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 Fanshawe College Pathfinder Uses Career Key's Career and College Major Test

We're proud to announce that Fanshawe College, one of the largest colleges of applied art and technology in Ontario, is now using The Career Key's valid career and college major test to match prospective students to Fanshawe's programs of study.  The online Fanshawe Pathfinder is the first college recruitment and admissions tool in Canada and the U.S. to use Personality-Major MatchTM. The Pathfinder gives students valuable information in choosing a program that fits them best and how to make a successful education decision.

Large published research studies show a close personality-major match predicts higher grades, greater persistence in a major, and higher rates of on time graduation. The benefits of this match are described in a free Career Key eBook, Choose a College Major Based on Your Personality.

Fanshawe licensed The Career Key to create the Pathfinder for their admissions and recruitment efforts. The Pathfinder will also be used in academic advising for current students and featured in public open houses and career fairs.

About Fanshawe

Fanshawe’s main campus is located in London, Ontario, about two and half hours outside Toronto. Approximately 17,000 full-time and 26,000 part-time students attend Fanshawe at five campuses. Fanshawe has a demonstrated commitment to student success. Results of the Government of Ontario’s 2013 Key Performance Indicators (KPI) survey show that Fanshawe College is above the provincial average in student satisfaction, graduate satisfaction, and graduate employment (86% of graduates find jobs shortly after graduation). To learn more about Fanshawe, visit Discover Fanshawe.

What the Walmart VP Termination Over a Resume Teaches Us

Yes, it teaches us not to lie on our resume, not to leave a misimpression or omission about our credentials.  But why did Walmart’s former Vice President of Communications David Tovar feel the need to demonstrate he graduated from college?  I can’t speak for him but we know the answer… it’s because he needed the degree. You need to graduate from college if you want to make a living wage working for someone else. Like most employers, Walmart will not hire you for salaried sales or management without a college degree (example).

 

Want a living wage? Want to be a VP someday? Finish college.

I’ve been reading Michael Ellsberg’s The Education of Millionaires: Everything You Won’t Learn in College About How to Be Successful and other anti-college writing. The common position is that people do not need a college degree, pointing to many rich, entrepreneurial people as examples (High-tech company founders, information sales people, etc). And while I found I agreed with Ellsberg on many practical things that are wrong with higher education (and he has some great networking tips), the anti-college argument ultimately fails as a good career planning approach.  

First, a college degree or postsecondary training credential is necessary for most living-wage employment in this country; the statistics about unemployment and salaries do not lie. One reason employers require a college degree or post-secondary training credential in hiring is because it’s an easy way to screen people out, to narrow the hiring pool.  So many people are looking for jobs; employers can afford to be picky. Also, minimum job qualifications like an educational degree are legally necessary in a world where equal rights laws guard against discrimination. So does it really make sense to voluntarily cut yourself off from millions of jobs?

The anti-college crowd argues that you can creatively sell yourself into a job and if that doesn’t work (that employer must be an unimaginative boob), then start your own business. Having been happily self-employed myself at one time, I get the freedom, flexibility and success that can give you.

But self-employment and entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Not everyone has a strong Enterprising Holland personality type, someone who likes to and is good at persuading, leading, and selling things or ideas. Or is an extrovert. And while I agree with Dan Pink and many others that sales skills are needed in nearly every job now, to advise young people that a college degree is unnecessary, substituting sales and marketing skills through self-employment, is a naïve oversimplification of our work world. That's as bad as saying a college degree = a high-paying job.

Self-employment should always be a fallback option, if not a promising option for some. Having practiced labor and employment law for 10 years, I think people should be prepared, as a matter of emotional and financial survival, to be out of a job at any time, for any reason. But being prepared also means having proof of skills and education to support a job search.

Instead of warning people away from college degrees entirely, we can start by helping people approach their college years in smarter ways – identifying majors and programs of study that match their interests and Holland personality, learning more marketing skills, seeking out experiential education programs that don’t require an unpaid internship (that only wealthier parents can afford to subsidize), and adopting a flexible, free agent approach to the world of work.

If Mr. Tovar was so good at his job (it sounds like he was, given his planned promotion), he should not have needed a degree. I believe that it’s what people do, not their credentials, that matter most. But that’s not the economy and human resources legal reality we’re in. I hope and suspect Mr. Tovar will successfully bounce back from his mistake. Tellingly, it sounds like he will start by completing his degree.

5 Tips for Introverts' Success in Career Choices and in School

Introverts face certain challenges to their success at work and in the classroom. Introversion can also be a benefit.  Identifying the right compatible work and school environments can increase your chances of success.

The Introversion-Extroversion Scale with Holland's Hexagon

By combining what we know about introverts with Holland's theory of person-environment match, Career Key author and counseling psychologist Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, NCC gives you five tips for introverts' success in this new self-help article. Find it at the Introverts link above or in our Choose a Career section.

Choose a Career and College Major with Holland's Theory, New Career Key Video Series

Learn how to choose a career or college major with Holland's Theory of Career Choice in a new YouTube video series "How to Achieve Career and College Success" from Career Key.

These short videos cover Dr. John Holland's six main ideas, including the Holland personality types (also known as Holland codes), Holland's work and education environments, and how to use the Holland hexagon. It's based on the popular Career Key web article on Holland's Theory of Career Choice.

How to Achieve Career and College Success Video Series

• How to Achieve Career and College Success: Introduction
• The Six Holland Personality Types
• The Six Holland Environments
• Holland Environments: searching for and interacting with them
• The Holland Hexagon
• Congruence: Making a Good Match

The series is created and presented by Career Key author and nationally recognized counseling psychologist, Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, NCC. It is followed by a series on good career decision making.

All these videos will appear soon in a new section of the Career Key website.

Subscribe to The Career Key's YouTube channel to get notified of new videos as they appear.

Is College Worth It? 6 Ways to Increase Chances of Success in College

More students and parents are asking themselves, is college is worth it? A recent Pew study visualized in TIME magazine finds more people questioning college's value, and yet statistics are clear that it is. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's 2014 report, "Are Recent College Graduates Finding Good Jobs?" shows compelling reasons to go to college. But the report raises valid concerns about underemployment after graduation and the differing value of certain college majors and skills in the labor market.

Like anything else, research and planning ahead give a big payoff in these types of life decisions.  In Career Key's new website article"Is College Worth It?", counseling psychologist Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, NCC looks at whether people are getting good jobs after graduation based on the latest statistics. Then he recommends how people can increase their chances of success after college graduation.

These recommendations include:

1. Choose a major that matches your personality and interests.
2. Consider choosing a major in high school before you choose a college.
3. Be open to choosing a good job that does not require a 4 year degree.
4. Have realistic employment expectations; Underemployment is a reality you may have to face.
5. Be smart and make good decisions about your education plans using an effective decision making process.
6. Be aware of how the nature of work is changing and plan ways you can respond and adapt.

For more about why college is worth it and what's behind these recommendations, visit Career Key's Choose a College Major section and "Is College Worth It?"

Help Choosing a Major Needed More Than Ever

Statistics show that students need help choosing a major now more than ever.  The November 2013 ACT College Choice Report found that only about one-third (36%) of college bound students taking the ACT are choosing majors that fit their interests or Holland personality. And we know from personality-major match research, this will very likely negatively impact these students' success.

Research shows that students who do choose a major that fits their personality and interests, what we call a close “personality-major match,” are more likely to succeed in college with:

(1) higher grades;

(2) greater persistence in a major; and

(3) higher on-time graduation rates.

College completion rates continue to be low. According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 38 percent of students entering a 4 year college graduate in 4 years, 59 percent in six. About 40 percent drop out. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013).

And there is a steep financial penalty to those who switch majors and delay graduation.  One study showed that those working toward a bachelor’s degree lose in earnings, on average, $50,000 (adjusted for inflation) for each additional year it takes to finish their degree.  In addition, many studies support increased salary and job satisfaction for people who choose a career that matches their personality.

So how can students make better decisions about majors? Career Key has several affordable resources students can use to make good education decisions:

Match Up! EBook, available in the Career Key Store

1. Free eBook downloads: “Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality: What does the research say?” We also have a special Professionals’ Guide to Personality College Major Match and Student Success for counselors, career development professionals, and educators.
2. Career Key's unique eBook, Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors and Training Programs 2014. Used with results of the Career Key career test, it offers the only complete list of U.S. and Canadian majors and programs of study scientifically classified by Holland personality type – enabling a close personality-major match.
3. Self-help articles like What is a College Major, Personality Major Match, Holland College Major Environments, and What are Liberal Arts Majors.

Make Liberal Arts A Successful College Major Choice

Forget the war on liberal arts! Liberal arts majors can make successful college majors. Follow the basic rules of a good career decision and plan ahead with these 10 actions:

1.  Know what liberal arts majors are, their benefits and challenges;  
2. Learn how you can benefit from Holland’s Theory, Holland’s college major environments, and the value of a close personality-major match. [Research shows it leads to success in college and greater career satisfaction];
3. Get a better sense of yourself, your interests and goals by doing the activities we recommend in “How to choose a career”;
4. Be job skills smart by filling in any gaps in your Foundation Skills during college;
5. Crossover to lesser known fields to develop skills and knowledge from business, finance, computer proficiency, and statistics.  You can do that through volunteer work, coursework, and internships.  No excuses anymore – MOOCs make it possible to take free classes on your own time without the penalty of poor grades on your transcript;
6. Combine an arts and humanities major with another more technical, career-oriented major that interests you in a growth industry like healthcare or information technology;
7. Use LinkedIn Alumni to help broaden your knowledge about what graduates with liberal arts majors are doing with their degree. I guarantee you'll get some ideas;
8. Decide on whether to go to graduate school with particular career goals in mind, based on real research based on informational interviews with current grad students and grad school grads, not hearsay.
9. Begin networking as soon as possible. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to “be someone” to network. It is also not limited to job search – in fact, it’s better to network before you need a job. Bonus: you’ll simultaneously strengthen Foundation Skills.
10. Make sure you are taking advantage of all the career services and academic advising resources your college or university offers.  I see a few complaints about what schools don’t do to help graduates. But the reality is, many students don’t take advantage of available services, they let one dissatisfying experience stop their momentum, OR they don’t take the initiative. These things all happened to me at one time or another – but I didn’t let them stop me. Don’t let them stop you either.

You might also find helpful:

Download this PDF to see popular myths about liberal arts majors debunked, courtesy of Seattle Pacific University’s Career Center. It’s great advice.

30 Extremely Successful People with Liberal Arts Majors, from BusinessInsider.com

Why you should study art, or any soft major, from USAToday Education

Graduate School in the Humanities: Just don’t go, the Chronicle
"Not all College Degrees are Created Equal", PDF report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce
Top-Paying Liberal Arts Majors in 2012, National Association of Colleges and Employers

Canadian University Majors: How to Learn More

If you want to learn more about college and university majors in Canada and the schools that offer them, try these online resources. You'll learn what information is best at each website and watch a video tutorial on how to use Working in Canada as an education exploration tool.

Career Key Canada

Best for:

• Narrowing your education choices based on your interests
• Help making a decision

Our website focuses on how to choose what to study in Canada, whether it is at a college or university.  Start with:

1. Personality-major match, and why it’s important (leads to better grades, e.g.); then
2. How to choose a major in Canada; and
3. 4 steps of high quality decision making.

Depending on your interests, read articles like the pros and cons of liberal arts majors and how to learn more about yourself.

Working in Canada

Best for:

• Finding majors related to an occupation
• A description of majors and “what graduates think” of them
• Narrowing schools offering a major to a specific province or location

If you’ve taken Career Key Canada’s career assessment, then you already have a list of Canadian occupations that match your Holland personality types, each one linked to its Working in Canada listing. You can also browse and choose careers at our “Match Your Personality with Careers” article.

When you do an occupation search on Working in Canada (WIC) for audiologist (for example), it has a link to “Education & Job Requirements” with excellent information on who offers programs and sources of helpful information (like the Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists and its section on “Professions.”)

In our new Canadian playlist, this 2 minute video shows you how to use Working in Canada for education exploration on thecareerkey’s YouTube Channel:

WIC does have an educational program search but I found it doesn’t work well on its own for finding a program. Searching that way for “audiology” brings up 0 results. I believe that is because the word “audiology” is not listed in a program title – so you have to have an exact program name keyword match for this work.

CanLearn

Best for:

• Finding Canadian schools that offer a major or program
• Financial aid information, scholarships

The key to using CanLearn’s program search is to make sure your search terms for a major are broad, choosing a search type of “All Words” and “All Program Information” in advanced search.  The default advanced search is for “Program Names Only” so you’ll likely want to change that, especially if your first search is unsuccessful.

I would recommend using both websites in your research because they offer different information. Make sure to follow their links to professional organizations because sometimes those websites are more up to date and informative.  

Have suggestions for other high-quality online resources for learning more about education options in Canada? Please leave them in the comments. (no spam please!)

Best Online Resources for Learning about College Majors in the U.S.

For students who want to learn about college majors and training programs, we’ve chosen the best online resources with advice on how to use them. Each site has certain advantages depending on what kind of information you are looking for.

Start by narrowing your college majors choices to those that match your Holland personality types. If you make a close personality-major match, studies show you're more likely to succeed in college.  Career Key’s articles help you get started, including these:

• How to choose a major;
• Descriptions of Holland’s six college major environments; with activities on how to find one that fits you; and
• The benefits and challenges of liberal arts majors.

Once you've narrowed your options, you'll want to learn more about each one as part of a good, 4 step decision making process. These websites can help:

BigFuture by the CollegeBoard

Best for:

• Descriptions of a major

How to use it:

• Go to the majors and career exploration page.
• In the box, “Want to explore college majors?” type in a major you want to research.

Look at audiology as an example.  There’s an easy to read description of the major, questions to ask yourself that are related to that major, lists of helpful high school courses, and typical courses offered in the major.  

Occupational Outlook Handbook

Best for:

• “How to Become One” [a career choice],
• Easy to read and understand education and training information for people with specific careers in mind.

How to use it:

•  At their home page, enter an occupation in the top “Search Handbook” box:
• Click on the occupation you want.
• Click on the tab, “How to Become One.” Also click on the tab “Contacts for More Info.” You’ll find links to national organizations that often guide you to more local education sources.
• If you're using the Career Key test, click on the jobs you chose to learn more about to see the Handbook's listing for an occupation.

Education +Training Finder at CareerOneStop.org

Best for:

• Finding local education and training options;
• Finding local education, training, and licensing required for a specific occupation.

How to use it:

• At the Education and Training Finder page, search for an occupation from the “Occupation Profile,” choose your state, and your statewide information will be pulled up;
• Scroll down to Education and Training and you’ll see the types of majors or “instructional programs” related to the career. 
• Go further and you’ll see a link under the “Educational Attainment” box for “colleges, training schools, and instructional programs for this occupation.” Click on it and a list of statewide schools offering the major will be shown. Any links to apprenticeships and training programs will also be shown.

U.S. Department of Education’s College Navigator

Best for:

• Finding a college that offers a particular major or training program;  

College Navigator is an unbiased resource, where no one pays to be listed or promoted.  Watch our short YouTube video on how to use the College Navigator.

Soon, I’ll follow up with a similar post on researching majors and programs in Canada for our Canadian audience.

Tips for Using College Navigator: New Career Key Video

On Career Key's YouTube channel, this new tutorial helps students and adults returning to school find schools that offer the college majors that interest them, using the U.S. Department of Education's College Navigator website.

Once students have narrowed their choices to college majors that match their strongest Holland personality types, they can use College Navigator to find schools that offer those majors.

College Navigator offers a variety of ways to filter searches for colleges and universities - by college major and program of study, zip code, to test scores to name a few. The site also has no ads and no "pay to appear" listings, making it a trustworthy resource.

Similar links that may interest you:
Career Key's YouTube channel playlist: Career Key Tutorials and Demos
Career Key's YouTube channel playlist: Top College Majors Resources: Tutorials
Personality-College Major Match: Why It is Important

New Grand Rapids Community College Majors Resource

Welcome to the newest Career Key College Major Match participant, Grand Rapids Community College! We've created a new college majors resource for GRCC's current and prospective students that lists all GRCC college majors and programs by Holland personality type and Career Key work group.

If you take the Career Key test you can use your scores to find matching GRCC programs at GRCC's new Career Key Match Up web page. If you are a current GRCC student, follow the instructions for taking the test on the page.

What are the advantages to choosing a college major that matches your strongest Holland personality types? Read "Personality-College Major Match - Why It Is Important" or download our free e-book, "Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality; what does the research say?"

To see if your college or university has a College Major Match page, visit the Career Key website's Colleges that Match Up and/or Choose a College Major.