The Career Key®

Solutions for Adults Changing Careers

Download free resources like "Choose a College Major Based on Your Personality"

Thinking about changing your career? Wondering which would fit you best? A close personality match is vital. Our valid, career personality test will help you. You will also get accurate career information, and sound career advice. All are based on the best practices and science of career development.

I recommend,

1. Reading our career advice. Our articles Job Satisfaction and Career Change and our popular e-book, The 2010 What Job is Best for Me? will give you a solid foundation for making a good decision.
   
   
2. Taking the Career Key personality test. When you take the Career Key career test you assess the strength of your six Holland personality types and identify matching occupations. This also leads to matching your personality to majors and training programs, a vital step (more on this in #3 below).

   You get full and accurate information about each career option, and download a 4-page interpretive booklet. Research shows that a good personality-career match is a predictor of job satisfaction and success (assuming you use a valid career test).

   Simplicity, practicality, and validity are Career Key’s strengths. It takes about 15 minutes; results are immediate; and there are no complicated tables or abstract concepts to understand.  It also provides a gateway to services unique to Career Key, like the following:
   

3. Choosing a College Major or Training Program that fits your personality. In this article you learn how to make this match following a 4 - step process.  A close personality-major match is vital.  It is one of the predictors of academic success and satisfaction – grades earned and graduation. The companion e-book, Match Up! Your Personality to College Majors, links the Holland personality types to all 1300+ college majors and training programs. It is the first to do this (more on our ground breaking research).
   

4. Identifying and strengthening your job skills. As you know, job skills are what count in the workplace. Are you thinking about going back to school to strengthen them? The Foundation Skills: Job Skills All Workers Need article describes those that experts consider essential.

   "A brief thank-you for your career-guide site. I am a mid-life career switcher, being currently on disability from my previous career as a Computer Systems Architect/Programmer. As I will not be able to return to that, I'm investigating alternatives. Your site was very helpful. Thanks." -- Peter (MA)

   The Free Agent Outlook on Work describes six basic principles that guide the “free agent” worker – an essential primer for today’s workplace, where marketable skills are the key to success. Identify Your Skills and Make Them Work for You follows up with sound advice and practical steps.
   

5. Making good decisions. Decision Making Process describes the essential steps in making a good decision. The ACIP method is practical and based on many research studies. The evidence clearly shows that the more you use these steps, the less likely you will regret your decision later. Use it in making your decision about changing your career.
   
   
6. Learning about Holland’s Theory of Career Choice. This article is one of our most popular. Career development professionals and their clients praise its clarity and practical applications. And, literally hundreds of studies show that the theory has a solid scientific foundation. Our e-book, What Color are Your Feathers?, describes his theory and expands on how to apply it to career and educational choices.
   
   
7. Visiting our eBookStore. We offer many high quality publications. All are
   offered in a “green”, sustainable PDF file that you download to your computer. Your purchase is an important way to support our efforts.

Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC President, Career Key.