Idaho’s Career Information System is not just for kids. The free, customized online tool also helps adults stay on a solid path toward a successful future while they are in school, training or pursuing a new career.

Students and adults with career plans are more likely to stay in school, pursue a higher education and once they enter the world of work, see greater promotional opportunities. Accessing Idaho’s Career Information System is free and can help both parents and children:

• Understand how interests and strengths connect to the world of work
• Define a career path
• Decide areas of study to pursue in middle/junior high, high school and college
• Find the training, education, knowledge – and money – necessary for following their dreams.

The website is designed to help a wide variety of Idaho audiences make informed career decisions by delivering Idaho and national education, career and labor market information in a user-friendly, online format.

In 2010 the core content of Idaho’s Career Information System was made available to the public and Idaho schools free of charge. Today, the only fees involved are for clients who purchase additional products like the portfolios and skill assessments.

More than 420 sites – elementary schools, college career centers, nearly every high school in the state and the Idaho Department of Labor – use the system to help job seekers, adults and youth assess their skills and plan careers.  Other organizations also use the system, including Professional Technical Education, Juvenile Corrections, the Idaho Department of Correction, Adult Basic Education, the Industrial Commission and more.

Idaho’s Career Information System is part of the department’s Communication & Research Division. The system’s services support the state’s goals of effective achievement testing, increased high school graduation rates, higher post-secondary educational attainment and the acquisition of skills needed for the workplace. It also addresses several state mandates including the development of Student Learning Plans and the teaching of skills necessary for students to enter the workforce.

A series of workshops are held each fall to educate and inform teachers and career counselors throughout Idaho about changes and enhancements to the system, which this year, included a new interface and improved password security system.

National Career Development Month was highlighted this month during a November 15 proclamation signing and awards ceremony hosted by Lt. Governor Brad Little.