating and choosing a career test written by Career Key author Dr. Lawrence K. Jones.

Study Citation:
Neumann, G., Olitsky, N., Robbins, S. (2009) Job congruence, academic achievement, and earnings. Labour Economics, 16, 503-509.

Who Cares What a College Degree is Really Worth? It's Career Planning that Matters.

2010-02-02T11:02:00.000-08:00

While it's helpful that this WSJ article "What's a Degree Really Worth" draws attention to some overblown numbers for the value of college degree and the risks of getting a degree, I think a main point is missed. Instead of focusing on the average lifetime earnings of a college grad - not a terribly useful or accurate statistic for people choosing a career or educational program, focus instead on career direction and planning. Our "Getting Started" article gives the 3 steps for that process based on the best science and practices of professional career counseling.

The point is not whether a college degree is worth $450K or $800K in lifetime earnings, but how a student plans to translate their degree or program (training, 2 year, 4 year) into a career path. Look at the article's example of a UC-Berkeley grad earning a pittance (for San Francisco) as a small paper reporter with over $60,000 in student debt. It is not a mystery or a surprise to any writers out there that journalism is not a lucrative profession, even in the best of times.

So to imply that it was too risky or wasn't financially worth it to get a B.A. to get that reporting job doesn't make sense. Imagine applying for any decent paying reporter job without a college degree. Pretty difficult. When you choose a career path that has a relatively low salary and uncertain job prospects, you need to be prepared for a bumpy ride. Maybe you have to work while you go to school to avoid higher debt, or go to a cheaper school. These are compromises that you may need to make.

I am sympathetic, though. I can relate to the graduate's comment "it [her financial situation] was harder than I think I expected it to be" because that's what happened to me after graduating law school in '96 in a recession. Despite the best laid plans, you can never be certain how things will turn out.

Some form of training or college is required for any living wage job (unless you believe in the Bill Gates syndrome - good luck to you!) It's a matter of making choices and good decisions - and being prepared for economic change.

Our high-quality decision-making article can really help you sort through those choices and prepare yourself for any negative consequences (like living on a shoestring for 10 years) in pursuing your passion.

Back from a Successful Cannexus Conference

2010-02-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

After a fantastic CANNEXUS conference last week in Ottawa, Canada (photo left), I am finally getting back online. Because I live in Seattle, the grey weather did not scare me. I gave 2 presentations:

"Choosing a Post-Secondary Program: Increasing the Odds of Success" focusing on research studies demonstrating higher grades and in some cases, retention, for students choosing a major that matches their Holland interests, and
A demonstration of The Career Key Canada website, the new Education Key e-Book, and our scientifically valid tests, The Career Key and the Career Decision Profile.

I love Canada. Every time I go there the people are friendly, interesting to talk to and open-minded about new resources. Yes, Comedy Central's South Park and American pundits sometimes make fun of how "nice" Canadians are. But trust me, you'd rather spend 3 twelve hour days at a conference with Social personality types from Canada than anywhere else in the world (no offense to my home country).

I know Canadians have the usual crime, unemployment, and problems with their politicians - but seeing Ottawa workers ice skate to work on the Rideau Canal (built in the early 1800s as a part of a defense against the new USA) has a way of lending Canada a cold but fun, Zen-like quality - far away from reality. A Zamboni on a frozen city canal - how cool is that? Chicago, take notes....

All right, enough reminiscing. I plan on posting this week about:

the impact of marriage and significant others on career choices - in honor of Valentine's Day, and
ingredients for college and university success using Holland Theory of Career Choice, from my conference presentation last week.

Although I enjoyed my trip, I am glad to be back.

Practical Advice for Setting up an Information Interview

2010-01-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

Information interviewing is one of our top ten recommended ways to learn more about jobs or careers that interest you. It fits in with Step 3 of High-Quality Decisions: to learn more about your career options.

For more practical advice on how to set up an informational interview, I highly recommend the last chapter of Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life called "Do it Yourself: How to Set Up Your Own Roadtrip Experience." I've read a lot of career advice books and this one offers very practical ways of handling "cold" calls or emails. Plus it has great interviews with lots of different types of people that will inspire you.

Popular Career Advice e-Book "2010 What Job is Best for Me?" Just Released

2010-01-15T16:04:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for a helpful career advice resource on smart career decision-making, we just updated our popular career e-Book, "What Job is Best for Me?" The new 2010 edition is now for sale in the Career Key eBookstore.

You can purchase it for $8.95 or save by purchasing it with The Career Key test for $14.50 (over 20% off separately purchasing the two).

We updated links and added new material about evaluating a career's job outlook, job satisfaction, and using social media to get career information. To learn more you can see a the Table of Contents at our description page for the What Job is Best for Me? e-Book.

The 2009 What Job is Best for Me? received an excellent review from the Jobacle.com Blog so we are confident you'll find the 2010 edition a valuable resource. We always welcome your feedback so please let us know what you think.

Last Chance to Vote For The Career Key in the USDOL Challenge

2010-01-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

This is your last chance (and last you'll hear from me about it) to recommend The Career Key website as a helpful tool for job and career seekers as part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Tools for America Challenge. Help us get listed along with the "big guns" like Monster & Career Builder!

Tell your friends and obviously please vote for other sites you find helpful.

Deadline to vote for Career Key in the DOL Challenge is 9 p.m. EST tomorrow (Friday, January 15).

A huge thank you to our voters so far!

Using Your Decision-Making Style To Improve Your Career Planning

2010-01-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

When you make career decisions - whether it's a career change or choosing a college major or training program, it helps to know what kind of decision-maker you are. Some decision-making styles are more productive and effective than others, like being "planful" or "intuitive." Others, like "delaying" or "paralytic", are obviously less helpful and lead to career indecision. Young people may be more "compliant" in their decision-making, following blindly what peers or parents tell them to do instead of focusing on their unique qualities and career interests.

The more self-aware you are, the better prepared you are for changing styles if you need to, moving through inevitable roadblocks. You'll find that these decision-making styles apply to other life decisions so knowing yours can help you in non-career related areas too.

In general, there are eight decision-making types:

Planful
Painful
Intuitive
Impulsive
Compliant
Delaying
Fatalistic
Paralytic

(Dinklage, L.B., 1968) Rutgers University Career Services' career decision web article has excellent descriptions of each type.

To complicate things, you may change styles in the decision-making process. You may start out as "planful" but end up in a more "paralytic" state because of a loved one's unexpected negative reaction to a career choice.

Anticipating and planning for challenges are part of why it's important to follow the Decision Balance (ACIP) method of career decision making. And putting the whole process in context of what you know about your decision-making style(s) can really improve the outcomes of your career planning.

U.S. Job Satisfaction at Lowest Level since 1987: Our 8 Recommendations for Maximizing Your Job Satisfaction

2010-01-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

According to a Conference Board survey released today, job satisfaction in America is at its lowest level since 1987 when the survey was first done. Satisfaction has dropped to 45% from 61.1% of 5,000 households surveyed. The least satisfied age group is under 25; 35.7% of them say they are satisfied with their jobs.

If you feel dissatisfied in your job and need help figuring out what's wrong and how to fix it, read our helpful website article "Job Satisfaction." We offer 8 recommendations and activities for maximizing your job satisfaction.

My personal belief is that changes in our economy lowering job security and widening the income gap between people must have something to do with this trend. I'm obviously not suggesting that we look to more European-style socialistic employment policies, but I think too much insecurity and a feeling that the system doesn't reward hard work breeds dissatisfaction. What do you think?

Vote at USDOL to Recommend The Career Key Website to Career and Job Seekers

2010-01-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

If you like our career advice and help for people making career decisions, please recommend The Career Key website in the U.S. Department of Labor's Tools for America's Job Seekers Challenge. You can use the link above or look for Idea #34. You can also type "Career Key" into the search box.

Nearly all of our website is free, with the nominal test fee ($1 per test for group purchases of at least 30) supporting the site's operation. Plus we donate 10% of website sales to charity and no advertising.

We rely mostly on word-of-mouth recommendations (it's worked since 1997) so your vote and comments really count. Thank you!

Students Choosing a College Major: What Employers Want from Colleges

2010-01-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

If you're considering your college major and education options, you've probably seen at least one media source talk about the purpose of college and whether college is still worth it. And whether any liberal arts degree other than business (is that a liberal art?) has a path to financial greatness. The hype is enough to make anyone unsure of how to make a financial investment in education.

I think the issue has been oversimplified, overly alarmist - with little helpful or practical information for students and parents of students wondering if their retirement funds are being sucked into a black hole of irrelevance.

But the good outcome of all this handwringing is the attention given to making well-thought out career and education decisions. That doesn't mean you have to decide on day 1 of your college education what your graduation job will be. But it does mean that you should pay attention to what interests you, what you want to learn, and how you can fit that into the first career step of many after graduation.

So as you choose your college major, you might consider what you'll learn from your chosen program in these skill areas employers believe are important outcomes for college students:

Intellectual and Practical Skills

•Written and oral communication	89%*
•Critical thinking and analytic reasoning	81%
•Complex problem solving	75%
•Teamwork skills in diverse groups	71%
•Creativity and innovation	70%
•Information literacy	68%
•Quantitative reasoning	63%

*% of employers surveyed by the American Association of Colleges and Universities who say colleges should place more emphasis on "learning outcomes" in these skills.

If you've paid attention to anything Daniel Pink has written about the coming of the Right Brained Thinker, then you'll see that there is more to life than a business degree (not that there is anything wrong with that). There are plenty of other liberal arts options (yes, philosophy is one of them) that will teach you the skills to excel in business or any field. It is possible to take business courses while you study philosophy. It IS possible to think outside the college major/career path box. What a concept!

Advice for Changing Careers from the Change Experts

2010-01-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

Making a career change is not easy. Make sure you don't overlook helpful resources from outside the career advice world. For any life change you want to make, I highly recommend Dr. James Prochaska's "Changing for Good" book that I read over the holiday break. It was recommended to me by a fellow career development professional. (Thanks Kate Duttro! Author of the Career Change for Academics Blog)

If you are emotionally invested (like most of us) in our careers and jobs - and you're forced or by choice want to make a career change, "Changing for Good" has some great advice.

Like we do in The Career Key's "High Quality Decisions" article, Dr. Prochaska bases part of his advice about making good decisions on Irving L. Janis and Leon Mann's decisional balance research.

The free Decision Balance Sheet from our High Quality Decisions article would be an excellent companion exercise to this book. If you can recommend any other helpful, high-quality resources like this one related to making life changes, please let me know.

Happy New Year from The Career Key!

2010-01-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I've been taking some much needed vacation - I hope you have been too.

I got addicted to cross-country skiing back when I was too poor to downhill ski (and I'm still too cheap to spring for a season pass). So when I had the opportunity to ski near Mt. Hood, Oregon over the Christmas holiday - I took it. Wow - what a couple of hours in the bright sunshine and snow will do for you!

I also have been using the down time to work on a few Career Key projects that you'll be hearing about soon:

the 2010 update to What Job is Best for Me?
preparing my presentation for the CANNEXUS 2010 conference in Ottawa later this month, and
New licensing options for organizations who want to use our new Holland personality type match with College Majors and Career Clusters/Career Pathways tailored to the programs they offer.

Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, Career Key's author, is finishing up the final touches on our new Education Key website for launch in the next month or so.

I hope you have a great, prosperous New Year - with healthy family and friends.

2 Positive Steps to Handle Family and Friends’ Influences on Your Career Planning

2009-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

Your relationships with family and friends have a big impact on your career choices and career decisions – and the holidays focus on these relationships more than any other time of year. Are you stuck in career indecision and feel your friends or family might judge you for it? Are you considering a career they might not approve of?

Especially in the U.S., where so much focus is on your job (think social gathering and the typical opening question – “how’s the job search?” or “how’s work (or school)?”), handling career questions or opinions about your choices from those close to you can be awkward.

Here are 3 steps to positively anticipate and handle those questions and influences using The Career Key’s High-Quality Decisions self-help article:

Identify any pressure you feel from family or friends – positive or negative – about your career plans. To help you, download a free “Decision Balance Sheet” and complete it for the job or career options you’re considering. Check out this list of Career Choice Consequences to help you “see” what issues may be weighing on you. Your choice may be so welcomed by your friends or family that you feel uncomfortable pressure to be successful or “perfect.” Expectations may need to be lowered.
Make a plan for how you will handle each person’s concerns or reactions to your career choice or career indecision. That way you’re not left unprepared (and maybe anxious).

For example, if you’ve been laid off and you haven’t decided if you will go back to school, then prepare and practice a script for how you will answer your mother’s well-meaning but loaded question at the holiday dinner table, “how ARE you?” Instead of saying “things are fine,” which you know will result in cool or hurt silence, wouldn’t it be better to say:

“I’m deciding on whether to go to grad school. I had two informational interviews last month with graduates of the ___ school I’m considering and I’ve got two more scheduled for after Christmas. It’s pretty interesting what’s I’ve learned about _______(the post-graduation job market, financial aid, interesting classes)."

Imagine how your mom will brighten at hearing about what you are doing. With mothers, sometimes giving them more information is better than less, right? (I hope my mother is not reading this post.)

Or if you are seriously considering a career change from a more secure (if such a thing exists anymore) career like a civil-service government position to starting a business – how have you planned for the risks or consequences and your significant others’ reaction to it?

Take advantage of family and friends well-meaning interest in you to make sure your career plans and research are as organized and “on track” as you would like. It may have the side benefit of forcing you to set goals for yourself – short-term, realistic and achievable – to get things moving in a positive direction.

New NCDA Article on Using Career Interests to Organize Matching College Majors, Career Clusters, and Career Pathways

2009-12-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

If you're a career counselor, school counselor, or career development professional, please visit the National Career Development Association's Career Convergence web magazine feature article this month, "Relating Interests to College Majors, Career Clusters, and Career Pathways."

The Career Key's author Dr. Lawrence K. Jones and I wrote the article to discuss the challenge of this project (using Holland's Theory with these other classification systems not based on interests), its importance, and how it can be used. We also hope to get your feedback.

How one classifies or organizes occupations and educational programs by Holland interests and work groups can sound boring to many people (but not to us!) - and yet it is a major reason that The Career Key is so practical and useful. You can see our classification system for matching careers at our website article, "Match Your Personality with Careers."

We want to thank the NCDA and Career Convergence editors for working hard with us to make the article possible.