s/o DE: career counseling for quirky nontraditional kids

[kbutton]

Since it was mentioned on the DE thread, I want to ask about career counseling.

 

What has anyone used that's been actually helpful? This is not a theoretical question as I heavily utilized career counseling in high school and college, and it didn't do a darn thing for me. It did NOTHING to pin down what I am good at (it just broadened the possibilities), and the results were literally all over the map. I fell into my eventual major (and subsequent career) via a professor who collected weird people like me for her major. It was particularly suited to people who fit the "Jack of All Trades" description. I am not sure my son is one of those, but he could have multiple potential paths within a subset of careers (and likely does).

 

Knowing that my kid might not even opt for college, which is where I finally found some avenues to explore, or be able to handle the load of college, I feel like I am less equipped to know how to help him find career options.

 

I really don't know much about the full range of jobs out there, so I really do need a broader perspective. (I grew up in a rural area with very limited career options.)

[Crimson Wife]

Has your child done one of those Strong Interest Inventories? I did one in high school that said I should be a minister or a teacher. My denomination doesn't have female priests so obviously attending seminary was not an option unless I wanted to switch to my mom's denomination. But the "takeaway" was that I am suited for a "helping" profession.

 

I need to see if the career center at my oldest's CC offers the Strong because I think it would be useful for her to complete it.

[kbutton]

No, but it looks like a really good assessment from a sample report I see online. It looks like it provides broadly useful information as well as some specific suggestions. I saw that you can do it along with the Meyers-Briggs for a combined sort of report. 

 

It says 14 and up for the suggested age, but I can keep it mind for this time next year maybe.

 

Thanks!

[PeterPan]

Yes, dd did the Strong and we found it quite helpful. Even with it being keyed to a long list of occupations, it's still not perfect or going to encompass EVERYTHING. The domains are useful (social, entrepr, realistic, scientific, artistic, etc.) because they help you see the patterns to yourself. And for dd, basically all 10 suggested occupations it kicked out reflected those strengths and were so similar it made us laugh. Like even where they were different, there were still those common threads.

 

I do think it has the weakness that they need to understand themselves. The less a person understands himself, the more maybe he's going to need some assistance.

 

The career counseling office at the university spent significant time discussing with us the results and how to apply them. They ended up suggesting a few different majors and suggested she explore them. There's a sense though in which they viewed it as major in something/anything, get a degree, become more niched as you go. They weren't necessarily saying use the results to be niched right away. Most people major in something TOTALLY DIFFERENT from what they're doing three years after college! So their advice was see yourself long-term using the results, pick a degree that maybe you think interests you now but let it *work toward* where your overall bent is taking you. 

 

If you found a university with an autism program, they might bring another dimension to the interpretation of the results. For us, the Strongs was really helpful in pinpointing what it seemed like she's good at multiple things. We could finally see the common threads in all her interests.

[kbutton]

It was the threads in particular that interested me, E. I don't think any assessments I did really honed in on that (at least not in a way that was meaningful to me). I just remember it showing so many diverse options that it seemed nonsensical.

 

I will have to look into it more and see who offers it. It appears you can take it online, but it might be nice to have some follow up with the experience.

[Terabith]

When I did it, literally everyone I knew got forest ranger in their top five, including me, who passionately hates the outdoors. 

[kbutton]

When I did it, literally everyone I knew got forest ranger in their top five, including me, who passionately hates the outdoors. 

 

Lol! That doesn't sound so helpful!

 

Was that a recent iteration of the test?

[PeterPan]

When I did it, literally everyone I knew got forest ranger in their top five, including me, who passionately hates the outdoors. 

 

Oh that's hilarious!! But the point is what you learn about yourself with that. Like a forest ranger, what were they seeing in you that fit it? Then you could apply it to other areas not on there. 

 

Rest assured, not everyone gets suggested to be a forest ranger; it didn't show up on dd's list at all. :D

[Terabith]

No, this was an old iteration of the test.  Like 30 years ago.  And I talked to over 20 people.  Every single one of them had forest ranger somewhere in the top 5.  Maybe there was a massive shortage of forest rangers back then?

 

ETA:  I just asked my husband.  He took it the same year but almost a thousand miles away from where I lived.  It told him he should be a forest ranger, too. 

 

It sounds like it's improved.  Dramatically.

Edited June 4, 2017 by Terabith