What's New

November, 2009
You can now follow us on some of your favorite social media websites:

• Twitter
• Facebook

July, 2009

• The Career Key Summer 2009 Newsletter is now available for free download, with CK News, new products/updates and CK media coverage. For more information, please visit our Career Key newsletter page.

July, 2008

• The spread of harmful invalid career tests, especially on the internet, is a growing problem attracting national media attention. Top career development news outlets recently took the lead in raising awareness that people are harmed by invalid career tests, matched with careers chosen with no scientific basis. And viewing invalid career tests as "harmless guidance" denies the importance users give their test results while diminishing the credibility of the career development profession.

  In the last six months, Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, author of the popular Career Key public service website and a recognized national expert on career development, wrote three articles in the top career development trade publications read by approximately 30,000 career development professionals nationwide:

  • November/December 2007 issue of School Counselor magazine, "Testing the Test: Career interest tests can be an important tool in a school counselor's repertoire.  Not, however, if the tests aren't valid.  Learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff," published by the American School Counselors Association. For an article download, visit our Press Room.
    
  • May 2008 issue of the national Washington Counseletter, "Special Report: Testing the Test; Harming Students by Using an Invalid Career Test," published by Chronicle Guidance Publications; and
    
  • Summer 2008 issue of NCDA's Career Developments magazine, "Caution: Internet-Based Assessments May Be Hazardous to Your Career," published by the National Career Development Association.

  Concern about harmful career tests has spread to the national media. In the Sunday June 29 column for Tribune Media Services, one of the U.S.'s most well-known career columnists, Joyce Lain Kennedy, wrote about invalid career tests: "Tests Just One Spoke on Career Wheel."  See the column here.

  And MSNBC's career columnist, Eve Tahmincioglu, wrote about The Career Key in her popular blog, Career Diva, listing our tips for choosing the right career test. Check out her post here.

May, 2008

• We are proud to announce the launch of our newest website, Career Key Canada. Canadian users can now take the scientifically valid Career Key test and receive accurate, up to date, and comprehensive Canadian information about matching Canadian jobs that interest them. We also integrated into the Career Key Canada website the best online Canadian resources for occupational information, labour market forecasts, and education options.

December 3 , 2007

We are excited to be in the final stages of launching these new features at both The Career Key™ and the Self-Employment Key™ websites:

• 90-day access to test results and career exploration history; and
• Multi-page downloadable color booklet, "What Your Test Scores Mean"

By December 15, these features will be up and running on the Career Key website. Existing password holders from our group purchase program can continue using the Career Key, except they will also enjoy our new features; an email explaining these changes to our existing group purchasers is coming soon.

Also by December 15, our new Self-Employment Key test will be launched with the same new features. This unique test, along with high-quality self-help modules, helps people decide whether self-employment is right for them and what type of business best fits their personality. In addition to receiving scores for Holland's personality types, users will receive scores for the two personality dimensions most indicative of success in self-employment.

March, 2006

• Updated the occupational information database for the Self-Employment Key website with the new 2006-7 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook. All of the occupational information visitors receive at our website is based on this new data -- the newest and most comprehensive available.

November, 2005

• Research and writing begun on the Self-Employment Key website.