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You want
your student to get into a good college, have a fantastic college experience
and find a rewarding career – all on an affordable budget!
But where do
you start sorting through the overwhelming steps of the college preparation and
application process?
After all, with 3,500 colleges nationwide, and
tuition costs alone ranging from $23,410 a year upwards of $46,272 and up,
there’s a lot at stake!
In my 20
years of work as a Certified Educational Planner, I’ve found that the top four fears
that most concern parents are:
1.
If my student doesn’t know what he wants to do with
his life, how can he pick a major that will lead to a solid
career?
2.
Will my daughter find a job in her field
after graduation?
3.
Can I afford to send him to the school of his
dreams?
4. Will my
daughter incur so much debt that she will end up living at home again?
This blog post series is designed to examine each of these concerns and give parents some solid
strategies to lead to their student’s success. Today's blog post will deal with the first question:
Have no
fear! Think back to when you were 17. Did you know exactly what you wanted to
do and did your life unfold as you expected it to?
One of the best ways to help
your student identify his interests is to encourage him to think about what he
is good at and what he likes to do.
Is he a
hands-on learner? Does he prefer to work alone or in groups? Does he prefer to
learn by doing or from practical experience? Is he more of a theory or
application person?
Simply asking him these questions won’t get to the answers
you seek because teenagers, although self-involved, are not usually self-aware.
What does that mean? It means that they don’t tend to think deeply about the
big questions like:
·
Who
am I?
·
What
makes me happy?
·
How
do I learn?
The best way
to answer these questions is not by direct questioning, but through careful
observation on your part. As you watch your son take apart the engine of the
car, for example, comment on the fact that he really seems to enjoy working
with his hands.
Ask if he
thinks this has something to do with his desire to know how things work or more
that he likes to solve the puzzles of how they are put together. When he tells
you that he does not enjoy chemistry class but loved biology, ask why he thinks
this might be. Is it because biology is a more visible science and chemistry
more theoretical?
Does he have
a facility for foreign language but has no idea what he can do with it? Point
out the opportunities in our global economy for those who are multi-lingual.
Career Assessments are Useless
without Feedback
Career assessments without the crucial element of follow up is a waste of time for the student and money for the school district. One student I worked with resisted taking the assessment because of his negative experience taking the MBTI on the Naviance College & Career Readiness Platform at his school.
None of the career options presented to him had rung true, or were things that he saw as leading to a successful life. No one explained to him about personality preferences (for example, one is not an ESTJ but one shows a preference for that personality style in personal interactions). As a certified career coach, I’m qualified to have these discussions with your student over the many months we typically work together. This offers him a chance to ask questions as they develop and as he grows and matures.
Watch for our next blog post on "Will my daughter find a job in her field after graduation?"
