Tag Archives: teen career exploration

What is the Primary Reason Students Don’t Receive Career Coaching?

Posted on April 27, 2010 | 2 comments

Getting a college education has been the #1 advice from school counselors and parents. “Go to school, get a good education, and get a good job” has been the advice for many generations. But what does this mean for the high school student?Student Career Coaching? What a Concept!

Career counseling is offered in most high schools today, but actual career coaching (more often referred to as career planning) is virtually nonexistent. Students go to college and obtain degrees only to discover that they have climbed the wrong mountain. After all those years of work, they find that they are either unhappy with their career choice or can´t get a job in the career area they’ve selected. Many graduate from college without really knowing what they want to do with the degree that they have earned.

Unfortunately, many of those students will go on to climb another mountain by getting another degree, only to find that yet again they can´t find a job in their chosen field or they don´t much care for the career options they have selected. Many people have multiple college degrees they have obtained through a trial and error process. Some of these students may be attracted to the learning environment and have chosen to hide out in the academic world until they find the right career. Instead of spending time up front researching and planning, they just begin climbing the mountain and figure they´ll make their plan once they get to the top. But there is nothing there.

Today´s educational planning is akin to building a house without any purpose and design in mind (and obviously without an architectural rendering of the house plans). Sure you can look at magazines and online resources to get some ideas about what the features of the house might be. Can you imagine the look on the delivery guys face when he shows up with a truck load of concrete and asks where to pour it only to be told you’re not sure but maybe pour a little over here, a little over there and some back here? Likewise, many students spend time planning what college they are going to go to, how they are going to pay for it, and even what they are going to study, without actually planning what they will do with the degree once they get it.

As a management consultant specializing in organizational development and hiring, I can say with confidence this is all too common in today´s society. Employers are baffled at the lack of clarity around career direction shown by graduating college students. Having a “I’ll take any job I can get” strategy for job search after college is a strategy but it won’t generate the desired results.

So what is the answer? A more in-depth career coaching class for high school students would be a way to introduce the topic and the importance of making a plan and begin the journey with confidence. Offering career coaching at the college level would allow students to follow through with the actual planning process that was started in high school. Both high schools and colleges have done a good job of presenting an image of providing career coaching. Very few are really doing it.

It is essential that young people learn the value of career coaching and actually plan their careers before deciding on education. And it wouldn’t hurt to throw in a little bit of life skills development that will give the student a leg up when they actually arrive at college or in their first job or summer internship.

Of course, no plan is set in stone and gets implemented as is. This is the main reason so many people don’t spend time planning. But when it comes to career and college, not planning is a very expensive strategy. Any career plans can be modified throughout the journey and should be modified to fit a person’s evolving interests and knowledge (I refer to this as focusing). Introducing career exploration and coaching at the Freshman level in high school has significant potential of impacting the student’s academic performance throughout high school and into college. But most importantly, career coaching reduces the likelihood of students climbing many wrong mountains and significantly increases the likelihood of finding the right path without getting lost in the forest.

There is a perception that true career coaching that results in making great personal choices and following through to see positive results isn’t possible. There used to be a perception that a person’s success couldn’t be predicted. Today, employers are using highly sophisticated yet simple talent assessments to determine “job fit” of applicants. This same science is being used by only one career planning program: Career Coaching for Students™.

To readers: What is the primary reason high school students don’t receive career coaching?

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Should Students Have Career Goals? What We’re Learning About Career Goal Setting

Posted on April 5, 2010 | 1 comment

Traditional goal setting comes out of the world of business management and MBA programs. In my work with corporations and coaching adults in career transition, I see the greatest success stories when people connect with their personal passions. Notice, I didn’t say …when people do better at goal setting. This article summarizes a recent study about goal setting and transfers the learning to high school (and college) students. Do we want students to set goals that truly enable them to achieve great things? If so, how do we do that?

Leadership IQ, a leadership training and research company, studied 4,182 workers from 397 organizations to see what kind of goal-setting processes actually help employees achieve great things. There is great potential here for a connection to “helping students achieve great things”.

The study discovered that, in organizations, people’s goals are not particularly helpful. In fact, the survey found that only 15% of employees strongly agree that their goals will help them achieve great things. And only 13% of employees strongly agree that their goals this year will help them maximize their full potential.

The study and analysis revealed 8 statistically significant predictors of whether somebody’s goals were going to help them achieve great things. In other words, if you want employees to say, “Wow, my goals this year are really going to help me achieve great things”, there are eight characteristics that their goals should have.

Here’s are the Top 8 Factors for predicting a goal will help a person achieve great things, in order of statistical importance:

  1. I can vividly picture how great it will feel when I achieve my goals.
  2. I will have to learn new skills to achieve my assigned goals for this year.
  3. My goals are absolutely necessary to help this company.
  4. I actively participated in creating my goals for this year.
  5. I have access to any formal training that I will need to accomplish my goals.
  6. My goals for this year will push me out of my comfort zone.
  7. My goals will enrich the lives of somebody besides me (customers, the community, etc.).
  8. My goals are aligned with the organization’s top priorities for this year.

A few things jump out of the analysis according to the authors:

  • Whether goals were specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely (businesses call these SMART goals) had no unique predictive power in the analysis
  • For people to achieve great things, their goals must require them to learn new skills and leave their comfort zone

    • So we’ve just learned that the typical goal-setting processes companies have been using for decades are NOT helping employees achieve great things. And, in fact, the type of goal-setting we SHOULD be doing (assuming we actually want our employees to achieve great things) is pretty much the OPPOSITE of what organizations have been doing for the past few decades.

  • Another insight from the analysis is that goals need to be much more than just words on a little form. For a goal to help people achieve great things, that goal has to leap off the paper. It has to be so vividly described that people can feel how great it will be to achieve it. It has to sing to them, to touch the deepest recesses of their brain. When’s the last time your goals did that?
  • And statistically, to achieve greatness, a goal also has to be bigger than ourselves. We have to identify whose lives will be enriched by our goals. And those goals had better be absolutely necessary (and also aligned with our organization’s top priorities) or they just aren’t going to help employees achieve great things.

To summarize briefly, HARD goals are:

  • Heartfelt — My goals will enrich the lives of somebody besides me—customers, the community, etc.
  • Animated — I can vividly picture how great it will feel when I achieve my goals.
  • Required — My goals are absolutely necessary to help this company.
  • Difficult — I will have to learn new skills and leave my comfort zone to achieve my assigned goals for this year.

Applying the learnings to Students

Let’s convert the wording of the study’s findings to be applicable to a high school student’s situation, and make the focus specific to career exploration and career planning that leads to “achieving great things”.

Heartfelt — My career goals will enrich the lives of somebody besides me
Animated — I can vividly picture how great it will feel when I achieve my career goals
Required — My personal goals are absolutely necessary to help me
Difficult — I will have to learn new skills and leave my comfort zone to achieve my career goals

Does a student need some kind of goal setting? Of course. But I’ll argue, like the study’s findings, that students fail to utilize career counseling, and parents don’t search out career coaching independently, for the same reasons employees report that using techniques such as SMART goals is “not helpful for achieving great things”. Why pursue something that doesn’t work?

Does the career planning program at your high school (or college) incorporate a strategy to generate HARD career goals? Are students engaged in their own career exploration. Are they driving their own achievement? Based on the four HARD goals listed, if you were to measure the effectiveness of most career planning and development programs offered to teenagers, would the program pass the test?

Complete a Student Priorities Survey and see how others have responded.

Parents: Want your teenager to better understand and communicate with you? Take the Family Insights parent behavioral style assessment (we call it the Parent User Manual). Complete the information form at bottom of home page to receive instructions.

In my next article, I’ll address how Career Coaching for Students™ is totally aligned with HARD goals and what results we’re seeing with students going through the program.

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Abusive Teaching or Inspiring Leadership

Posted on April 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

An article posted by Harvard Business Review and written by Gill Corkindale addresses Gordon Brown’s leadership style. The title of the article is Gordon Brown’s Leadership, Passionate or Bullying?

For the average student in U.S. high schools, Gordon Brown may be known only as a political figure. He is Britain’s Prime Minister. However, he represents something that is found in almost every organization, including schools and some family structures.

In the article, Ms. Corkindale states “For many of us, there is a disturbing familiarity about these reports [of bullying behavior], which stir up memories of our own bullying bosses, teachers and colleagues. Unfortunately it is all too easy to visualize the disturbing picture of Mr. Brown as a leader prone to “volcanic eruptions of bad behavior,” outbursts of anger, black moods, permanent states of rage, and a boiling temper. And some of us will recognise the panic and mayhem in his office from our own experience, with stressed staff running around, lashing out at each other, and an inner circle divided and in flux.”

She raises the question: Do  the best leaders have some bullying tendencies?

Ms. Corkindale states the obvious when she says that bullying is unacceptable. Bullies are frightening, destructive and a drain on resources, time and energy. “I well recall the boss who had to be appeased constantly, whose moods changed like the weather, who regularly put staff under the spotlight or dressed them down in public, and who believed that all problems were caused by the incompetence of others. Such “leaders” demean people, lower morale, and create cultures of fear. Sadly, I have coached too many people who have had to work for such people over the years.”

In Mr. Brown’s case, elections can remove him from the privilege of leadership. In the case of teachers and school administrators, contracts may not be renewed. In the case of managers in an organization, I’ve seen many abusive managers be tolerated by upper management because they may generate short term results. I’ve also seen those same organizations fail.

Everyone is under pressure and occasionally events conspire to make us lose our temper. But that is different than creating a culture of fear, allowing emotions to consistently overcome us and disrespecting others. Then it becomes an abuse of power — and the leader remains one in name only.

For you students who have either seen abusive behavior in school or have yet to see it, it will happen – unfortunately. If the behavior is negatively effecting you, I strongly urge you to ask the person for a “closed door” meeting. In that meeting, tell the abusive person what they are doing and how it is effecting you. Tell them that you want to grow and learn but that you will not accept abusive treatment. Explain to them that the next time they treat you disrespectfully you will take it further. Do this with confidence. I promise you it will work to improve your situation and it will help that person be a better leader. If it doesn’t, the person will have created their own demise and will be removed from the organization.

Leadership is a privilege. Abuse of the privilege should always be dealt with directly and timely. Executive coaching is an effective tool for those that have potential and show a sincere desire for personal growth. Teachers and administrators are no different from executives and managers in an organization. Leadership inspires greatness in others. There is no evidence that a bully leader is effective at creating greatness in others or has created sustained success for an organization. A bully leader is effective at creating low self-esteem in others. Many times this is due to a need to boost their own self-esteem.

If you are a parent or a school board member who hears repeated stories of bully leadership, meet with that person one-on-one. Give them feedback that you are aware of the bad behavior and that it isn’t something you will accept going forward. On the flip side, students and parents need to be careful not to punish a good teacher that has standards of excellence and gives students a low grade for mediocrity. A great teacher knows what a student is capable of and has many approaches to inspire greatness in the student. Giving a low grade to someone who is putting half-effort into their work is extremely important. Giving a high grade for mediocre work because of fear of parental retaliation is the worst thing that can happen to the student. They will suffer, possibly for the rest of their life.

Inspiring greatness includes holding and demanding high standards. Allowing a student, parent or an employee to manipulate a leader’s right to demand greatness is just as wrong as a bullying leader. There is no room for either. A truly great leader inspires everyone from students or employees to parents and stakeholders.

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Career Tests for Students: Beware

Posted on March 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

If a career test is really good at identifying what career a person should consider, wouldn’t that career test be a valuable tool for employers to use in the selection process?

Ask your high school career guidance counselor that is overseeing student career testing to explain which “employers” are using the assessment for hiring purposes. You might be surprised, and disappointed, to find that “no” employer is using the assessments the career guidance counselor is using.

There is a reason for this. Some career tests tell you that you are one thing when you are actually something else. Worse, they can match you with jobs, training programs, or College majors that don’t fit with your talents. For example, one “Holland-based” test (reports results using Holland Codes) might report that your highest score is for the Artistic personality type when actually it is Enterprising — a very different personality! This is exactly what happens to people taking a publicly available career test. Know the Truth

How do we know this? It is what their own research shows. The problem with many of the Holland-based and MBTI tests is that they do not measure what they are supposed to measure. Experts would say the test lacks test validity. Also, the way an assessment is used can create confusion and poor advice. To focus an individual in careers that provide only partial consideration for the student’s talent profile is about as helpful as using the horoscope to select careers.

Unfortunately, the Internet is loaded with career assessments or career tests that don’t measure up. They go by a variety of names, like: sorter, finder, quiz, and survey. They are also a part of web-based career guidance systems sold to schools and other organizations. And to make things harder for you, you’ll find some of the “oldest” and most popular career tests to be guilty of poor validity and poor reliability. The “newest” most likely do not have large population samples to support a validity study (validation studies using a population sample of 100 is not acceptable, look for validation data that uses thousands in their population sample).

Valid career measures are the result of years of scientific study and maintained on a regular basis. The results of these studies are reported in scientific journals and/or in professional training manuals and validation study white papers for the test. This takes time and money. Consequently, anything for free is most likely not something that has gone through rigorous validation studies to ensure it is current, and, most likely has not been painstakingly constructed to ensure reliability. One hint at the quality of the assessment is the amount of time required to complete the assessment. Many poorly constructed assessments can take an hour or more to complete. Test fatigue becomes a significant factor, especially with teenagers, when an assessment takes too long to finish. The Career Coaching for Students™ assessments take approximately 10 minutes each to complete – well within the amount of time before test fatigue becomes an issue.

Two examples that reveal questionable validity are described in articles we found in our research (see links at bottom of article). There are many studies that are uncovering the shortcomings of various career-oriented assessments. To make the issue more confusing, there are many professional counselors and career coaches that have invested years into using a specific assessment, may even be certified, and do not have the desire to change direction. This doesn’t make the career assessments they use more valid or more reliable.

We think that when it comes to career tests, “where” it is being used is a real measure. Why?
If companies (employers) are using the assessment(s) for hiring purposes, it is most likely a valid and reliable assessment. That’s because the government has rules and requirements regarding how to use assessments when hiring.

To be credible for hiring purposes (analyzing job fit), an assessment must be reliably valid and predictive without biases. If you are interested in looking beyond the hype, conduct a simple Internet search on the assessment name and company that produces the assessment. See if the assessment is being used in businesses to hire people. If you see business consultants who specialize in helping companies assess applicants referencing the assessment, you can be somewhat more confident the assessment is valid and reliable.

For example, Career Coaching for Students™uses two assessments for the student. One is a DISC behavioral assessment. The other is a Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values tm assessment (similar to Holland Codes and Strong Inventory). The DISC assessment combined with the Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values (PIAV) assessment provide a two dimensional picture of a person’s talents.

The Nielson Group, parent to Success Discoveries LLC, has been helping companies use the DISC and PIAV to accurately evaluate applicant talent-job fit for the past 10+ years. The maker of the assessments is TTI Performance Systems Ltd. (TTI). If you were to search “DISC assessment” you would find enough references to see how the assessment is being used (academics only or within businesses to hire people). But even with that, you’ll also find multiple DISC providers (competitors to TTI) that have their own DISC-based assessment and the quality (validity and reliability) of that assessment will be different – just as there are many assessments based on the Holland Codes.

TTI’s DISC and PIAV assessments are leaders for measuring behavioral style and motivators accurately. What can you do to verify a career assessment?

  • Ask the career guidance counselor if the assessment is used by companies to match people to jobs

  • If your school subscribes to an Internet-based educational or career guidance system, ask the principal or school counselor if the career measure meets professional standards for test validity. Many do not!


Unfortunately, some educators and counselors do not understand the importance of assessment validity and reliability even though their ethical standards require it. Be wary of endorsements by colleges, trade schools or universities or public links from their web pages. These organizations’ primary purpose is for marketing – to show you why you need to attend their program. The general rule is that if it is free it isn’t likely to be useful. Keep in mind that no test can tell you what to do. They can help you:

  • Learn about yourself

  • Identify high potential careers to consider

  • Make more informed decisions


The use of invalid career tests on the Internet is a serious problem. Several articles have recently appeared in publications of the National Career Development Association, American Counseling Association, and the American School Counselors Association.

References
Measuring the MBTI and Coming Up Short by David J. Pittenger

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI: Some Psychometric Limitations

TTI Performance Systems Validation Study for DISC

TTI Performance Systems Validation Study for PIAV

Lewis, P, & Rivkin, D. (1999). O*Net Interest Profiler. Raleigh, NC: National Center for O*NET Development.

Rounds, J., Smith, T., Hubert, L., Lewis, P., & Rivkin, D. (1999). O*Net Interest Profiler: Reliability, validity, and self-scoring. Raleigh, NC: National Center for O*NET Development.

Rounds, R., Mazzeo, S. E., Smith, T. J., & Hubert, L. (1999) . O*Net Interest Profiler: Reliability, validity, and comparability. Raleigh, NC: National Center for O*NET Development.

U.S. Department of Labor. (2000). O*Net Interest Profiler, User’s Guide. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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Waiting for Superman

Posted on March 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us, in the soon-to-be-released film Waiting for Superman, that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

However, embracing the belief that good teachers make good schools, and ultimately questioning the role of unions in maintaining the status quo, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers, inspiring teachers and charter schools that have—in reshaping the culture—refused to leave their students behind. The movie promises to receive high marks and has already been recognized at the Sundance Film Festival.

Guggenheim discusses his film

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From Student to College to Career: Fun or Terrifying Journey?

Posted on March 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

We’ve all been there. High School. Whether you were at the top of your class or just proud to be graduating, high school provided that tension to bring adulthood and career planning into the forefront. A news article that was just posted online discusses how the ACT for Middle School students is shaping students’ opinion about career choices. Another article by an owner of a student career coaching business in Minnesota blended the economy and school career counselor limitations as the reason student career coaching outside of school is expanding. Based on feedback from parents and students in our Career Coaching for Students™ workshops and our one-on-one student coaching services, true career coaching hasn’t really been a part of the high school offering.

Take our Student Priorities Survey

Today, high schools are doing some exciting things to expose students to possible career areas, especially in the tech school vocational area. From photography and television production to welding and drafting, high schools are doing a great job of providing a broad offering of job skill development classes. Many schools have purchased and implemented subscriber-based online programs like Kuder, Naviance, Bridges Career Choices and other web-based career sites that give students access to career exploration tools. Most English classes include an assignment to research and write about a career. High schools are administering assessments to help students look at possible careers. The effort isn’t the question.

So with all that is going on, why do high school students continue to enter post-high school programs with a lack of confidence in career direction? Here are my top reasons:

  • True career coaching isn’t happening in high school. Coaching is very different from offering counseling and web-based tools – and much more time-consuming.
  • Assessments used by high schools aren’t focused to enable greater self-awareness about their talent and are not recognized in the work world as effective for matching people to jobs. Also, students report the assessment reports they receive in high school were either a “waste of their time” (no perceived value) or created greater confusion – both of which actually have a negative impact on the student’s interest in career exploration. However, we have seen a very strong positive reaction (face validity) from students after they received our assessment reports and debriefing in our workshops. The most common statement is “Wow! This is incredible and extremely helpful. It blows the [one received at school] out of the water.” Sounds a little dramatic but actually it is consistently the response we receive. The point here is that an assessment designed properly and presented properly is helpful and one that is not designed properly and explained properly is damaging.
  • Students, Parents, Teachers and School Counselors are overwhelmed by their daily schedule. Even career exploration assignments are completed by students in a haphazard and single-focused manner – to complete the assignment.

Effective career coaching integrates valid assessment results and other “student self-awareness” tools with web-based research tools and specific strategies for exploring careers. Coaching and coach-focused exercises are all geared to support the student in their journey. Career coaching enables the student to start broadly and quickly narrow high-potential career options regardless of current academic achievement. The student that has already embraced a career choice will find career coaching looks for ways to affirm their choice and works to support that choice and avoid missteps along the way.

The fact that the Middle School ACT test scores are influencing students about career options is very concerning. We all know of people (click link to see a “best motivation video” -scroll down page ) who have become highly successful but were told in high school by teachers, advisors or “academic test results” that they should (or should not) go in certain career directions. That, if the advice had been followed, would have steered the person away from their success. Today, that false thinking is unfortunately alive and well. The reason – academic achievement (current achievement) or lack there of does not consider a person’s talents.

The Learning
Choosing a career should be about aligning talent with career options. Talent is very different from academic achievement or current student achievement. In fact, we know that a very average academic student will excel and be successful when they have connected their talent to a career direction. They see their purpose. That purpose creates passion. Passion drives success. We’ve also seen high academic achievers (top 2% of their class) become lost in college and bounce from job to job after graduating – all because they hadn’t found their purpose. This is completely unnecessary. Let’s not put off true career coaching. College graduation or after quitting or getting fired from jobs is not the only time to do career coaching. The ideal time is in high school, somewhere between their Freshman and Junior year.

About Career Coaching for Students™
Career Coaching for Students™ utilizes professional coaching strategies with highly valid assessment tools (used in the work world to match people to jobs) to create a strong understanding of one’s talent and how to connect that talent to career options. The program impacts the student’s intrinsic motivation and self confidence and includes a 12-week self-directed program called Life Skills for Students™ based on what we know about highly successful people. Workshops are offered throughout the United States. To see a schedule of workshops, go to the Career Coaching for Students™ website.

About Carl Nielson
Carl Nielson is Chief Discovery Officer of Success Discoveries and the developer of Career Coaching for Students™. He also has a management consulting practice through The Nielson Group where he provides executive coaching, organizational development services and hiring-for-fit strategies using the same assessment technology used for Career Coaching for Students™.

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