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Company Profile

Career Dimensions was founded in 1987 by Dr. Frank J. Minor, (Ph.D., Industrial/Organizational Psychology). Our executive staff consists of Counseling and Industrial Psychologists, College Professors, Human Resource Management specialists, and High School Educators, with Ph.D., M.Ed., and MA degrees and with membership in the American School Counselors Association (ASCA), National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE), the National Career Development Association (NCDA), Association for Computer-Based Systems for Career Information (ACSCI), the American Psychological Association (APA), and The Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Our administrative and advising offices are located in Mahwah, NJ, Brewster, NY, New Fairfield, CT, Moultonborough, NH, and a Technical Support Center located in Newton Center, MA.
History
FOCUS is currently one of the most widely used career planning systems in the USA according to a national survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE, Summer 2000 Journal of Career Planning & Employment, Page 46). A survey by The University of Michigan and publications by the American Psychological Association report that FOCUS is the "most preferred system, easiest to use, most affordable and most liked by users.
The FOCUS: Career and Education Planning System© is a byproduct of the IBM Corporation's Education & Career Exploration System (ECES) for use in high schools, and the IBM Employee Development Planning System (EDPS) for use by adults in career transition. The two IBM systems which dated back to the 1960's were considered state of the art pioneering efforts that helped define the field of Computer Based Career Exploration And Planning.
The development team for the IBM systems consisted of: Professor Donald E. Super, who was the chief architect of the design of all of our systems. Professor Super of Columbia University is the career theorist who postulated the "Career Life Span, Life Space Theory", Professor Roger A. Myers of the Columbia University, former president of the American Psychological Association Division of Counseling Psychology, Professor David Campbell, co-developer of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and the Campbell Interest & Skill Inventory, Professor David Tiedeman, of Harvard University, career theorist and designer of the Harvard "Career Information System For Decision Making ", and Dr. Frank Minor, IBM Psychologist who proposed the IBM career systems and led the development team.
The IBM ECES system development effort took place in the IBM Advanced Systems Development Division in Yorktown Heights, New York. Students Self-assessments focused on interests, values and educational preferences. The first ECES system was launched in high schools in New Jersey where a formal evaluation was conducted by a Columbia University Teachers College team directed by Professor Donald E. Super. An enhanced version of ECES was installed in high schools and colleges in the state of Michigan with funding provided by the Charles Stuart Mott Foundation of Flint Michigan. Here again the Columbia University Teachers College team conducted research studies to evaluate the effectiveness the ECES system.
Upon retiring from I.B.M in 1987, Dr. Frank Minor, received the exclusive rights to the materials from the earlier IBM systems, and subsequently launched FOCUS I© in 1989, and FOCUS II© in 1995 as stand-alone PC based career planning systems for use in colleges and universities. In 1999, development began for an internet based version of FOCUS. The current version of FOCUS was first released in 2001 and draws upon the best features of the IBM systems, the earlier versions of FOCUS, and the most recent research and technology in the field of computer based career exploration and planning. Regular enhancements have continued to this day, and work is currenltly underway for the next major release of FOCUS which is scheduled for the fall of 2006.
 
 
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