The Perfect Career - Career Counseling Program Copyright 1989 David Batterson Choosing or changing a career is a hot topic these days. It seems that many of us are unhappy with our job, and are looking for that "greener grass" on the other side of the street. The labor market has shifted dramatically. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that "industries providing services will account for nearly 4 out of 5 jobs by the year 2000." Service jobs are growing the fastest, while those in manufacturing, mining and agriculture continue to decrease. The Perfect Career was created by James C. Gonyea, a specialist in the area of educational and career guidance. He has "personally counseled over 13,000 students and adults" in career planning and job placement. The program is set up for either high school/college students with little or no work experience ("Interest Inventory"), or for adults with work experience ("Interest/Ability Inventory"). It also applies to other situations, such as women reentering the workforce, mid-life career changers, dislocated workers, and senior citizens. The Perfect Career is easy to use, although I didn't like all the command keys (more on that later). The first step is to indicate your interest and/or ability in 12 general career fields, rating from 4 (highest) to 1 (lowest). Next you answer 180 questions related to a wide variety of job functions, on a scale of 3 down to 1. Again, you indicate both interest and/or ability. Your answers are then analyzed, to see what you should be doing for a living. After my own testing, The Perfect Career suggested a number of career choices, including writer, editor, artist, critic and computer operator! No surprises there, as I've done them all. There are colorful bar charts to show your strengths and weaknesses. The manual also includes printed forms to help with followup action. Now about those software commands. When moving between screen pages, you'd expect to use and . But with this program, you "PRESS F TO MOVE FORWARD." Likewise you use "B" to go back. It's kind of awkward. Another inappropriate command involves the cursor keys. You have to use the DOWN arrow to move ACROSS the two columns where you indicate your numbered choices. It should be the RIGHT arrow key instead. It's not intuitive! The bottom of the screen contains the instruction line. It's red letters on black; too dark, and not a good color choice to draw your attention. Also, When you are selecting numbers from a menu, it would be quicker if there were a cursor bar to move--selected with --rather than typing a number. Some displayed commands, like , properly use the angle brackets. But is indicated as Esc. There needs to be more consistency. If a program doesn't use common commands, it becomes a chore to use. It's unfortunate when software publishers pay more attention to content than the program's user interface. Both parts are equally important. There's a technical error in the manual. It says to make a backup copy, and then "boot the program." Unless you have created a bootable backup disk-- using FORMAT A:/s to copy the operating system files to the disk--that's an incorrect term. You just run the program; you don't "boot" it! The Perfect Career is useful, but won't take the place of a professional career counselor, as Gonyea admits. Use it first, then take the results of your testing to a career specialist; it'll save time. The program requires 256K, and CGA, EGA or Hercules graphics; suggested list price is $39.95. For more information, contact Mindscape, Inc.., 3444 Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL 60062; 800-221-9884, 312-480-1938. # David Batterson writes articles and reviews on PC hardware and software. Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON