New app aims to help SA kids decide on a career

Choosing a career path is far from easy, especially when you’re still a teenager who barely knows what they want to do over the weekend. A new app, launched by education company Via Afrika aims to remove a little of that friction.

Called CareerCompass, the app is available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets and aims to help young people to gain insight into the careers they are best suited for. It also aims to help them get an idea of current job opportunities that are currently available for a particular career.

The app, which is available in Afrikaans as LoopbaanKompas can also be used in a web browser on a computer.

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According to Via Afrika there are a few distinct uses for the app:

• You can take each of the five quizzes to find out which careers are the best fit for you, based on your interests and aptitudes.
• You can select your existing subjects to get a sense of which careers your subject choice opens up for you.
• You can browse through a growing list of careers to see which school subjects are the most relevant to that field, and find currently available jobs online to see how big the market is for that specific career.

“With the incredible competition for jobs out there, learners require every bit of assistance possible to prepare for their futures,” Via Afrika CEO Christina Watson says, explaining why Via Afrika created this app.

“We worked with industry experts to develop an app which gives learners the tools they need to see which doors are open to them, based on their interests and aptitudes, giving them the best possible advantage when it comes to their next steps,” she adds.