Despite the Strong Job Market, New Survey Reports Surprising Findings That 80% of College Grads Do Not Have Solid Job Prospects and 67% of Recent Grads Looking for Jobs Say That They Are Not Confident about Their Career Choices.

NEW YORK -- CareerDNA:

--CareerDNA, a new online service, created to bridge the gap between jobs and graduates, using a unique digital talent and career assessment process that matches people's passions to jobs

--Service is aimed at giving college graduates detailed and tailored guidance and direction beyond graduation, when they need it most

CareerDNA (careerdna.net) announced today a new service that provides the first digital mentoring and career coaching center that will help recent college graduates get a job they will love based on their individual traits and talents. The process is based on the premise that successful careers start with loving one's work; yet finding the right match between talents and a job can be a frustrating process with significant implications for an individual's entire career and life's work. Instead of trial, error and luck, CareerDNA is designed to provide scientific and psychological analysis that provides users with a strong understanding of how their unique dispositions, talents and experience can be applied to very specific career and job options.

Before launching the site, CareerDNA commissioned a research study from Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) on the status of career selection and job searches for college graduates. The study revealed that despite the strong job market, there appears to be widespread anxiety and confusion among graduates about what job prospects are best for them.

--On the eve of graduation, a surprising 80% of seniors say they have not lined up a job

--67% of graduating seniors say they're not confident in their chosen career path. Even for those who do have jobs lined up more than two in five (42%) are concerned that their just adopted career path doesn't fit with their interests, skills and talents

--College career centers do not appear to have been well used by graduates. 65% of graduating seniors say they've never bothered to use their college career center; instead have turned to professors (83%), parents (75%) and friends (67%) for the bulk of their career advice

--Despite the vibrant job market, and perhaps because of the lack of career planning and effective job searching, nearly one-third of college seniors (31%) say they plan to live with their parents after graduation

"Our research confirms what parents already know: that college graduates are often "clueless" about their career direction, and are really worried about getting it right. With the new structure to the workforce - i.e. the free agency economy - there is a profound need for effective and affordable career mentoring, which we as parents struggle to provide. That's why we created Career DNA," says Rod Parker, CEO CareerDNA and parent.

CareerDNA is based on the unique practice of successful career counselor Dr. Brian A. Schwartz who has spent the past 30 years effectively and dramatically counseling thousands on their career development. With the revolution of the Internet and information technology, Dr. Schwartz's vision was to provide his services to young graduates who would not have the funds to pay for personal career counseling, yet would benefit significantly by this matchmaking process of talents, values and interests to careers. Dr. Schwartz engaged developers to program his distinctive approach, which led to the development of Career DNA. The program uses an unprecedented assessment tool to identify a user's personality type and temperament, skills, values and interests that are then analyzed and matched to those careers that would be the best fit for the user.

"In 1977, I developed a career planning process which integrated a client's psychological type and temperament, most enjoyed skills derived from best life experiences as well as work values and occupational interests. I have worked with over 1700 individual clients who went through that full process at a cost of thousands of dollars, but I have always wanted to make quality career counseling available to anyone who could afford a nominal fee. Today, with the CareerDNA service, that dream of democratizing career counseling and planning is now possible," says Dr. Brian A. Schwartz.

CareerDNA has four key components:

Self-Assessment and Validation 

Using a fast easy set of interactive assessment tools, CareerDNA quickly identifies users' psychological type and temperament, skills, values and interests in an engaging and user-friendly format.

Career Finder

CareerDNA inputs all of the information from the self-assessment and validation modules into a state-of-the-art career finder and validator, which targets specific careers and jobs.

Marketing

Career DNA offers digital tools to facilitate the user's ability to effectively market themselves based on their target job selections. This marketing plan includes:

--Development of career goals

--Foundation for a draft passion-based resume

--Foundation for a compelling cover letter

--Elevator pitch

--Personalized answers to top five interview questions

Digital Coaching with Peter Weddle--Coach P and Dr. Brian A. Schwartz--In addition to Dr. Brian A. Schwartz, CareerDNA has partnered with one of the top career experts in the United States, Peter Weddle, who will serve as Coach P. Both will offer valuable guidance in the form of ongoing bi-weekly coaching emails, guiding users through topics such as:

--Using the Internet effectively for a job search

--What you need to know about job boards

--All time best tips for interviews

--Self-esteem-the key to career success

--Effectively managing your boss

"Recent college graduates have this notion that all they need to do to get a job is post their resume on the Internet and a job will appear. The reality is that only happens about 5% of the time, which is about as effective as answering the classified ads in past years. There are many online resources that graduates need to learn about and how to use. CareerDNA helps users navigate the breadth of resources available on the net, and does so effectively to find the right career fit," says Peter Weddle, author and publisher. "The jobs are there, graduates just need good coaching advice to get to them."

CareerDNA (careerdna.net) is the first digital mentoring and career coaching center that takes a user through a process of self discovery providing an understanding of personality type and temperament, skills, values and interests and then maps these findings to a career path that truly fits the user.

CareerDNA draws on the clinical practice of Dr. Brian A. Schwartz, an accomplished career counselor with over 30 years of practical career development experience. Dr. Schwartz's unique discovery and assessment process has a proven record of success, serving over 5,000 clients. Further, Dr. Schwartz has assembled a team of leading clinical experts to support him in translating his process into an online application.

CareerDNA is available for $49.95 for the first 12 months; with a $19.95 annual renewal fee. The offline equivalent of a career counselor/mentor would be in excess of $5,000.