North Carolina State University News Services Box 7504 Raleigh, NC 27695 (919) 515-3470
Media Contacts: Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, 919/515-6359 or [email protected]
Debbi Sykes Braswell, News Services, 919/515-3470 or
June 3, 1997
NC State Professor Makes ëCareer Key' Available on the Web
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Trying to figure out what kind of career you want to pursue is hard enough. But it can also be expensive to get help.
That's why Dr. Lawrence K. Jones at North Carolina State University has placed on the Internet a career interest evaluation and other helpful materials that people can use for free. The site, called The Career Key, allows anyone from middle school students to adults to get help identifying their career interests. The service is usually only available through a school or a professional career counselor.
"This was not readily available to people, and yet we know a lot of people have questions about career options and what they want to do," said Jones, who is a professor of counselor education at NC State.
In a 1993 Gallup survey, more than 70 percent of the adult workers interviewed said they would have gotten more information about their career options if they had a chance to start over. More than half said that high schools don't give enough attention to helping students choose careers and develop job skills.
The paper version of Jones' measure of career interests is being tried now by schools across the state. Individuals can download a camera-ready copy from the Internet site at http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/l/lkj/. Also, non-profit groups such as schools can print multiple copies with no licensing fees, royalties or other charges.
Interest is already broad. Counselors in Spain, Ghana and South Africa have told Jones they are interested in creating a similar World Wide Web site of their own.
The Career Key, which is based on the work of leading career psychologist John Holland, helps people identify which of six personality types best describe them: realistic, social, investigative, enterprising, artistic and conventional. After learning that, people are directed to a list of jobs likely to fit their personalities. They can then call up information about these jobs. Someone who scored high in the artistic category, for example, might learn about being a singer, dancer, composer or graphics designer.
The Internet site, which Jones continues to expand, includes a variety of supportive material, such as a segment about how to make wise career decisions. He also plans to add a segment about job skills.
One of The Career Keys' unique features is the way it links to the Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook, which Jones says is the "premier source" of information about jobs. It gives details such as training requirements, earnings and the employment outlook for hundreds of jobs. Those who visit The Career Key site can find out specifically about those jobs Career Key--3 that interest them.
Jones said the Career Key is not intended to replace career counselors or school counselors. Instead, he hopes it will help people -- regardless of their income or location -- learn to understand themselves better and find jobs that fit them best.
It is a well-known principle, Jones said, that workers' performance and satisfaction can be predicted by how well their jobs match their personalities and job skills.
He says The Career Key may be helpful for people who have been laid off from a job or who want to change careers. It may especially benefit students in school systems that can't afford to regularly offer career testing because of the cost.
Jones is receiving some funding for pilot tests in North Carolina schools through the North Carolina State Occupational Information Coordinating Committee. Nancy MacCormac, the executive director, said that part of the beauty of Jones' career test is its simplicity.
"There is a real place for something that is not too complex or too lengthy and could be used to supplement other assessment instruments," MacCormac said. "I think there's potential."
--braswell--
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