Counselor's Responses to Tough Questions

1. "Why have you elected to use CareerWay? What other systems did you consider or what system were you using prior to CareerWay? "
   

2. "What are some of the top features that you're impressed with about CareerWay? "
   

3. "What classification of student is this assessment best suited for?"
   

4. "Do you find this system overwhelming for the student who is unfocused and has limited career knowledge? "
   

   Answer

   I'd be more than happy to answer your questions. You sound as though you have a little of the same skepticism that I had when I first reviewed the CareerWay system. My first impression was that it was a bit overwhelming, and that it took too long to complete all of the assessments.

   What I did initially at that point was to look at everything else out there, or at least what most other schools were using. To answer your first question, we were currently using SIGI Plus in a stand alone computer system, which I wasn't completely happy with. We were sent a copy of their newest on-line version which had some of the bells and whistles, but the core information was the same, and by most standards, quite outdated. We also looked at Choices, which was too broad, and Discover, which seemed to be targeted at the high school level at best.

   We were in the middle of this research when I happened to attend a conference where CareerWay was exhibited. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and take another look at it, and with a critical viewpoint, asked the questions I had earlier. First, I was impressed by the capabilities of CareerWay, and the fact that it only has to be as complex as you want it to be. An individual didn't have to do all six assessments to get the answers they need; some do, but most do not.

   The next thing that I really liked was that it worked well with other assessments we use. As a counselor, you know that there is no one single assessment tool that provides the entire picture, and so whether you also use the SDS, or the Strong, the first assessment in CareerWay picks up where they leave off. In this way, CareerWay can either work by itself, or as a completely compatible and complimentary system to other things you might use.

   Then there was the ability to do realtime research right within the system. I can see occupations that match my interests, motivations, and/or activities, but beyond that, I can also see why or why not occupations completely match, and use that information to make very informed decisions. I can further research occupations that keep "popping" up on lists as matches to find out specific information about those occupations like what exactly does a particular occupation do, what environment do they do it in, what's the outlook, what can I expect to make, what do I need to do to prepare for the occupation, where can I find more information, and are there any actual jobs out there right now that I can look at. Its awesome! I was almost sold at that point, and I can tell you, most students I walk through the system are sold at that point.

   The clincher though was this. I was a bit skeptical about self-service career counseling. This system is available to students on-line and I wondered how I would ever be able to make sure they were getting the personal guidance they needed and quite frankly, how would I keep them coming to our office for that guidance. Then I heard the "High Tech-High Touch" part of the presentation. Careerway sets up a management site where you can see who uses the system and gives you there e-mail address. I love it because I can communicate with the students using it that didn't come through the office, offering our services to help them with whatever there particular career concerns are.

   I think that already answered question #2 as well. As far as question #3, it works for everyone. Most of the students that I see fall into two general categories. Either they are younger and trying to decide on a major, or they are upperclassmen who are getting into their job search. The third group of clients that I see generally fall into the alumni from 5-15 years ago, looking for a career change.

   For the first group, I walk them through the system, and do the first assessment with them. I encourage them to do the motivations and activities assessments on their own, but tell them to avoid the KSA assessments. My usual line here is that the KSAs will only tell them what they are in college for, so until they have narrowed their focus on a specific career field at least, not to worry about those.

   The second group is more interested in seeing what's out there right now, so I get them into the system and into the career research/job search functions, along with pointing out the decision making and planning tools. I also encourage them to do the first three assessments right away to get a good look at how well the different occupations may or may not fit, and then I encourage them to do the KSA assessments to identify any gaps they might have, especially ones that they might have the opportunity to bridge using internships, elective classes, senior projects, etc.

   The third group is usually willing to take more time. They tend to want to be more sure or more careful in making a career decision then perhaps they were the first time around. In this case, I work through the entire system over a series of sessions. This is however, the minority of my appointment schedule.

   These of course a very generalized groups, and each individual is has individualized needs. I try to be very careful not to give anyone a cookie cutter counseling session, and CareerWay helps with this. The system is designed to be completely functional, regardless of whether you've done 1 or all 6 assessments. None of the other systems we used or researched had this type of flexibility.

   I think that I've answered the 4th question already, but let me reiterate. I've not ever had anyone I've walked through the system feel overwhelmed, only impressed. The ones that I've talked to who were overwhelmed are the ones who attempted to use the system without any assistance, and it was easy to clear up any confusion they had after they responded to my e-mail or perhaps came in for an appointment. The level of overwhelming is statistically impossible to measure, because there are a lot of students who use the system on-line who do not respond to the e-mailing, so I'm sure that there is a group out there who is potentially confused, but in doing career services presentations to classrooms and to other student organizations, I routinely hear how much different students liked that "online career thing" on our web site, and I never received an e-mail from them either.

   I hope this has helped. If you have any additional questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them. Now I know that I'm only one professional, but the bottom-line from this career counselor is that I think CareerWay is an outstanding tool, far superior to the others who consider themselves competition.

   --- Ken Schueller Career Counselor, CMSU