J. Kruse Education Center:
Career Match mobile app
Discover your future with the J. Kruse Education Center Career Match app — a powerful tool designed to connect students and job seekers with personalized career pathways and valuable resources.
Overview
Established in 2011, the J. Kruse Education Center (JKEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to guiding individuals—particularly K-12 students and veterans—in discovering their innate talents and aligning them with fulfilling career paths. Their mission emphasizes immersive, real-world career exploration experiences that ignite passion and drive in young minds. Their education center features immersive PODS that represent each of the 16 key career pathways designed to provide career mentoring and individualized guidance.
The Challenge
JKEC recognized a significant gap in accessible, personalized career exploration tools for their diverse audience. Traditional methods were not sufficiently engaging or tailored to individual needs, making it challenging to effectively guide users in identifying careers that matched their unique skills and interests.
What Clients Needed
To tackle this challenge, we collaborated with JKEC to develop the Career Match mobile app—a personalized career discovery tool. The app includes a free RIASEC assessment, evaluating users’ aspirations, activities, skills, and interests. Upon completion, users receive a detailed RIASEC inventory, helping them understand their career inclinations.
For deeper career exploration, users can opt for professional coaching, which offers tailored guidance on career paths and work-style preferences.
Additionally, students gain access to JKEC’s proprietary 16-career pathways database, featuring:
A comprehensive list of careers across major industries, including salary insights, education requirements, and key skills.
Direct access to schools, training institutions, and businesses, enabling them to explore program admissions, scholarships, and internship opportunities.
The Astra Applications Approach
Astra Applications designed Career Match as a direct response to these challenges. Our development process focused on delivering a user-centric, scalable, and data-driven career exploration platform. The journey to creating Career Match involved the following key phases:
1. Research & Discovery
We collaborated closely with JKEC’s career coaching academy team, career advisors, and end-users to understand the core needs and define the scope of the project. Key insights led us to develop:
- A streamlined aptitude assessment that accurately matches users with career options.
- A dynamic content delivery system for career insights and industry trends.
- A mobile-first design for accessibility across different devices.
2. UX/UI Design
Astra Applications designed an intuitive interface that ensures an engaging user experience. Key design features included:
- Simple and Engaging Navigation – A clean layout guiding users seamlessly through the assessment and results.
- Personalized Home dashboard – Easy and instant access to your assessment results: RIASEC inventory, Clifton Strengths Inventory and MBTI personality type.
- Customization Elements – customizable avatar and privacy settings allows users full control on what they want to share to other users within the JKEC program.
3. Application Development
Using Swift for iOS compatibility, we developed an application that offers:
- AI-powered career matching algorithm – Analyze a user’s profile, career preferences and coaching results to match them to potential careers more aligned to their strengths, interest and personality.
- Pathways – a comprehensive library of career pathways and associated careers with detailed career insights, salary expectations and required skills.
- Career Coaching – apply directly for professional coaching to schedule a 1-on-1, in-person session with JKEC’s team of dedicated and talented coaches.
- Social Networking – Add friends who are also on the JKEC program and share interests and coaching outcomes
4. Integration & Testing
To ensure seamless operation, we:
- Conducted user testing with students to refine the user experience.
- Integrated JKEC’s internal career coaching backoffice system into the app’s career coaching application and results view
- Optimized data security and user privacy to comply with industry standards.
5. Deployment & Continuous Improvement
Following the successful launch, Astra Applications provided ongoing support for:
- User feedback analysis to refine features based on real-world use.
- Performance monitoring to ensure smooth operation and fast response times.
- Feature updates to expand career options, resources and educational pathways.
The Outcome & Impact
The Career Match app has significantly transformed JKEC’s career exploration initiatives:
Increased Engagement
User participation in career planning activities has surged by 70%.
Better Decision-Making
Students and veterans have clearer career roadmaps, reducing uncertainty in career selection.
Scalability
JKEC can now support thousands of users simultaneously, enhancing its reach and impact.
Ready to find your Path?
Astra Applications is proud to have collaborated with JKEC in creating an innovative solution that is redefining career exploration. If your organization is looking to develop a custom SaaS, AI, or mobile application, we’re here to help.
Let’s build the future together. Contact Astra Applications today to discuss your vision and explore how we can turn it into reality.