Why Career Key

Top Problem in Today’s Education and Workforce

Failure to Scale Career Well-Being

Most organizations, from schools to employers, fail to strengthen student and employee career well-being in large numbers.

High school and higher education

  • 67% of college students need one-on-one help choosing a major and setting career goals

  • 19% of college students suffer from high internal and external barriers to career and education decisions

(2024 Student Impact Report, Career Key)

Employment

  • 69% of employees feeling detached from their employer and 17% actively disengaged

  • Only 39% of employees strongly believe someone at work cares about them as a person

  • 50+% are actively seeking or watching for opportunities to leave their employer

(U.S. Employment Sinks to 10-Year Low, Gallup, 2025)

Why career well-being matters

Career well-being, or I like what I do each day, is the most influential element on happiness, also called subjective well-being. (Gallup) It impacts critical human outcomes.

High school through college

  1. College retention,

  2. College completion, and

  3. Postgrad full employment.

Business Learning and Development

  1. Employee engagement,

  2. Employee retention, and

  3. Internal or external career transition success.

Costs of Failure to Scale

The cost of failing to scale student and employee career well-being across your organization is worth your attention.

College Cost to Replace Students

  • $9,000 to $20,000 per student/per year including tuition and cost to recruit a replacement

Student Cost of Underemployment

  • Over 50% of college graduates are underemployed (working in jobs not requiring a bachelor's degree). The two biggest influencers: choice of major, internship during college.

  • College graduates earn 88% more than high school graduates (Talent Disrupted, Burning Glass 2024)

  • Underemployed recent graduates, on average, earn $10,000 less annually than graduates working in college level jobs (The Permanent Detour, Burning Glass and Strada Network 2018)

Employer Cost to Replace Employees

  • 90-200% of an employee’s salary (including recruitment, training, and lost productivity)

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM Report, 2020)

Career Key scales career well-being, saves money and human potential

Career Key’s apps, course materials, and assessments for educators and employers are designed to help more people get better jobs that make them happy.

No other career well-being product maximizes your impact like we do.

The Career Key difference

Best science and practices of career counseling

  • Valid, reliable assessments and 25 years of expertise based on peer-reviewed published research

Personalized, customized, AI-enabled engagement

  • Proprietary content and AI model, specific and accurate

Top Distribution Channels & Technology that Scale

  • Mobile-first Browser App

  • VitalSource and Follett Digital Learning Platform Global Partnerships

  • Learning Tool Interoperability LTI 1.3 Tool in any learning management system (LMS)

Diversity Supplier Certification

  • Nationally certified women-owned enterprise by the gold standard, WBENC

Ready to help all your students and employees be happier?