The Career Key®

Solutions for Parents of Middle School Students

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

Are you wondering how you can help your son or daughter make good decisions – about career pathways, future schooling, and career direction? Career Key can help.

Our respected career personality test, career information, and career advice are based on the best practices and science of career development. And they are very affordable.

The Career Key can help you.

I recommend,

1. Focusing your efforts. Get sound advice from our online article Parent’s Role. It is the key to making the best use of our site.
   
   
2. The Career Key test to spark your child’s exploration and good decision-making. Persons taking the Career Key test assess their six Holland personality types, identify career opportunities that match, get full and accurate information about each one, and download a 4-page interpretive booklet.

   Research shows that a good personality-career match predicts better grades and higher career satisfaction (if you use a valid career test).

   Our paper-pencil version is available through our eBookStore.

   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 Career Cluster, Career Field or Career Pathway that fits your child’s interests. This interactive article clarifies the often confusing concepts of “career clusters and “career pathways”, and helps students match their interests to career clusters and pathways (a close match is a predictor of academic success). It includes a downloadable map showing how the Holland personality types are related to these clusters and pathways.

   This is a major decision that will affect your son or daughter’s future.
   

   “Match Up! encourages a learner-centered interaction between understanding one's key personality types and occupational and training information… [It] will be of great use to students and counselors who need to provide a list of options related to personality in a quick manner... It is a great resource that provides solid information necessary for making effective career decisions.” Read more. Debra Osborn, Ph.D. President-Elect, 2010-2011 National Career Development Association

   
   5 Steps to Choosing the Right Career Cluster, Field, or Pathway provides the full, detailed information needed in a e-book, PDF format. This research-based system is unique to Career Key (read about our ground breaking research in NCDA’s Career Convergence).
   
   

4. Strengthening job skills. During the middle school years, an important part of your son or daughter’s education is learning the job skills needed for work in the future. You know that job skills are what count in the workplace. With marketable skills you are in the driver’s seat. The article The Foundation Skills: Job Skills All Workers Need will help you. And, in The Free Agent Outlook on Work students learn why marketable skills are the key to success.
   
   

5. Making good decisions. Our article Decision Making Process teaches students this essential life and work skill. The ACIP method is practical and based on numerous research studies.
   
   

6. 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.
   Here are a few of our titles:
   Choosing Your College Major
   The 2010 What Job is Best for You?
   What Color are Your Feathers? Holland’s Theory and Your Career
   How Parents Can Help Their Children’s Career Development

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