Career Key Solution for Educators

We know you want to prepare your students for the future – to help them in their career planning, in making good career choices. So do we.

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

The Career Key recommend...,

Career Key Solution for Parents

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....

Career Key for Students

Are you wondering, “What will I do when I grow up? What subjects will I study in high school? College? What kind of work will I do?”

Middle and primary school is a good time to begin asking these questions. It is a good time to explore . . . to learn about jobs and college/university/training options. And, it can be fun and interesting!

It also begins to get serious. For example, at the end of eighth grade many students must start the process of choosing college or university preparation classes for high school. You and your parents will want to learn about this and make a good decision.

The Career Key can help you. We recommend....

Interview with Raza Abbas – Pioneer of Institutional Career Counseling in Pakistan

I've recently got an opportunity to interview Mr. Raza Abbas, Global Career Practitioner who has the honor of being the pioneer of professionalizing career counseling and career guidance in Pakistan. He consistently presents diverse research papers at premier international career counseling and career guidance conferences in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. He has acquired more than a decade of experiences in career guidance, career counseling, career development, human resources and leadership development.

Career Assessment for Students

Are you wondering, “What will I do when I grow up? What subjects will I study in high school? College? What kind of work will I do?”

Middle and primary school is a good time to begin asking these questions. But you can start asking these questions at secondary and college level too. It is a good time to explore . . . to learn about jobs and college/university/training options. And, it can be fun and interesting!

It also begins to get serious. For example, at the end of eighth grade many students must start the process of choosing college or university programs and its related courses in high school. You and your parents will want to learn about this and make a good decision.

The Career Key can help you. We recommend,

Networking - 5 Steps for Building Your Network

Networking can be very helpful to your career. The idea is to develop a network of friendly people who share information to help each other. It is best known as a strategy for opening the hidden job market, for getting a good job. Since many jobs (some would say most) are not advertised, it is essential that you develop friendly relationships with people who can tip you off to job openings -- perhaps even introduce you to the person who is doing the hiring. There is some truth in,

"It's not what you know, but who you know."

Networking has other benefits. You are creating a community of people who support each other, who provide emotional support and information that will help each other. You will learn of new developments in your field: new tools, processes, leaders, training programs, products and services. You may discover the solution to a problem you face at work. And, you may have the satisfaction of providing the key piece of information that makes a real difference in the life of one of those in your network.

Networking is a planned, and ongoing effort. You set goals, develop strategies for achieving them, take action, evaluate how well your plan is working, and make changes as necessary. It is something that you do throughout your career.

To build an effective network, you need both formal and informal networks in place. Formal networks are the type you actually join, usually with dues and regular meetings. These could include a professional association, a group like the Youths' Club, or an association of school graduates. Informal networks may include friends you run into at an annual holiday party, social gathering, friends you keep up with from a former job, people from your mosque, church or temple, or the people you met while you are on picnic. A good network contains both types and has a healthy mix of both business and social conditions.

Here are five steps for building your network:

Choosing a College Program Based on Your Personality

“Choose a college or university program based on your personality and interests.” That is what the research shows over the past many years. Research studies also demonstrate that with a good personality-program match you are likely to,

• Earn higher grades,
• Stay with your program of choice,
• Graduate on time, and
• Be more satisfied and successful in your career.

Obviously you don’t want to ignore those findings and jeopardize your career!

There are different strategies you can adopt to make a good decision and match your personality with the right career. 

1. Take a scientifically valid interest inventory or career test that measures your Holland personality types;
2. Use a valid list of programs/majors organized by Holland personality types to identify those most likely to fit your personality;
3. Learn about the environment for each program that interests you;
4. Use similar strategies to choose a career field; and
5. Make your choice using a 4 step decision-making process.

Recent studies show that a good personality-program match is related to college success.
Generally, the better the match the better students do.

Certainly, there are other factors to consider in choosing a college or university program, but personality-program match is one of the most important.


This blog has been adapted from the article written by Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC