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.  

Personality-College Major Match Research in NCDA's February Career Convergence

The National Career Development Association (NCDA) looks at "personality-college major match" in the February issue of its web magazine Career Convergence, in the feature article, "Research Reveals that Personality-Major Match Strengthens Students' College Success."  In it, Career Key author Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, NCC describes the impact that personality and Holland's college major environments have on college performance.

The article also refers to two important, free white papers in an e-book format that explain the research and how to apply it to career and education decisions:

• "Personality-College Major Match and Student Success"(2011), (cover at left), a 28-page guide for professionals, and
• "Choosing a College Major Based on Your Personality: What does the research say?" (2010), a 29-page guide for students, adults returning to school, and parents.  

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

"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:

1. Consider all the Alternatives,
2. Weigh the Consequences of each,
3. Search for Information about each choice, and
4. 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.

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...

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

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:

1. Personality-College Major Match, Why it is Important - recommendations on matching your Holland personality to majors;
2. The Holland College Major Environments - how they are created and a description of what the six Holland environments are; and
3. 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