How to help with career choices?

[lots-o-rice]

My ds 16 has no idea what he wants to do as a career in the future.  None.  He is a junior and does have some time, but most of his friends at least have interests, many have already chosen a major.  Ds has no real interests and to be honest, school is hard for him and no subject seems like "the one".

We live overseas and don't have a lot of contact with people in normal careers.  

What's out there for interest inventories, career choosing classes, or career info?

Thanks!

 

K

[Sunshine State Sue]

Check out the links under CAREER: Tests, Exploration and Resources in post #5 of this pinned thread.

 

[creekland]

If school is difficult for him, does he like any of the trades?  They can pay well and lead to an equally successful life as college as long as the fit is right.  Many students from our high school head toward trades if academics isn't really their thing.  Some head there even if they are good at academics.  It's just what they like.

 

Google some trade schools or community colleges to see what sort of certificate or 2 year options they offer.

 

MANY students have no idea what they want to do at age 16.  Of my three, only one knew.  The other two had no idea.  The other two picked something and headed off to college, but changed their mind once in college when they found something they liked better.

 

All kids really need to start thinking about is basic direction and some do it by figuring out what they don't like (and eliminating it) rather than what they do.  Then they get started down what seems to be a reasonable path and keep their eyes open.  Often that path will lead to options they never realized were possible - and one of those is attractive.

Edited December 5, 2015 by creekland

[Lori D.]

Not sure it's any comfort, but the MAJORITY of college students change majors to something completely different than the major they start off with as a freshman. So just  because your DS's friends "know" what they want to do does not mean that they are ahead on ultimately entering a career field -- they will likely be changing their minds at least once before entering college, and again while in college. ;) And some people just take longer to figure things out -- both of our DSs are in their early 20s and STILL don't know what they want to do (and we DID do a lot of career exploration and career interest tests in high school)… DH was 27 before he finally settled in with a career field.

 

In case it's of help, I'm "reprinting" my post from the recent thread, "Seeking career exploration books and websites":

 

 

From my experience of doing several rounds of career exploration with grades 6-12 homeschool students, I'll just throw out there that middle schoolers, and even many high schoolers, are still quite young to "know" who they are or what their interests really are when they take the career tests, and most really have no idea of what they might want to do for a job even after doing some career exploration.

 

They did have a lot of fun taking the tests, but I think what was even more helpful was bringing in speakers from the community to share about all kinds of different career fields...

 

CAREER TESTS

There are 4 types of career assessment tests you will run across:

 

Personality Inventory = helps see how your personality fits in with others in a work place
(examples: Meyers-Briggs Indicator; Keirsey Temperament Sorter)

Personality Testing: Open Extended Jungian Type Scales: -- free printable test, similar to the Meyers-Briggs personality types

Color Personality Test -- free printable test; less specific and less individualized than other tests, as it is designed for working in teams and understanding strengths/needs of each of the 4 colors, so useful in places of employment

Fun Education: free online test

Team Technology: free online test

Interest Inventory = ways you like to work
(examples: Campbell Interest & Skill Survey; Strong Interest Inventory)

most of these tests are based on, or are variations on, the 6 work interest areas of the Holland Codes

Eastfield College Career Self Assessment: free printable test

SD Labor & Regulation Interest Assessment: free printable test

O-Net: My Next Move Interest Profiler: free online test

California Career Zone: free online test (and lots of resources for exploring careers)

 

Work Values Survey = what brings meaning/is important to you in working

Univ. of Notre Dame: Work Values Inventory: free printable test

Work Values Inventory: free online test
Saint Anselm College, free test

 

Aptitude Assessment (Work Skills) = determines specific abilities/skills
(used specifically by employers to know if you have specific skills needed for the job -- such as, how many words a minute do you type;  do you have specific training/certifications; etc.)
Univ. of Notre Dame: Career Center: Skills Inventory: free printable inventory

California Career Zone: free online skills profiler
Career One Stop: free online skills profiler

 

Additional Test Resources

Career Exploration for 6th-7th graders from Learning for Life -- a free online teaching supplement

Everything Career Tests Book (secular) and student packet resources from Rod & Staff (Christian) look interesting -- the book has 10 different tests in it, and the packet walks the student through the book

 

CAREER EXPLORATION RESOURCES

Starting with an interest inventory test helps you understand the ways you like to work, which then helps you narrow down what kinds of jobs match up with the ways you like to work. Most of these tests are a variation of the Holland Code, which is organized with six interest areas and then the career fields and specific jobs that use those interests. This Wikipedia article explains the Holland Codes and lists lots of job ideas under each of the six interest areas.

 

The CA Career Zone website has a nice, free test you can take online, and then lets you explore various careers. Then once you know your specific interests and have an idea about some possible job areas, you can explore the US Bureau of Labor's free online Occupational Outlook Handbook for info on specific careers, plus different ways to do a search to come up with a list of careers to look at (by salary; by amount of education required; by how much growth that field expects in the next 10 years; etc.).

 

Since you also want to explore Career Clusters, you may find this Career Cluster / Holland Codes "Map" to be helpful -- it is a graphic organizer map of the 16 Career Clusters matched up with the 6 work interest areas of the Holland Codes.

 

CAREER CLUSTERS

Another way to approach career exploration is with Career Clusters. It is a national educational organizing tool that divides career areas into 16 "clusters", and then into 70 more specific "pathways" of the essential knowledge/skill required for the "cluster". The pathways then branch into over 1800 "crosswalks", which are the specific jobs, which can be researched by "crosswalk" at the Dept. of Labor's O-Net website. O-Net ("O" for Occupations) allows you to read info on the various "crosswalks", search by career cluster, industry, STEM jobs, and more. One good starting point at this website is the O-Net: Career Clusters link which takes you directly to the Career Clusters info on O-Net. (Another way to explore O-Net is to go to the "My Next Move" section, which has two different search engines (by industry or by key words), and an interest profiler.)

 

The US Bureau of Labor's Career One Stop website also has occupations organized by the Career Clusters, and you can view short videos about the occupations in the 16 Career Clusters.

 

You can also research occupations at in the US Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). The OOH is similar (but not identical) in organization to Career Clusters, in that it loosely organizes the hundreds of jobs under 25 "occupational groups" (see the list going down on the lefthand side of the OOH home page).

 

Career Clusters Resources

Career Clusters Interest Survey -- free printable occupational interest test

I-Seek Careers -- links, resources, and info about occupations in the 16 Career Clusters

O-Net: Career Clusters -- links to info about specific occupations in the 16 Career Clusters

Career One Stop -- US Dept. of Labor website; short videos of occupations in the 16 Career Clusters

Glencoe's Exploring Careers -- student text based on career exploration through Career Clusters

Glencoe: Career Clusters -- free online exploration: brief description of each of the 70 "pathways" that branch out from the 16 clusters; links to print and internet resources for each cluster; and a graphic organizer map  showing all the "pathways" and related specific occupations under each cluster

 

Another resource that might be of interest or helpful is the book What Color is Your Parachute for Teens:
Part 1 discusses what the 4 different types of tests help you know about yourself for matching up with jobs.
Part 2 covers what kind of education/training you'll need for specific jobs.
Part 3 is about the job search process.

 

BEST of luck in your career explorations! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Lori D.

[MerryAtHope]

K, I just wanted to say I've got a college freshman in the same boat, so I feel your pain! I really have no idea where he'll land...but do hope he can choose a major sometime soon...