Kuder test to aid students in planning possible careers
Warren County students will get a jump in career planning after the school system received a three-year grant from HCA, Inc. to implement the Kuder Career Planning System, the latest in career assessment technology.
More than a mere career interest test, the Kuder system gives students an interactive interest inventory, a skills assessment and a work values inventory, all of which takes approximately 20 minutes on the Internet.
After completion, it only takes about 30 seconds to generate results which provide students with a composite report detailing the consistencies in the relationship of their interests and skills based on one of the seven career clusters. Additionally, it provides participants information and suggestions on how to proceed with career exploration and planning, including high school and post-secondary course suggestions, based on the individual results.
The composite report also provides tools, including specific Internet links, to help students in various ways such as finding out more about their career interests, college searches and obtaining financial aid.
One of the more interesting aspects of the Kuder system, said school system vocational director Jerry Stubblefield, is that it stores all test data and other personal educational data in an electronic portfolio which can be accessed and updated by students any time with school transcripts, projects and other resources, even after they graduate high school.
“With Kuder we can get real, objective information to help parents, students and school counselors to draw up reasonable six-year plans,” Stubblefield said.
Students will take the test three times during their school careers – before the eighth, 10th and 12th grades – in order to refine their career choices as their interests change.
The Kuder Career Planning System will complement several career planning tools already used by the school system, including job shadowing and a career fair for eighth and 11th graders.