New Computer System Helps Kids Pick Career

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Story Published: Sep 24, 2008 at 5:26 PM MST

Story Updated: Dec 18, 2008 at 3:00 PM MST

By Anthony Congi

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IDAHO FALLS - The Idaho Career Information System held a workshop at Eastern Idaho Tech College in Idaho Falls to introduce it's newest computer system, CIS Junior.

Counselors and teachers were on hand to learn the program geared toward middle schoolers.

The idea is to make the kids aware of many different options in a variety of fields.

"We're not trying to pin them down currently as to what they want to do. But really expose them to lots of different things so they can make an educated decision later on," says CIS Administrator Christie Stoll.

The system has what's called 'career cluster inventories' which shows what career group the kid most identifies with.

From there, they can look up different occupations, level of training needed, information about specific jobs, how much they pay, and what classes they should think about taking.

"It's a different animal, a different system than the high school or agency system because elementary students have different needs because they're younger and they have different needs," says Stoll.

The test is a series of questions that range from: do you like to go fishing, do you enjoy building shelves, planning trips or being in the school play? You answer: like very much, like, dislike or unsure.

So I decided to try it out myself. After about 80 questions, I scored the highest in audio visual technology or communications and Government or Public Administration. Sounds like me perfectly.

But how about our morning crew, are they in the jobs they should be in? Sarah Schwabe and Tommy Noel both took the test to find out.

"Be the banker when playing board games. Like very much. Cause sometimes I can cheat," Schwabe jokes.

Lucky for our us, Sarah didn't go into banking.

But she did rate the highest in law, public safety and security.

Tommy scored the most in government and administration,

"I never saw myself in politics or heading a city, being a mayor," said Tommy.

So maybe we didn't help Sarah or Tommy, but hopefully many students will find the program helps them. The program should be in schools later this year.

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