DISCOVER Career Guidance and Information System

DISCOVER a world of career opportunities!

The concept is simple. DISCOVER® provides information to help people make important career and educational decisions.

  • Discover is the most comprehensive computerized career guidance program available.
  • Those who use it invest 4 hours total (3 at home and 1 with the career counselor).
  • Discover users receive detailed information about their interests, abilities, values, preferred job characteristics, and best choices for career.
  • Discover includes three research-based assessments of career-relevant interests, abilities, and job values to help individuals consider career options that are a good match for them.
  • DISCOVER's guidance process provides a way for individuals to make good decisions in choosing a career and creating a plan to make it happen.
  • The system offers complete, current databases of occupations and college majors.

Distinctive Features and Benefits

What sets DISCOVER apart from other career programs?

Developmental guidance process

Helps individuals identify their strengths and needs and build a plan based on their personal profiles.

Online and paper inventories

Provides economical and efficient assessments of an individual's career-relevant interests, job values, and abilities.

Research and theoretical bases

Gives you confidence that the information provided to individuals is valid and correct for them.

World-of-Work Map 

Organizes vast amounts of information about occupations into six clusters, based on primary work tasks, that can help individuals focus on preparing for meaningful and appropriate employment.

Direct access to information

Supports quick and easy retrieval of current, comprehensive, meaningful information.

Occupation database

Provides detailed information about hundreds of occupations in the current U.S. labor market, with many ways to search the database. Related military occupations are also provided.

Educational options

Helps individuals identify postsecondary education or training alternatives for their career choice.

Administrator reports

Helps monitor the amount and type of system use by individuals and by groups, tracks individuals' career plans, provides lists of individuals by occupational cluster or interest, and much more.

Research Connections

In contrast to most other computer-delivered career planning systems, DISCOVER makes extensive research-based documentation available to users.

 DISCOVER Makes a Difference!
A review of the research supporting DISCOVER's effectiveness in career exploration and planning (PDF; 4 pages, 170KB; for assistance, see these downloading tips)

DISCOVER materials and information are copyrighted by ACT, Inc. and are being used with permission. DISCOVER is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.