Career Assessment Matches Students to a College's Majors with New Career Key for Higher Education Tool

Holland career assessment leader Career Key announces a new "My College's Majors" tool that enables admissions, first year experience (FYE) and student success programs to match students to the programs and majors their school offers.

Career Key Discovery for Higher Education, "Leveling Up," includes this new tool. My College's Majors encourages greater student engagement and leads to more long-term benefits because students choose from and make their personality-major match to the most relevant education options to them - the ones offered by their institution.

Studies show students who make this close Holland personality-major match are more likely to:

1. Get higher grades,
2. Stick with their major, and
3. Graduate on time.

More details about personality-major match research and how students can benefit are available on the Career Key website and in two popular, free eBooks:

• Match Your Personality to College Majors: what does the research say? (For students and parents)
• Personality Major Match and Student Success: Professionals' Guide (For counselors and educators)

New Career Key Test and Activity Booklet Published

We just reprinted and updated the Career Key Test and Activity Booklet, now available for sale on Amazon. (Free shipping!) They cost about $2 apiece and are sold in sets of 35 booklets.

These booklets are perfect for when you need an easy, printed activity that covers the career essentials for students and adults in classes and workshops...

The 20 page, color booklet includes the self-scoring Career Key test, a description of Holland's Theory of Career Choice including the hexagon, and recommended activities with worksheets to further engage in the career exploration process, like:

• Learning more about occupations
• Learning more about yourself
• Creating a career portfolio, and
• How to make a good decision.

New Career Key Career Test Launched

Career Key's updated career test is now live! This scientifically valid, career interest inventory has a new design, an updated list of career options and now includes college majors and training programs. The Career Key test now helps those wondering "What should I major in?" There are over 400 careers and 700 majors, easy to explore by Holland personality type and Career Key work group of traits, skills and abilities. Each major is described with a link to external sources to find more information and the colleges that offer the major (no promotions or marketing).

Here is a sample report page:

To learn more about group purchases and the new group administration features, see our Group Purchase Discount.

Career Key Test's new version - a video demo for group customers

If you are interested in video demos of the new version of the Career Key test going live later this month, start with this video. It's specifically for Career Key's group customers. For more information about the new version of the Career Key test, visit Career Key's Group Discount page.

New Career Key Career Test Booklet Available

Career Key's popular career test is now available in a printed booklet form, the Career Key Test and Activities Booklet! Sets of 35 cost $75 (about $2 per booklet) and are available for sale on Amazon.com and in the American School Counselors Association bookstore.

This 20 page booklet includes Career Key's scientifically valid career interest inventory as well as activities covering career development's most important concepts, such as how to make a good decision. At the Career Key website, there is also a free PDF guide to using the Career Key Test and Activities Booklet to meet ASCA's National Model Student Standards.

Released with a new design and content in September 2013, it is full color and environmentally friendly, made with 100% recycled bright white paper and soy inks.

Free shipping and more sample pages are available at the booklet's product page on Amazon.com.

Career Key's Career Test Gets New Design and Update

The paper-pencil version of Career Key's popular, valid career interest inventory and career test has a beautiful new design and update.  Available in Career key's eBookstore, the self-scoring, paper-pencil Career Key career test helps youth and adults assess their personality and identify matching careers for satisfaction and success.

In addition to a professional graphic redesign, the test now includes advice for exploring matching college majors and education programs.  Research shows that a close personality major match leads to higher grades, greater persistence in the major, and higher on-time graduation rates.

Career Key's QR Code

The new test also includes a QR code so that test takers can use their smart phone or tablet to quickly access Career Key's online resources.  For example, in Match Your Personality with Careers, test takers can access all the test's occupations and links to current career information about each one from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

The test takes about 15-20 minutes and is self-scoring.  Licenses to print individual and group copies can be purchased in the eBookstore for the same great price of $4.95 (individual) and $12.50 (group - 25 copies).

Career Key Goes Mobile!

Career Key's career test and website is now mobile friendly!  Check it out on your smartphone - you'll see it automatically.

Not only can you take the Career Key test in this new easy to read format, our popular website articles are now optimized for mobile users.  The career information we show in test results and in our "Match Your Personality to Careers" article via the Occupational Outlook Handbook is also mobile-friendly.

We welcome your feedback!

Career Key Career Test Overview Video

Career Key's YouTube channel now features a video overview of The Career Key career test. Take two and a half minutes to watch if you'd like to learn more about our valid career test or you are a new user who wants to get the most out of the experience:

If you are a Career Key career test group discount customer, feel free to share the link with your test takers as a quick introduction.

I plan on adding to our Career Key Demos and Tutorials video playlist so feel free to suggest more ideas...

Career Key Career Test & New Career Information Links to the 2012-2013 Occupational Outlook Handbook

The Career Key's valid career test and online career assessment now links to the latest career information from the new 2012-13 Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) released late last week. When Career Key test takers create their personal job option list of matching occupations, each job or career is linked with career information (job requirements, education and training, salary, etc) from the new OOH.

New entry and look for "High School Teachers" in the Occupational Outlook Handboook.

Our career information update was also made to one of our most popular articles, "Match Your Personality with Careers." It shows hundreds of occupations by Holland personality type and Career Key work group.  Users of our paper-pencil Career Key career test often use this article to get online career information about matching careers and jobs that interest them.

Best features of the new OOH, in my opinion:

• It's easier to read, with the most important information clearly up front in the summary. (Pay, Education, Job Outlook);
• A Tab format for browsing with easy to understand labels like "What They Do" and "How to Become One";
• More attractive, photo-heavy listing of "Similar Occupations,"
• The content in "What They Do", "Work Environment," and "How to Become One" - the details are practical and helpful, truly giving a flavor of the work environment.

We have preferred the career information in the OOH to the O*NET for quite some time. There are some content differences and advantages to using both, which I explained in a June 2011 post:

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

Taking into account the new OOH look, my advice for exploring government career information is still the same: 

• Start with the OOH for better detail and quality of information; the new OOH format just makes it a lot easier to explore and navigate. 
• Use the O*NET (or America's CareerInfoNet) for links to more specific, local (state and metropolitan area) salary and education information.  

The Career Key Career Test Adds New Occupations

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:

• Getting Started Choosing a Career
• Career Change, Changing Careers
• Identify Your Skills
• Military to a Civilian Career
• Choosing a College Major or Training Program
• How Parents Can Help

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

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

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.

1. 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. 
2. Identify Your Skills. Find out what skills you enjoy using the most, what's marketable, and how to choose a career that uses them.
3. Learn About Canadian Occupations and Careers. 
4. Learn More about the Canadian Jobs that Interest You. 
5. 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.
6. Learn More about the Majors that Interest Me.
7. 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

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".