Career Assessment and Counseling in College

Most college career or counseling centers offer skills and interest inventories that can help students clarify and focus their career plans. Your child probably took the EXPLORE, PLAN or another similar test in the 8^th through 10^th grade that helped them assess their skills, interests, and future college or career goals. Tests offered at colleges are similar to these and may include the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Strong Interest Inventory, or the Pearson Career Assessment Inventory. While these inventories will not tell your child specifically, “You should be an accountant” or “pursue a degree in aerospace engineering.” they do help students focus their major and career search on areas in which they show both interests and skills. It is rare to see a student who is completely surprised by the results of an inventory because they tend to clarify what students already know intrinsically. The problem with these inventories is not usually in the administration or in reviewing the results with the student, but in the students’, or parents', disappointment that they simply don’t have the interest or skills to be a surgeon or whatever other prestigious profession they had their hearts set on.

Get "Interview Ready" Over Winter Break

Winter break is a great time to help your student get interview ready. Many colleges hold their summer job and internship fairs in January and February, so winter break is a great time to make sure your child has everything he needs to make a good impression. 

Suggest that he:

• Edit his resume to adjust his GPA and add work experiences and activities from the fall semester.
• Scrub his social media and online profiles for any questionable material
• Purchase plenty of resume paper for job fairs, and plenty of simple thank you notes for after the interview. Some students also print business cards that contain their contact information and a brief profile.
• Evaluate his interview wardrobe and purchase any additional items. If he’s starting from square one, he can’t go wrong with a dark suit, white or off-white shirt, and a couple of conservative ties and pocket squares.
• Make sure he also has a belt, a nice pair of dress shoes, and a few pair of dress socks.
• Some interviews and company interest sessions will require business casual clothing such as khakis, a white, off-white, or pastel button down, or a polo style pullover shirt.
• Women should err on the side of caution and choose a dark suit (make sure the skirt is no higher than an inch above the kneecap when standing), a simple colored blouse, and conservative jewelry. Heels should be comfortable and 2 inches high or less, and remember that appropriate undergarments are an essential part of any outfit.
• Business casual for young women may include anything from slacks and a cardigan to a simple sheath dress. When in doubt, browse Pinterest for some ideas and choose conservative over flashy.
• More essentials include: A good haircut or money to get one, a manicure set, a shiny smile, and some interview coaching from the career services staff on campus.

 

A Frequently Asked Question from College Parents

Even though this is a question from the parent of a college junior, I thought it was relevant enough to share with freshman parents and definitely something to remember as your child goes through college.

Q: My daughter has run out of money in her junior year. Should she take out a loan for her senior year or try to earn more money? She really wanted to graduate debt free.

A: This is a tough one and will require a lot of evaluation and planning on our daughter’s part. If she wants to graduate without debt she can, but she will probably have to take two or three years to finish her “senior year” while she works at least full time. Before she makes her final decision though, she needs to evaluate the following:

1.     How much can she earn working full time?  Minimum wage in most parts of the country is still $7.25 per hour, which may or may not be enough for her to live on and also pay for school part time.

2.     If she already has a part time job and can become a full time employee with the same employer, will she get a raise or benefits package that will make it worth her while to switch to full time?

3.     If she can’t work full time with one employer, will she be able to work two part time jobs? Will they both offer steady, year-round employment?

4.     What will her full time job prospects be upon graduation? She will need to honestly evaluate how much she can expect to earn upon graduating by researching the recent starting salaries of other students with similar GPAs and experience, from her same college and degree program. From this information she can calculate if it will be worth it for her to take two or three years to graduate while missing out on those same years of full time earnings and benefits in her chosen field.

5.     If she’s a strong student in a proven lucrative major field of study, it may be better for her to take out a federal student loan for her final year and pay it off early upon finding her first job.

6.     She also needs to make sure that switching to part time status will not force her to take required course work out of sequence, or make her ineligible for any scholarships, grants, work-study, or insurance policies she now has.

Career Assessment and Planning

Most college career or counseling centers offer skills and interest inventories that can help students clarify and focus their career plans. Your child probably took the EXPLORE, PLAN or another similar test in the 8^th through 10^th grade that helped him assess his skills, interests, and future college or career goals. Tests offered at colleges are similar to these and may include the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Strong Interest Inventory, or the Pearson Career Assessment Inventory.

While these inventories will not tell your child specifically, “You should be an accountant” or “pursue a degree in aerospace engineering.” they do help students focus their career search on areas in which they show both interests and skills. It is rare to see a student who is completely surprised by the results of an inventory because they tend to clarify what students already know intrinsically. The problem with these inventories is not usually in the administration or in reviewing the results with the student, but in the parents’ disappointment that their child simply doesn’t have the interest or skills to be a surgeon or whatever other prestige profession they had their hearts set on. 

Will My Child be Prepared to Get a Job Upon Graduation?

This is usually the second question that parents ask me about academics. In other words, “Will he be moving back into his old bedroom at 22 years of age? Because honestly, we were going to turn it into a home office.”

When we were graduating from college this wasn’t really a concern. Students graduated with little or no debt and the economy absorbed us into jobs with decent salaries and benefits. If you moved home at all it wasn’t because you didn’t have a job, it was just to save money for a car or your first home. Today’s students’ prospects are still upbeat, but their pay and benefits have dropped considerably. So, yes, he will be prepared to get a job after graduating from college, but whether his first job will pay enough for him to move out on his own depends on a number of factors including what he studied and where he chooses to live.

As I write this article, I am sitting in a coffee shop in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. Many of you have never heard of Stillwater, so I’ll tell you a little bit about it. It is a lovely college town of approximately 48,000 year-round residents, not counting college students. It contains everything you need and most of what you want in a small city. In Stillwater, and in many small to medium cities like it, a single person can live quite comfortably on a $26,000.00 to $30,000.00 per year salary.

Rent for a nice, safe one bedroom apartment costs about $600.00 a month, you can buy a week’s worth of groceries for $55.00, attend concerts and sporting events nearby for little to no cost, and a gallon of gas hovers around $3.30 even though you can commute by bus or bike. Consider a similar lifestyle in Boston, D.C. or San Francisco and you would have to earn between 54-80% more to maintain an equivalent lifestyle.

Now I know, mid-western college towns aren’t for everyone, but this example just goes to show that your child can be employed and live on his own, if that is his goal and he’s willing to move to a less expensive part of the country or even another country as is the trend for recent graduates who want to live abroad before they settle down. A college degree doesn’t guarantee anyone a job, but it does open up considerable choices.