When I began my career as a counselor, a phone and good communication skills were two of the biggest assets I had. Later, it boggled my mind how any school counselor with a computer (which means just about every one of them!) could be ineffective in helping students with career planning. When you search "student career inventories", you get over 200 thousand results! The trick is picking out a good one and here's where the counselor should come in. I'll review three possibilities of good places to start to help assess a middle/high school student's career interests. Remember to check with your/your child's counselor to see what they suggest and if the school district offers this service to their students.
Strong Career Tests/Interest Inventories are available at http://www.discoveryourpersonality.com/.
The site gives a complete list of career tests they offer and a video gives advice as to which test might be right for you/your child. The Strong Interest Inventory Profile with High School Profile is very comprehensive and includes suggestions as to which high school courses correspond to the individual's areas of interest. A sample of a profile may be viewed online. This option is pretty pricey at $110 for each inventory but the reports are very detailed and easy to understand. The price includes an optional phone consultation to answer any questions you may have.
A much more affordable option is available for $18 plus tax at http://psychcorp.pearsonassessments.com/. The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey focuses on careers that require some post secondary education. It is geared to students 15 and older with a 6th grade reading level. It includes interest and self-rated skill items. It takes between 25-40 minutes and doesn't need to be completed in one computer session. Having people self-rate their skills may skew the results, but I like the fact that the ability component is at least taken into account. The students can access a twenty page printable report with results of their interests and abilities in various occupations/occupational areas. An eighteen page Career Planner is also part of the package.
An even more affordable option (You can't beat FREE!!!) is to use http://www.college.gov/, a website run by the Federal Department of Education. While I don't like the implied emphasis on college, as not everyone should or need go, a student can use this site as a portal to CareerOneStop. This site is run by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The student is taken to a page that asks them if they are interested in: Math; Reading: Science; Social Studies; Music and Arts; Building and Fixing Things; Helping People; Computers; Law; Managing Money; Sports or Nature. This site can be used in conjunction with the results of an interest invenory or alone. It taps into what a student might already find interesting or things she feels she does well. It's so easily navigable and readable that students might explore pages and careers that they formerly hadn't thought of.
In honor of Labor Day, I'm taking next Wednesday off - how oxymoronic! (If you think teaching is easy, notice how many parents are smiling more broadly as September 1 approaches!) On September 8, I'll discuss this Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) site in more depth and how to use the information it provides.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Eighth Grade - The End of Middle School Madness Part II
I began my career by teaching middle school students. The fact that I stayed in education for more than three decades after that first year is still a source of pride - like having made it as a Navy Seal!
Middle schoolers are the most odious of creatures. Seventh and eighth graders are in a larval state and, having no certainty of self-worth, they can be just plain MEAN! I think it's because they are really afraid and they feel they're too old/cool to ask just to be held and read a comforting story. They are the oldest kids in the building. They know its ins and outs, the personailities of its personnel and on which days it's better to buy lunch. They also have a nascent knowledge that it's all about to end and they'll soon be thrust into the high school like released hatchery fish on stocking day.
I find it's very helpful for them to have an idea as to why they need to subject themselves to making the passage. They need a goal. They need to see going to high school as a means to an end - a way of getting to that state of independence they both fear and crave. Did you ever notice how kids at that age seem to stop telling you what they want to be when they grow up? It's as if they know that sitting on the bench for much of their Pop Warner days rules out the NFL. There's not so much verbaliztion of dreams anymore. The realization has hit that talent and training must come into play at some point. This seems to occur at the very same time that their estimation of their talents, abilities and even beauty is at its nadir.
For these reasons I felt it a good idea to expose my eighth grade students to career interest inventories. I would start by asking them to visualize where they wanted to be at that very moment in ten years time. Were they teaching a class, preparing lunch for the family, manning a fire truck, etc.? I would hand out paper and ask them to design their business card. What would their title be? Where would they be located? What type of business was it? These would be preliminary activities before taking the actual inventory.
An inventory I used and found very effective was available for free through the My Road program operated by the College Board. I found http://www.college.board.com/ to be an invaluable website for students, professionals and parents. Students who take the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) are given free access to the My Road program (http://www.myroad.com/) which includes the ORA Personality Profiler inventory. Most students take the PSAT/NMSQT as high school sophomores but a one year individual subsription to My Road is available for $19.95. Many schools subscribe to College Board services or provide free career inventories to their students as part of the school guidance curriculum, so check with your child's/your counselor.
I prefer inventories that not only assess a student's interests but take their abilities into account. Next week I'll discuss one I particularly liked.
Middle schoolers are the most odious of creatures. Seventh and eighth graders are in a larval state and, having no certainty of self-worth, they can be just plain MEAN! I think it's because they are really afraid and they feel they're too old/cool to ask just to be held and read a comforting story. They are the oldest kids in the building. They know its ins and outs, the personailities of its personnel and on which days it's better to buy lunch. They also have a nascent knowledge that it's all about to end and they'll soon be thrust into the high school like released hatchery fish on stocking day.
I find it's very helpful for them to have an idea as to why they need to subject themselves to making the passage. They need a goal. They need to see going to high school as a means to an end - a way of getting to that state of independence they both fear and crave. Did you ever notice how kids at that age seem to stop telling you what they want to be when they grow up? It's as if they know that sitting on the bench for much of their Pop Warner days rules out the NFL. There's not so much verbaliztion of dreams anymore. The realization has hit that talent and training must come into play at some point. This seems to occur at the very same time that their estimation of their talents, abilities and even beauty is at its nadir.
For these reasons I felt it a good idea to expose my eighth grade students to career interest inventories. I would start by asking them to visualize where they wanted to be at that very moment in ten years time. Were they teaching a class, preparing lunch for the family, manning a fire truck, etc.? I would hand out paper and ask them to design their business card. What would their title be? Where would they be located? What type of business was it? These would be preliminary activities before taking the actual inventory.
An inventory I used and found very effective was available for free through the My Road program operated by the College Board. I found http://www.college.board.com/ to be an invaluable website for students, professionals and parents. Students who take the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) are given free access to the My Road program (http://www.myroad.com/) which includes the ORA Personality Profiler inventory. Most students take the PSAT/NMSQT as high school sophomores but a one year individual subsription to My Road is available for $19.95. Many schools subscribe to College Board services or provide free career inventories to their students as part of the school guidance curriculum, so check with your child's/your counselor.
I prefer inventories that not only assess a student's interests but take their abilities into account. Next week I'll discuss one I particularly liked.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
A Lifetime of Experience Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
I used to be a big deal. For over three decades I would enter a building and people of all ages would trail after me calling, "Miss, Miss" or later "Mrs., Mrs." to get my attention or assistance. Now, recently retired, I enter a crowded space and barely a head turns in my direction. I was an educator and counselor in an urban New Jersey school district. In a novel I'm currently reading (I favor mysteries and historical fiction.), one of the characters wonders what he might have been had he had a different guidance counselor. It was unusual to see someone give deference to the kind of influence we counselors have. While we all have our guidance counselor horror stories, I was one of the very good ones. (I have Wood Shop produced plaques and World's Best Teacher chachkas to prove it!)
I did a great deal of social counselling on both the elementary and high school levels, but I really loved the academic and career planning part of the job. So, I'm going to endeavor to impart some guidance to parents and high school students alike as to how they can navigate the road to a satisfying career/careers. Each Wednesday I'll post a few ideas and suggestions. While the emphasis will be on high school, we'll need to start somewhere so next Wednesday's topic will be, "Eighth Grade - The End of Middle School Madness"
I did a great deal of social counselling on both the elementary and high school levels, but I really loved the academic and career planning part of the job. So, I'm going to endeavor to impart some guidance to parents and high school students alike as to how they can navigate the road to a satisfying career/careers. Each Wednesday I'll post a few ideas and suggestions. While the emphasis will be on high school, we'll need to start somewhere so next Wednesday's topic will be, "Eighth Grade - The End of Middle School Madness"
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