Category Archives: Student Career Exploration

Mountain Top or Dung Heap?

Posted on August 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Dung Heap is smelly and dirtyMy colleague Steve Straus provided this insightful thought provocation to his newsletter subscribers. Adults appreciate the distinction Steve provides around being on the Mountain Top vs. being on a Dung Heap when it comes to one’s career. But do high school students see the distinction? Are parents sensitive to the lesson’s in Steve’s message?

“There are many paths to the mountain top” is an ancient bit of wisdom which means don’t get too enamored with the path you’re on, believing it is the only way. If your path works for you, use it.

Let others choose their own, if theirs works for them. It’s an interesting thought, applicable to careers, study, leadership, and families.

However, there is a problem that many who have taken the upward journey have learned. They have discovered, once reaching the top, they were climbing a dung heap. They found themselves dirty, smelly, and exhausted, and looking ‘over there’ at the real mountain top.

Before embarking on your journey make sure of your destination.

Coaching Point: Have you been pausing periodically to take a deep breath and notice the smell of your mountain?

Carl Nielson is a professional career coach, creator of Career Coaching for Students™ and managing principal of The Nielson Group, a management consulting firm specializing in hiring and selection, team effectiveness and executive coaching.

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Career Exploration Requires Developing a Personal Idea Network

Posted on July 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

TED logoSteven Johnson has a great presentation on where ideas come from that has been made available on TED. Taking his message and applying it to career exploration for high school or college students seemed like a fun exercise.

At the end of his presentation, Johnson states “chance favors the connected mind”.  Now shift your thought to people who are successful and happy in their careers. How did these people find their career? Did it come to them in a dream when they were very young? Perhaps it came to them through a high school class. Or from a discussion with one of their friends. Johnson’s research suggests eureka or light bulb moments, a single event, isn’t how people “found” their career match.

The key to success is in the connected mindInstead, Johnson makes a case for the development of an idea network in the brain that leads to “favor”. So if you can make the assumption that the hypothesis “chance favors the connected mind”  is true, you might find that most people that are in highly successful and enjoyable careers didn’t have a eureka moment. Instead, they experienced a process or journey that promoted exploration of career choices in a networked environment.

The idea of a “connected mind” for career exploration suggests the combination of self-awareness about what in the world motivates you, how you like to do things, people that can offer expanded perspective about careers and information resources such as Student Resource Central on the Career Coaching for Students website and a students’ extended social media network.

A Common Misstep
Exploring potential careers of interest comes before researching educational options including choosing a college. Many students choose a college, university or trade school based on many invalid considerations such as football team success, where friends are choosing to go or the beauty of the campus (I could go on).  Why do they do that? I see two primary reasons:

  1. No access to credible career exploration tools and strategies
  2. Effective career exploration requires work
  3. Without “credible” career exploration tools and strategies, blind faith about what that work will produce is required

What if there were personality and interests assessments that were so valid and reliable for increasing self-awareness and identifying potential career choices they eliminated the need for “blind faith”? What if that led to motivation to do the work to investigate high-potential career interests?

So you’re ready to research educational options and choose a college
One exercise that high school students can do to expand their connected mind for choosing a college is use their Facebook extended network to find students attending a particular college of interest. With Facebook for finding those students and Skype for connecting easily for a chat, it is easy to learn about a particular college or university from the inside. Even better, ask those students attending your school of interest to help you connect with students in the specific major that you are targeting.

Remember, “chance favors the connected mind”. What are the chances you are choosing a career direction and education strategy that will favor you ten years from now?

Carl Nielson is the developer of Career Coaching for Students™, the premier career exploration program for high school and college students. Nielson is the founder of Success Discoveries (www.successdiscoveries.com) and The Nielson Group (www.nielsongroup.com), a global organizational management consulting firm. Prior to consulting, he served over 20 years in corporate human resources management. He holds a degree in organizational psychology from Texas A&M University. Find Carl on LinkedIn.

If you are looking for true career coaching for students, look at http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net. We offer a high school program and college program. Are you past the college years? Check out free resources at Success Discoveries. Professional career coaching services offered.

Copyright © 2011 Success Discoveries, LLC
Career Coaching for Students™ is a trademark of Success Discoveries, LLC
Life Skills for Students™ is a trademark of Success Discoveries, LLC

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My Graduation Speech…for incoming High School Students

Posted on May 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

Your personal white board is clean. Write on it wisely.

I posted this as part of another post last June 2010. I’ve updated it and gave it is own post. Incoming high school freshman have a clean white board and an exciting opportunity. As a Dad of a college junior and a high school junior, it is so clear how choices made as an incoming Freshman high school student (not to minimize a foundation for self management and personal accountability that was established years ago) play a significant part in how the student graduates. This isn’t based on just my two kids, it is based on observing them and all of their friends and classmates. So based on my observations, along with my experience in the work world, I offer the following graduation speech for those moving from junior high to senior high school.

As you aim for high school, you have an incredible opportunity before you. Think of this time as a clean white board. I don’t mean to suggest your past doesn’t matter. Your past is a part of your future . If you perceive your past as positive, you can choose to carry those thoughts forward. If you consider your past to be less than you desire for the future, you can make choices about that too. You see, you have choices you are making right now.

But let’s test your perception of your past. Close your eyes. think about your first kiss (if that has happened already). Your favorite book you’ve ever read? Your favorite TV show… and movie? How do you see your parents? Your teachers? Your coaches? Your grades? Your study habits? Your desire to be involved?

All of this is going to impact your future. If you see your past positively, it will serve you well as a foundation for the future. If your past was personally less than ideal, it can serve you well as a motivator for creating that better future for yourself. Either way, the future is totally in your control – others do not have control of your future – only you do.

Even though you’ve taken several history classes already, you relate most easily to events that have occurred in your own past – your own past is like a drop of water in all the oceans of our great world. What that means is, don’t let your personal experiences limit you. Don’t let your current self perception dictate what you do tomorrow. The majority of teenagers feel inadequate and insecure. Some show their insecurity through shyness. Others through egotistical behaviors. This insecurity comes partially from being intelligent and partially from giving too much power to the concern for others’ perceptions. The intelligent part refers to the fact that you recognize your current ignorance about yourself and the world around you – that’s smart.

Giving too much power to others comes from a lack of sense of self. A lack of self understanding is easily changed. The more you do…that is, the more activities you engage in – especially outside your comfort zone, and the more you do for others, will give you a better sense of self. If you choose to disengage or to follow others rather than lead yourself, you’ll still get a sense of self but it won’t be accurate. Also, personal development experiences will come along slower and they will probably not be as beneficial.

Give yourself permission to study and enjoy learning world history. To give you an idea of how important history is, place yourself into the future, let’s say about 30 years. Today becomes the past. Your entire high school experience has already happened. Now let’s say you are extremely successful 30 years into the future. How did that happen? How did you become extremely successful? Was what you did in high school a part of why you are so successful 30 years out? Did any world events during your school years frame your thinking and shape your motivators? Now that you are successful, how do you define success?

As you emerge into adulthood, life experiences will be overwhelming at times. For some of you, that time has already happened. If your life has been hard already, I salute you and send you a big hug. I promise you will be rewarded. For all of you, you will experience tough times and overwhelming events through your entire life. It isn’t a matter of “if” you have a hard life. You will have a hard life. Let me say that again. “You will have a hard life.” The real question is “how will you lead your life?”. Will you see your life with happiness and gratitude? To answer the question for myself, my life has been a journey. Not an easy journey. I’ve come to realize that hard work isn’t good or bad. I’ve chosen my view of acceptance of life’s hard work. I’ve also developed a great appreciation for what I do and for so many people that have been in my life.

So, what’s your opinion?

Does money create happiness? Click on the link to answer the survey question.
Answer with either yes or no or I don’t know.

I think my happiness increased the most when I stopped judging and started learning. Do you judge your classmates? Or do you learn from your classmates? Do you judge your teachers or learn from them? Do you judge your parents or learn from them?

There was a time I thought I wasn’t very intelligent. It was during my elementary and junior high school days. I learned many years later that I had many intelligences and in fact some were much higher than average. Instead of being egotistical about my abilities, I am humbled by my abilities. I also see everyone else with the same colored glasses…each of you are extremely talented and above average.

How do I know that? You see, I’ve been running a quasi-experiment for 30 years without really knowing it. In my work as a consultant to corporations, I help CEOs and managers select the best person for a particular job or position in those companies. In all of my work, I never measure IQ or “intelligence” to  predict how well a particular candidate or employee will perform. What I measure has more to do with something you already have right now. Your personal talent.

Your talents are already established. All you need to do is add a little ingredient called passion. Of course you need Life Skills and knowledge and use your moral compass. But with passion, your talent, knowledge and a solid foundation in specific life skills guided by a moral compass will take you to a successful future – I guarantee it! Without passion, the other stuff won’t matter much. Don’t let anyone convince you that you aren’t smart enough. You are smart enough – regardless of your grades today. What will count most is that you find what excites you and that you always act with integrity. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive. For success to find you requires you finding what excites you. There are many paths. You will take several of them to find your success in life. You can do it by chance or you can take control. Either way you’ll get there. For example, you’ll probably have the opportunity to do some career exploration in your Freshman year. You can blow it off or see it as an opportunity. One choice is a slower path than the other path. But in the end it is your choice – to take control of your life or not.

In closing, remember the words stated by many including Quarterback Drew Brees at the Loyola University New Orleans, 2010 Commencement: “Love what you do. You will know it when you find it. Enjoy the journey.”

Now is the time to invest in quality research about you – who you are, what you want to do. You are at the beginning of your journey. The white board is clean. Create the journey that fits you.”

Link to Drew Brees’ speech: http://www.loyno.edu/news/story/2010/5/3/2115

I hope you found this entire article helpful including the links to the full commencement speeches. More 2010 commencement speeches are available at http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/03/commencement-graduation-speakers-2010-leadership-speech.html. Also, if you are in search of an effective student career exploration program, please visit http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net.

Carl Nielson is the developer of Career Coaching for Students™, the premier career exploration program for high school and college students. Nielson is the founder of Success Discoveries (www.successdiscoveries.com) and The Nielson Group (www.nielsongroup.com), a global organizational management consulting firm. Prior to consulting, he served over 20 years in corporate human resources management. He holds a degree in organizational psychology from Texas A&M University. Find Carl on LinkedIn.

If you are looking for true career coaching for students, look at http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net. We offer a high school program and college program. Are you past the college years? Check out free resources at Success Discoveries. Professional career coaching services offered. See what a real career coach looks like.

Copyright © 2010 Success Discoveries, LLC
Career Coaching for Students™ is a trademark of Success Discoveries, LLC
Life Skills for Students™ is a trademark of Success Discoveries, LLC

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Posted in career choices, career exploration, Career Exploration and Career Coaching, career interest, career quiz, career test, College Search Tool, Grants, new careers, Student Career Exploration, Teen Career Exploration

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Career Exploration for Students is Like Launching the Shuttle

Posted on January 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Student Career Exploration is Like a Shuttle Launch

Launching a career and launching a rocket take the same effort

As Americans, we are fascinated by the launching of space missions by NASA. It is an incredible site to watch a launch. The size of the fuel tanks and booster rockets of the Shuttle tells you just how much energy is required at the early stages of a launch. Once speed is attained, very little is required to get the shuttle into orbit.

It’s the same with an airliner. They burn most of their fuel climbing to altitude.

Momentum is the key to a successful launch. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. And of course, an object at rest tends to stay at rest.

The sad fact is few people ever really get much momentum going in their lives and their work. It looks too hard. And they can’t seem to stick with it long enough to get to the point where less and less effort is required and more and more intended results are achieved.

It’s important to take the RIGHT action for sure. But sometimes ANY action is enough to break the habit of inertia and get things moving.

Whatever it takes to get yourself moving, do it.

For me, reading a book or listening to an inspiring or motivating audio file gets me going. Sometimes it’s a conversation with my business partners or a review of my written goals. Music in the background works, too.

The important thing is to get going. It’s an old cliché but beginning IS often half done. Finishing well may be a valuable attribute, but if you never get started, you never get a chance to finish.

Remember, you don’t have to get it right; you just have to get it going.

Career Coaching for Students™ is a program that high school students (and their parents)  find very helpful, exciting, useful and timely. It doesn’t matter if you are at the top of your class or struggling to graduate. In high school every student is at the same level regarding career direction.

If you are a parent of a high school student, or if you are a high school student with a desire to explore the possibilities of your future, I encourage you to take career exploration seriously. It won’t just happen. Like a shuttle launch, career exploration and career planning take a great deal of exploration,  testing of ideas, work, fuel, resiliency and  people. Of course you could just get lucky.

About the Author: Carl Nielson is an executive coach, organizational development consultant and career coach. He developed the program, Career Coaching for Students™ for high school students in 2005 which aligns with 100% of recently published GWU Freshman Transition Initiative guidelines. A college version was just released in June of 2010.

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What’s the Big Deal About Job Hopping and Why Should it Matter to High School Students?

Posted on October 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

From all the employment data provided by the Department of Labor, many researchers are focusing on adults in the job market. But what does that same data suggest about the coming work life years for high school students?

We looked at the data from the perspective of being a “guardian” for those that will be in the workforce within the next 5 years. Our insights:

  1. Job hopping may be connected to a rise in depression among adults
  2. Job hopping is an indication of a lack of career direction
  3. Job hopping is extremely costly
  4. Job hopping isn’t necessary

Gen Y has caught a lot of flack for job hopping and for having a bad case of employee disloyalty. Baby Boomer and Gen X managers claim it’s impossible to find good hires from amidst this young generation even with a shortage of jobs and a surplus of job seekers. There might be a lot of truth behind these claims.

Lesson for students: Want to earn more, have greater job satisfaction and be more successful? Do the work necessary to properly investigate career choices and do the work to set yourself up for success…now. No employer or manager will be looking out for your career.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor estimates that today’s young adults will have between 10-14 jobs before they are 38! Currently 1 in 4 workers have been with their current employer for less than a year; 1 in 2 workers have been there less than 5 years. That has to be depressing for those caught in the job hopping cycle.

Lesson for students: What an opportunity to jump ahead of others! Employers reward dedication, commitment and longevity – when combined with performance. If you are in the right career, doing what you are passionate about and stay with one employer for more than 4 years, you’ll be way ahead of those that keep job hopping.

The Late Boomers haven’t learned either. Between ages 18 and 44, the Late Boomers have had an average of 11 employers, which translates into a job change every 2.4 years! How do you get excited about your work when you’re packing up and leaving every couple of years?

Job hopping was even worse among Late Boomer men without a high school diploma. They held an average of 13.3 jobs, while men with at least a bachelor’s degree still had 11 jobs. In the case of women, uneducated ones, in fact, had fewer jobs (9.7) than their degreed counterparts (11.7 jobs).

During the time of life (ages of 18-22) when most people move between school and summer jobs, the Late Boomers held an average of 4.4 jobs. However, they kept moving even at more mature ages: they had 2.6 jobs between ages 28-32, and at ages 39-44 they still held an average of 2 jobs. Among the jobs that 39- to 44-year-olds started, one-third ended in less than a year. OUCH!

Job hopping isn’t simply a Gen Y problem, and any explanation that sites only the character and upbringing of young workers for perceived disloyalty doesn’t match up with the picture painted by the data.

Lesson for students: Don’t let the world choose your path. Be in control. Do the work to set yourself up for success. That starts with true career exploration work. If you don’t have the support you need from your school, go here.

Source: The Total View, Ira S. Wolfe, Success Performance Solutions

About the Author: Carl Nielson is an executive coach, organizational development consultant and career coach. He developed the program, Career Coaching for Students™ for high school students in 2005 which happens to align with 100% of recently published GWU Freshman Transition Initiative guidelines. A college version was just released in June of 2010.

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Waiting for Superman is Worth the Ticket Price

Posted on September 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

Waiting for SupermanIf you haven’t seen the trailer or heard any talk show host discuss the new movie Waiting for Superman, I urge you to pause and take notice. It is my hope you go see the movie.

In a newspaper article about employers and educators studying ways to prepare students for work, employer’s were more concerned about students graduating with “soft skills” than having high grades in math and science.

As a nation, we know we need to do things differently to compete globally. Employers are saying many high school graduates, and even college graduates, aren’t coming out as ready as they need to be.

In the work world, where employers are trying to hire the “best and the brightest” (wrong measures are being used to decide that), there are efforts to develop people to be leaders. There are also programs to build effective team and collaboration skills. But when it comes to on-the-job performance, at the personal level, each of us is pretty much on our own.

The fact that each of us is on our own to succeed does not explain success. If it did, we could place anyone in any job, teach skills such as self motivation, self starting and self management and everyone would be successful. Right?

In the work world, some companies use advanced talent assessments to match people to jobs. Those companies have found that when the right person is in the right job the level of performance is so different it becomes a competitive advantage (see The Nielson Group]. The level of success is so significant that clients of The Nielson Group do not want their competitors to know about the assessment tools and strategies.

So where are we going with all of this?

Those employers aren’t hiring the “best and brightest”. They are hiring the “best fit”. So what’s so magical about being a good fit to a job? If you were to take two incoming Freshman high school students with equal grade averages, one was given a career exploration coaching program in 9th grade and the other was not given any valid, useful career guidance, which do you think would graduate higher in their class four years later? If you guessed the student that received the career exploration coaching program you’d be correct.

In the work world, those that are matched to the job are matched based on personal motivators, behavioral fit and skills. They experience self-motivation in the work, have a clear future view of themselves and are able to meet the behavioral demands of the job without undue stress.

In the example of two Freshman students, if a student has been given the opportunity to explore careers that fit their “soft talents”, has developed a high level of self-awareness and has a strong positive future view with a realistic plan for how to create that future, it is likely they will be self-motivated and determined to achieve academically.

Would graduation rates go up signficantly if every high school had a career coaching program? I’m waiting on that data. Right now, it is hard to get. Most high schools will tell you they have a career exploration program. Ask students what they think of their high school career exploration program and they’ll probably say “what program?”.

Career Coaching for Students™ is a program that costs between $350 (home study self-directed program) and $850 (workshops) around the country through certified professional career coaches. If schools were to invest, or partner with local employers for grant money to bring Career Coaching for Students™ into the school, all high school students would have access to a quality, in-depth career coaching program. And the cost? There are so many ways that becomes insignificant. What is needed isn’t money.

What we need are visionaries and influencers. By bringing Career Coaching for Students into the classroom we are helping a student create a vision of their future that they want. Paint a picture of what a student wants and watch out. They’ll do amazing things to get it. When it comes to waiting for superman, I think the student is the only one that can fill the role of Superman.

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Posted in Choose a major, Grants, Student Career Exploration, Teen Career Exploration, Uncategorized

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Parents: Guidance at School May Not Be Enough

Posted on August 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

Most parents assume that schools are providing the necessary college and career planning guidance to their children. But findings from over 10 years of research studies show that students are not getting the help they need to make good decisions about life after high school.

How Much Counseling Time Does Each Student Get?

38 minutes per year is the estimated amount of time the average student receives from a school counselor on college and career advising. This statistic is based on national averages of student-to-counselor ratios and counselor time allocation research according to a 2005 report entitled “Counseling and College Counseling in America’s High Schools” by Dr. Patricia McDonough.

This of course is an average. While the actual amount of time varies widely by school and by student, interviews with parents show that it is a large concern. Despite the best of intentions, the level of personalized guidance provided is not evenly distributed to all students.

“My child is a solid student. He isn’t at the top of his class, but he’s not struggling either. The school clearly pays the most attention to the students that standout… either at the top, or the bottom. If you aren’t in one of those groups, you fall between the cracks,” said the mother of a senior from a large Connecticut public high school.Many schools use an online Internet based program to meet career guidance requirements.

“My son is at the top of the class. If his Dad and I hadn’t been involved, he wouldn’t have received any career guidance and would have been very limited in the colleges he considered. He’s a self-starter, Eagle scout, athlete and academically successful but career and college planning requires professional and parental support. We enrolled him in a program for high school students called Career Coaching for Students™. That made a real difference for him and us.”

Not Enough Counselors… Too Many Demands

A quick look at the student-to-counselor ratios across the nation shows that there simply are not enough guidance counselors at each school to support the volume of students and all the demands placed on the counselors. Schools have used online Internet programs to fill the gap.

According to Dr. McDonough’s report, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends one counselor for every 100 students, or a 100:1 ratio. The real student-to-counselor ratio across the nation’s high schools is estimated to be 315:1. That is three times the recommended level according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES).

In some states, such as California, Minnesota, Arizona and Utah, the average is well over 500:1

Counselors aren’t there to do career guidance counseling

School counselors handle issues ranging from attendance, discipline, drug and alcohol abuse, sexuality and pregnancy, suicide prevention, and personal crisis along with academic testing and a host of other administrative duties assigned to them.

Where does this leave college and career planning services? They are considered “nice to haves” in many schools because the time and resources aren’t there to support them.

Not Only a Public School Issue

The average student-to-counselor ratio in private high schools is estimated to be 241:1 according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. While this ratio is better then the public school ratio of 315:1, it is still over two times the ASCA’s recommendation of 100:1.

Even though private school student-to-counselor ratios are better, parents report that the guidance their children receive is almost exclusively focused on college counseling and placement, not on what the students will do with their education once they graduate.

TIPS FOR PARENTS
Regardless of whether your child attends public or private school, here are some tips to make sure that he/she receives the guidance needed to make wise and informed decisions about his/her future:

  • Don’t assume your child is getting enough college and career guidance at school
  • Find out what the student-to-counselor ratio is at your child’s school
  • Contact the school’s guidance department to learn what kind of personal career counseling is provided:
    • When, what and how much 1-on-1 college guidance is provided?
    • When, what and how much 1-on-1 career planning guidance is provided?
  • Talk with your child. Ask the following questions:
    • Have you taken interest, skills, values, and personality assessments at school?
    • Has the school counselor helped you understand what the assessments mean?
    • Has the school counselor met with you 1-on-1 to discuss career possibilities?
    • Has the school helped you plan your college search based on your career interests?
    • Has the school helped direct you to financial aid and scholarship opportunities?
    • Has the school discussed with your student the connection between high school class choices and the impact it will have on college admissions?

Increase the 1-to-1 support your child receives with personal career and education guidance to help your child sort through his/her best-fit choices. It’s much more affordable than you think. Is there anything more important than your child’s future success?

Carl Nielson is a professional career coach, creator of Career Coaching for Students™ and managing principal of The Nielson Group, a management consulting firm specializing in hiring and selection, team effectiveness and executive coaching. The Career Coaching for Students™ is offered throughout the country and can be organized as a local workshop. National webinars are scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2010 that combine group and individual attention. Parents are encouraged to participate with their son/daughter. Call 972.346.2892 to discuss details.

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Posted in best career, career choices, career exploration, Career Exploration and Career Coaching, career interest, career options, career quiz, career test, College Search Tool, Find a Major, Grants, new careers, Student Career Exploration, Teen Career Exploration, Uncategorized

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Student Resource Central is Fast Becoming THE Career and College Research Go-To Site

Posted on August 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

Student Resource Central™, the secure-access part of the Career Coaching for Students™ website is fast becoming THE Career and College Research Go-To Site for students: Incredibly rich with high-quality, high-value and validated content that saves incredible amounts of time for students (and parents).

The Career Coaching for Students™ program is the pride and joy for Success Discoveries (other programs will be coming in time). Because of the depth and quality of the program, the Home Study Personal Edition is $349 (current price) and workshops being offered in various areas of the U.S. range from $500 to $850 per student. While it is worth the price of admission, many families won’t be signing up. Yet, we have an incredibly rich amount of web content for students to use for career exploration exercises, search for colleges that match their educational goals, learn about financial aid, budgeting for college and scholarships and much more. Until now, you had to sign up for the one-on-one coaching or one of the workshop programs to have access to the Student Resource Central site.

We are now offering a $19.95 family license to access Student Resource Central™, the premier career and college exploration resource site. This one-time fee provides access with no expiration. Have more than one child approaching high school? Your username and password will still work next year and the year after. And we provide a 100% satisfaction guarantee or your money back.

We wish every student could take advantage of the full Career Coaching for Students™ program. For those that can’t, access to Student Resource Central™ can be the next best thing.

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Posted in best career, career choices, career exploration, Career Exploration and Career Coaching, career interest, career options, career quiz, career test, College Search Tool, Education Grant, FAFSA, FASFA, Find a Major, Grants, new careers, Student Career Exploration, Teen Career Exploration, Uncategorized

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For-Profit Colleges Mislead Students

Posted on August 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

SPECIAL OFFER AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE
On May 4, 2010, we posted an article on this blog and at the home page of Career Coaching for Students™ entitled PBS Frontline Exposes Fraud at For-Profit Schools. Obviously we have to give PBS credit for the story. Now it seems the General Accounting Office (GAO, United States Agency) has published their findings which are both confirming the PBS story and very damning for the “For-Profit Educational Industry”. These “for profits” offer “extensive career planning and placement programs” which has been the enabler for the “for-profit college industry” to secure significant market share in the higher education industry.

According to the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), nearly two million students attend for-profit colleges, pursuing bachelor’s and associate’s degrees in disciplines that range from cosmetology to nursing and engineering. In 2009, for-profit colleges received more than $20 billion in federal loans and grants. These are powerful institutions that students, the government, and employers have trusted with a significant part of our society’s future. Knowing this information, you can imagine the outrage and shock that accompanied today’s GAO report that implicated 15 for-profit colleges in deceptive recruiting & career planning practices.

Of the 15 colleges tested, four institutions were guilty of fraud in their aggressive and misleading marketing techniques. As part of the GAO’s undercover investigation, four agents posed as prospective students and met with admissions staff for financial aid, tuition, and career planning information. The test revealed the following questionable marketing practices:

  • One for-profit college encouraged an applicant to hide $250,000 worth of assets on a federal financial aid application
  • According to The New York Times, another college encouraged a student to lie about dependents on a financial aid application 
  • Admissions representatives misrepresented tuition costs, quoting the price of classes for nine months instead of one full year
  • Students were provided with false career planning advice. For example, one program mentioned that barbers could earn up to $250,000 annually. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 90 percent of barbers earn $43,000 per year.
  • One admissions representative undermined the financial burden of student loans, implying that defaulters cannot be held accountable for missed payments
  • Admissions representatives engaged in aggressive marketing strategies, pressuring the undercover agents to sign contracts even if they weren’t ready to make a decision.

Although the names of the 15 for-profit colleges remain confidential, the surveyed programs were in a number of disciplines, offering both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in subjects ranging from business to cosmetology. This information coincides with an education record.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70 percent of high school graduates from the class of 2009 were enrolled in a two-year or four-year program when surveyed in October ’09 — the highest number in United States history. While this is a figure worth celebrating, it is also indicative of a growing issue – proper career exploration and planning.

How many of these students are making informed career decisions when choosing a program to attend? How many of these students will position themselves to guarantee a return on investment, and how many will drown in debt upon graduation, falling victim to aggressive marketing practices, false career planning advice, and unrealistic expectations about career prospects? Whether or not students have fair access to objective information, they are still responsible for the costs and consequences of their education and career planning strategy.

Of all the concerning questions, how many students, by taking the bait at these fraudulent institutions, are missing out on a career that would have been much more fulfilling and resulted in greater success?

Students have to make adult decisions with real consequences at a very young age. The issue isn’t whether students are mature enough to choose and plan their careers. The issue is around access to solid, credible career coaching for students. As a society, as parents, as teachers, and as students, it is more important than ever that career coaching be provided to all students.

If you’re not investing a substantial sum of money, you are investing a substantial amount of time, so be an educated consumer when shopping for a college. Just as you would compare the economic implications of buying a car, you should compare the economic implications of your degree, college, and program relative to career interests. In addition to looking at rankings, prestige, and marketing materials — regardless of whether you are looking at a nonprofit or for-profit college — weigh the economic and educational return on investment. Our students are our future’s most valuable asset, so let’s position them to be successful.

A GREAT OFFER TO READERS OF THIS BLOG – UNLIMITED ACCESS TO STUDENT RESOURCE CENTRAL™ FOR ONLY $19.95: The Career Coaching for Students™ website has an extensive private area for career and educational research that is normally reserved for our individual and workshop clients. Each resource has been evaluated for its quality, value and ethical representation of information. We call it Student Resources Central™. Due to the new, alarming information about corrupt “for-profit” institutional practices, we are offering the full Student Resources Central site to parents** and students for $19.95 per access license. This is a unique offer and the access has no expiration. If you are a high school administrator or teacher and would like to gain access to the site for all of your students we offer the same price to you also. This one-time purchase provides access with no expiration. To buy an access license go here. Aren’t sure it is worth it? We guarantee your satisfaction* or we’ll give you a full refund and we’ll eat the credit card fees.

*Guarantee will be honored for 30 days. After 30 days we figure you found the site helpful.
**This offer is not available to professionals or organizations that offer career guidance services, tools or products. For more information on becoming a Career Coaching for Students™ Licensed Facilitator which includes full rights to use Student Resource Central  with all of your customers contact Carl Nielson at 972.346.2892 or visit our Coach Facilitator information page on the website.

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Insights for Parents: The Pressure of Choosing a Career

Posted on July 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

As a parent of a college student and a teenager in high school, one of my biggest questions in my mind is “Am I helping my children with the right information and career guidance?”  Am I helping them understand their unique talents, skills, behaviors and motivators and translate these into identifying a career path that is motivating and fulfilling for them?  

I’ve worked with many teenagers, high school and college students for several years and have gained a few insights. As a full time management consultant, executive coach and executive & student career coach and as a parent, I’m sharing “insights” that I hope are useful to parents. The focus of these insights is specific to parents of teenagers (or college students) who are struggling with helping their son or daughter with career guidance.  So instead of this being advice, please consider these, at best, my insights. 

Here are a few points to consider to reduce the pressure of Career Guidance: 

  1. Be a good listener. Listening with open ears and an open mind is one of the most powerful ways you can help your son or daughter. Listening means “not talking, telling or judging”. Listening means asking open ended questions to learn what is in the mind of your son or daughter?
  2. Observe and create an awareness of their talents and skills. Become very observant of your teenagers skills and talents in their day to day activities at home, schools and in social gatherings. Open ended discussion around these observations creates a heightened awareness among the teenager. This new awareness also motivates them to explore and learn more about these talents and skills on their own.
  3. Be understanding. Choosing a career is a process of exploration and takes time and effort. When helping your son or daughter explore their own talents and the potential careers that will be a good fit, don’t push for an immediate decision, it has to evolve over time in the mind of your child. Choosing a career is not a healthy objective in the short term. A better “parental objective” is to support your son or daughter in exploring their interests, attitudes, motivators (self awareness) and the careers, industries, companies and people that might help them “find” their place in the world. Developing a strategy that ensures they are positioned to pursue the best career for them is an admiral goal and a less frustrating proposition for you and your child.
  4. Approach career exploration as a fun journey. The journey is as certain as life itself. To make career exploration fun means eliminating all of the things that makes it not fun. We parents are very good at telling. Please don’t tell when it comes to career exploration. Parents are very good at sharing their opinions. Please avoid sharing your opinion until your teenager asks for it. Offer support in whatever way your son or daughter wants that support. Remind yourself often how intimidating an exercise this is for son or daughter. Remind them that you were totally blind about careers, that you had no idea how to go about exploring and choosing a career when you were their age and that you were intimidated by the thought of “choosing a career”. Help them create an environment that puts them in control. Within that general guideline, do not allow your son or daughter to put it off (a natural occurrence when we feel intimidation, fear, and incompetent). With little effort, they can learn a lot during the high school years that will put them way ahead of most college students.

You’ll end up turning your frustration into fun and excitement when you watch your son or daughter talk, act and succeed with passion because they own their career choices. This way they not only find their career choices, but are very excited about it and motivated to go the extra mile to succeed. 

Carl Nielson is the developer of Career Coaching for Students™, the premier career exploration program for high school and college students. Nielson is the founder of Success Discoveries (www.successdiscoveries.com) and The Nielson Group (www.nielsongroup.com), an international corporate organizational management consulting firm. Prior to consulting, he served over 20 years in corporate human resources management. He holds a degree in organizational psychology from Texas A&M University. Find Carl on LinkedIn.   Carl speaks to groups on request and offers parent webinars and seminars for communities. 

If you are looking for true career guidance for a student, check out http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net. Are you past the high school and college years? Check out resources and services at Success Discoveries. Professional career coaching services offered.    

Copyright © 2010 Success Discoveries, LLC
Career Coaching for Students™ is a trademark of Success Discoveries, LLC
Life Skills for Students™ is a trademark of Success Discoveries, LLC

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