Parents as Career Coaches

Parents help us discover the gifts and the callings that God has for our lives. Parents help children and teens discover their vocational interests and the motivational gifts. Parents identify the steps and resources that are necessary to develop the qualities and talents that children and teens possess.

Parents know that children and teens receive the vocational interests, abilities, skills, and talents in a seed form. These seeds will develop into careers, jobs, tasks, assignments, or ministries. Then, the talents and gifts will produce earnings, wages, and spiritual rewards as the children receive pleasure from knowing that they are fulfilling the callings that God has placed on their lives.

The Goal of a Parent

A parent receives direction from Proverbs 18:16, Proverbs 22:6, and 1 Peter 4:10.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

1 Peter 4:10 As every man has received a gift, even so minister the same gift one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

To learn about abilities, interests, and motivational gifts, parents have many tasks:

Assess children’s and teens’ vocational interests, abilities, skills, beliefs, and values.

Discover potential careers that are linked to children’s and teens’ identified interests.

Help children and teens choose the suitable post-secondary education and training.

Provide resources that help children and teens utilize their vocational interests, abilities, skills, beliefs, and values.

Understand the relationship between education, training, and specific occupations.

Introduce experiences that meet career, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral goals.

Present information on the current and future labor market.

Introduce problem-solving and decision-making strategies, and

Solve career issues, conflicts, and concerns.

The Steps Towards Completing Career Exploration Process

Step One: Preliminary Assessment

Parents must gain access to computerized, online, or paper/pencil career assessments. From these assessments, parents, teens, and children gain knowledge and understanding of our abilities, ambitions, aptitudes, identities, interests, life goals, resources, skills, and values. During this assessment period, parents will evaluate children’s and teens’ readiness for career planning.

Gary W. Peterson and others of the Center for the Study of Technology in Counseling and Career Development University Center, discussed the differences in career planning readiness. Children, teen, and adults can be categorized as:

Decided

Decided yet needing a confirmation

Decided yet not knowing how to implement their decisions

Decided choosing to avoid conflict or stress

Undecided

Undecided with a deferred choice

Undecided yet developmental unable to commit to a decision

Undecided and unable to make a decision because the individual is multi-talented

Children, teen, and adults transition from indecision to decisiveness when they complete the following steps in the career decision making and planning process.

Step Two: Educational and Occupational Exploration

Parents, children, and teens gather information about:

Educational choices

The benefits of educational achievement

The economy or labor market

Occupational choices

Specific occupations and programs of study

Training opportunities

The relationship between work and learning

Positive attitudes towards work and learning

Personal responsibility and good work habits

A typical working day for a specific occupation

Career exploration systems

Step Three: Problem solving

Parents, children, and teens solve career problems by:

Identifying educational and career planning obstacles

Creating solutions or courses of action

Setting achievable goals

Resolving conflict and tension

Making a commitment to reach our God-given potential

Problem solving should take into consideration personal values, interests, skills, and financial resources. Big problems are broken down into smaller, more manageable steps. Achievable goals result in the production of new competencies, attitudes, solutions, as well as educational and training opportunities.

Step Four: Goal Setting and Decision Making

As individuals, parents, children, and teens:

Set, formulate, prioritize, and rank goals

Clearly state our vocational interests, abilities, and values

Derive plans or strategies to implement the solutions

Make a commitment to complete the plans

Understand decision-making processes

Evaluate the primary choice

Consider a secondary occupational choice, if necessary

Decision-making processes include:

Developing learning and career plans

Identifying suitable occupations

Selecting appropriate educational programs

Figuring the costs of educational training

Considering the impact of career decisions.

Step Five: Implementation

While implementing and executing our learning and career plans, parents, children, and teens translate vocational interests, abilities, and skills into occupational possibilities. Parents, children, and teens do reality testing through interviewing current workers, job shadowing, part-time employment, full-time employment, and volunteer work. Parents, children, and teens obtain skill training, for example, social skills, resume writing, networking, and preparations for interviews.

Career Planning Resources

In order to assess gifts, talents, and abilities, parents, children, and teens need career resources. Career planning resources include books, videotapes, audio-tapes, games, workshops, self-assessment inventories, career exploration web-sites, and computer-assisted career guidance programs. These resources are found at libraries, community colleges, and resource centers.

The basis for most of the resources is the National Career Development Guidelines. In 1987, the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) developed The National Career Development Guidelines. The guidelines were organized into three areas: Self-knowledge, Educational and Occupational Exploration, and Career Planning.

Self-knowledge deals with our self-concept, interpersonal skills, growth, and development.

Educational and occupational exploration reveals the relationships between learning, work, career information skills, job seeking, skill development, and the labor market.

Career planning includes self-assessment, career exploration, decision making, life role formation, goal setting, and the implementation of career choices.

Conclusion

We are each significant, different, and special. Yet, God knows our gifts, talents, and abilities. God has chosen us for special positions and tasks. Our occupations should reflect the callings that God has placed in our lives. Our vocations represent the gifts given to us by God. Our destinies come from God. Parents help children and teens discover God-given talents, abilities, and interests so that children and teens can fulfill God’s purpose for their lives.

As parents, we will use prayer, the Word of God, other books, videotapes, audio-tapes, games, workshops, training materials, self-assessment inventories, career web-sites, computer-assisted career guidance programs, and resource centers to assist us in helping our children, and teens.

References

Miller, Juliet V. (1992) The National Career Development Guidelines, Eric Digest ED347493, ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel Services, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Peterson, G., W., Sampson, J., P., Jr., Reardon, R., C., and Lenz, J., G. (1996) A Cognitive Approach to Career Development and Services, Center for the Study of Technology in Counseling and Career Development, University Center, Suite A4100, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1035, http://www.fsu.edu/ ~career/techcenter/html

Are you at a Career Crossroad?

Do you feel like you need a change but can’t quite pinpoint why? You know you want to be happier, more satisfied, and more fulfilled in your career, but you just don’t know what that means. You’re not alone. Many people often wonder if something better might be out there for them.

“How do I figure out what to do next in my career?” is one of the most common questions I get. While most people are somewhat content with their current situation they have a sense that something is missing. Somehow, the meaning they once attached to their job is no longer there. They want to know how they can best use their skills and talents in a more meaningful way. They also want to know how they can better align their most important values with good career opportunities.

When people feel this way, they generally launch a job search. They update their resume, post it online and see what happens. Usually they get a few nibbles but most often the response is fairly minimal. Then, they begin to wonder if they even have other options or if they’re stuck in place forever. They’re at a career crossroad. It’s at this point that career assessments can be of great value by providing personal insight.

Having a clear vision of a desired career path is very important since there are several career paths to consider. Among the options are advancing within your current company, moving to another company for a change of scenery and advancement opportunities, or making a more drastic career change. You may feel that staying put while enhancing your current career situation is the way to go. Or, you may ultimately decide to enhance your knowledge through education, enhance your visibility through project work or volunteering, or by actively cultivating a professional network.

What is most important, though, is that you are able to clearly describe the factors that will bring you the highest level of satisfaction no matter what direction you choose. Career assessment can help you get clear about your career aspirations. Assessing your skills, interests, values and personality and other factors and examining how they connect with potential career opportunities will allow you to get clear about such factors as your ideal work environment, desired salary and benefits requirements, regional preferences, and industry preferences among other variables. Taking inventory of those areas also will provide important insight into what career-related factors will bring you the highest level of satisfaction.

While career assessment can be a formal process that you go through with a qualified career counselor, it doesn’t have to be. There are numerous resources available and exercises you can complete on your own. I’ll outline two exercises you can do on your own.

First, you can start by simply taking inventory of your career progress. A really good exercise is the “Career Lifeline.” When, I use it with my clients, I first have them draw a horizontal line on a sheet of paper labeling the left side beginning and the right side end. Second, I have them plot their career highs and lows beginning from their first “career decision” such as deciding to go to college rather than work, or choosing x major, or turning down y project. Finally, I have them review their lifeline to date, and we discuss the career decisions they’ve made and what influenced those decisions. We also discuss the outcomes. The objective of the exercise is to analyze personal values and their impact on their decision-making, career path and career satisfaction.

A second exercise you can do to analyze your strengths is to ask people for feedback. When they think of your strengths, what words come to mind? Obviously, you want to do this with people who know you and whom you trust. It can be a little awkward, but explain that you are simply trying to get a sense of your strengths.

Another approach is to think over your career at the various jobs you’ve had and think about the feedback you’ve received from employers and co-workers. We are all known for some set of skills and attributes. For example, in all of my work experience, paid and volunteer, I consistently hear feedback that I am organized, focused, articulate, conscientious, hardworking, reliable, pleasant to be around, fun, good with people, good at explaining things, have good presentation skills, am honest, and have integrity. I’ve also been told that I have expert knowledge in my profession and make it easy for people to apply concepts and get results. What do people say about you?

By completing the two exercises you will have a better sense of how you go about making career decisions and what influences your decisions and a better sense of personal attributes that lead to success for you in the past. There are many other exercises in my book, Fast Track Your Career: Three Steps For Finding Work You Love. The Futures in Motion, Inc. bookstore contains other suggested resources (http://www.futures-in-motion.com/bookstore.php). You can also complete formal assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory. Futures in Motion, Inc. also offers career assessment packages in which you can complete the series of inventories and get personalized feedback with suggested career options. You can find out more about the packages by clicking this link- http://www.futures-in-motion.com/future_motion_package.php.

As I mentioned, there are several career paths to pursue. Once you’ve completed the assessment process you will be better able to determine whether to advance within your current company, move to another company for a change of scenery and advancement opportunities, or make a more drastic career change. You may decide that staying in your current job while enhancing your current career situation is the way to go. Or, you may ultimately decide to enhance your knowledge through education, enhance your visibility through project work or volunteering, or by actively cultivating a professional network.

Graduate Career Advice: Preparing for the University – Job Transition

The role of university-based graduate career advice centres is to help graduates develop their interests, job prospects and career options thus preparing them for entry into the job market.

Even if you’re still engaged in studies and haven’t thought much about searching for a job after university, it’s never too soon to seek out graduate career advice. It can provide a wealth of information about potential employment opportunities and help you steer your final year of school in the right direction, and give your education a real world focus that it may not have had up until now.

Why Do I Need Graduate Career Advice?

Graduate career advice helps you formulate a clear, objective assessment of your career options and provides assistance and direction so you can reach your goals. Most graduate career advice centres offer a range of options to help you develop and achieve your professional goals. If you seek graduate career advice while you’re still in university, you will learn how to make the most of your degree, and you’ll have time to acquire the additional knowledge and skills that will help you land that dream job.

While graduate career advice services may differ in their specific offerings, below are some of the key services usually offered under graduate career advice.

Personality / Aptitude Tests

Graduate career advisors often provide free and confidential psychometric tests to assess candidates’ aptitudes and interests. These tests typically identify your strengths and help you focus on making appropriate career choices. Personality tests can reveal your preferred communication style and key motivators, which in turn can provide pointers toward the career that suits you best.

Career Guidance

Graduate career advice is often centred on helping you explore a range of fields and job types so you can better understand your options. Not only do you get graduate career advice about specific industries, but you’ll also get typical job profiles and practical information on what it’s like to work in a particular field. Some services will also provide you with contact information for experts in the field you are interested in so those experts can give you graduate career advice from a real world perspective.

Application Assistance

Graduate career advice services can help you when preparing applications for part-time jobs and, internships, as well as full-time job placements. Most graduate career advice centres can provide direction on how to identify job listings that are right for you and help you follow up with applications. More specifically, a graduate career advice service can help you interpret the finer points of a job advertisement or description, answer questions on application forms, and ensure that your application package is complete and professional.

Interviewing Tips

A key benefit of getting graduate career advice is that it prepares you to face tough interview situations. Working with experts at a graduate career advice centre before that all-important interview means you’ll be ready to impress the recruiter / potential employer with your skills, knowledge, and presentation abilities. Graduate career The advice will helps you focus on your core strengths in a positive, professional manner and can also include coaching on how to handle potentially stressful telephone interviews.

How to Write a CV

Graduate career advice sometimes includes CV writing assistance to ensure your CV is in line with your career objectives. Most graduate career advice careers services recommend that those who are job searching maintain a dynamic, online CV, which enables you to easily tailor your CV template to a specific job and gets you noticed by thousands of recruiters and employers throughout the UK. It’s a good idea to have ask your graduate career advice service them to review your CV before you distribute it, which could give you an edge over other candidates.

In summary, graduate career advice can make the difference between a lengthy and unproductive job search and securing a coveted position in the field of your choice. Besides providing a wealth of information on the career planning process, graduate career advisors can introduce you to experts and professionals in your area of interest.

Career Advice On Freelance Writing Jobs

Sometimes the freelance writing jobs available are those that no
one wants. Or, they are those that new businesses are looking to
fill. You will not find postings for the best jobs and
employment because many of those jobs go to individuals who
already have an established career or a good working
relationship with those businesses. For those looking for career
advice to find the best freelance writing jobs available, they
can find a few things here that will help them get the
experience they need or at least get a foot in the door.

The most important aspect of getting the jobs that you want is
to present a well written portfolio. Any writer can create
pieces of work to show to individuals who want a sample. You do
not have to be commissioned to write, you can write just for the
sake of filling your portfolio. Just remember to put the best of
the best work you have in there.

Secondly, there are many types of freelance writing jobs
available. Yes, it is not just the book or prized article that
you should look for. Look for vacancies in smaller areas as
well. This will help you to develop relationships in the field.

Strive to meet the client’s needs. This will mean that you meet
deadlines. It will mean that you offer the best material you
can. But, it needs to meet the client’s specified requirements,
not necessarily what you think they should be.

Be professional, and build a website. Most businesses these days
are centered around their websites. Being professional means
presenting yourself in the most appropriate way.

In any case, there can be be many freelance writing jobs
available to you once you are in the know. When you learn how to
write to your clients needs and meet those needs properly with
each and every assignment that you do, employment will be
available to you. To find the assignments to start with, you may
have to present yourself outright. Simply always do so in a
positive, professional manner.

Finding a New Job: How to Use Career Training to your Advantage

Are you interested in changing careers or changing jobs? If you are, your first impulse may involve automatically quitting your current job and going right out and applying for new jobs. Of course, the decision is yours to make, but you may want to refrain from taking this approach, as there are no guarantees. Instead, you may want to take the time to find the perfect jobs to apply to, as well as use career training to your advantage.

As you likely already know, career training comes in a number of different formats. In all honesty, career training typically caters to different careers. For instance, if you are looking for a career in healthcare, you may be required to attend medical school, even just to receive certification for nursing. On the other hand, if you are interested in working as a secretary, your career training may involve courses that teach typing or office management skills. Although career training comes in a number of different formats, it can dramatically improve your chances of successfully changing careers or jobs.

As previously stated, career training courses come in a number of different formats. With that in mind, career training, no matter what classes or courses you take, is designed to help educate you on one particular career field, such as nursing, accounting, or office management. Although career training courses can vary greatly, you often walk away with a large amount of skill and knowledge. In fact, depending on the career courses or classes that you take, you may be able to walk away with a degree or a certificate of completion. These are documents that you can give all prospective employers access to for verification of your training, knowledge, and skills.

One of the many reasons why career training can assist you when you are looking to change careers or even just jobs is because it can help you stand apart from your competition. Although career training is still popular today, not as many job seekers take advantage of it. This means that you can really use career training to your advantage. For instance, if you are interested in applying for a job as a secretary, you can take a few office management classes, typing classes, or computer software classes before you start applying for new jobs. By taking this approach, your job training is new and fresh. This not only gives you an advantage over those who do not have career training behind them, but it also gives you an advantage over those who received training a year or more ago.

As ideal as it is to hear that career training can offer you assistance, when looking to change jobs or careers, you may be curious as to how you go about getting that training, especially if you are still currently employed. Career training is offered through a number of different centers, which are commonly referred to as career centers or vocational training centers. You may also be able to receive career training at your local community college. What is nice about many of these establishments is that they offer affordable and flexible training classes and courses. In fact, you will likely find that a good percentage of career training classes are taught at night or on the weekend. This is what essentially enables to you receive career training while still holding down your current job.

As outlined above, it is relatively easy for you to go about enrolling yourself in career training courses, for a wide variety of different career fields. There are also a number of benefits to doing so. Of course, the decision as to whether or not you want to use career training to your advantage is your decision to make, but if you are serious about changing jobs or changing careers, it is something that you should seriously consider. In all honesty, what do you have to lose by at least examining all of your options first?

Career Development: Recommended Reading to Make the Most of your Career

Career Development: Recommended Reading to Make the Most of Your Career

By Mary Gormandy White

No matter where you are in your career, you can always benefit from keeping up with the latest literature related to career and professional development. Whether you would benefit from learning how to land the job of your dreams, how to get a promotion, or just how to function more effectively in your current career, there are excellent career development books that can be of great benefit to you.

As a professional it’s important to continue learning and growing throughout your career, and keeping up with the latest professional development literature is a great way to stay ahead of the curve. The time you spend reading career development books is an investment in your long-term career success.

Reading career development books enables you to learn from leading experts in the field from the comfort of your own home. No matter what professional or personal challenges you face related to your career, you’ll be able to find books that can provide valuable insights and tips regarding your employment-related concerns.

Suggested Topics Include:

The following list includes a selection of current career development literature. These books are great tools for individuals seeking to grow as professionals. They are a great starting point, but just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the many publications that can provide guidance for building the career of your dreams.

Career Advancement: Whether you are just starting out in your career, seeking a promotion, or are thinking about taking your career in a new direction, you will benefit from the practical tips and suggestions in Stepping Up: 12 Ways to Rev Up, Revitalize, or Renew Your Career by S. Gary Snodgrass.

Take Charge of Your Career: Have you ever been faced with a difficult career situation that literally seemed to come out of nowhere? I Didn’t See It Coming: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Avoid Being Blindsided in Business by Nancy C. Widmann, Elaine J. Eisenman, and Amy Dorn Kopelan is a unique career guide designed to help professionals anticipate and effectively deal with these types of situations.

Personal Branding: Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand by William Arruda and Kristen Dixson explains how to position yourself for career success by building your personal brand. The book provides readers with step-by-step tips for improving your career karma by building and managing your own brand.

Success Secrets: Too many people unintentionally sabotage their career success potential because they don’t understand how to position themselves for success within their organizations. Help! Was That a Career Limiting Move? By Pamela J. Holland and Marjorie Brody is a practical guide designed to help professionals recognize and understand workplace behaviors that negatively impact their ability to get a ahead. This is a must-read for people who find themselves being overlooked for promotions or who want to be sure that this never happens to them.

Your Career is Worth The Time

Keep in mind that becoming a successful professional involves more than just getting the basic training you need to enter the workplace. Successful professionals who want to fulfill their potential invest time and energy in learning how to grow in their careers. The time you spend learning how to improve your ability to advance in your career can result in exponential rewards.

How To Achieve A Better Career As A Career Counsellor

Securing the help of a career counsellor if you are thinking about changing your career makes great sense. Lets explore what a career counsellor is all about, what she or he can offer in the way of help changing career, and what services are provided.

If looking for a career counsellor to help you in changing your career is fraught with anxiety, consider this. A licensed career counsellor is very qualified to objectively help you find a great career path for you. Each licensed career counsellor is especially qualified for changing career services, with a graduate degree in counselling and a further specialization in career counselling.

Not all career counselling services are the same. There are varying levels of career counselling that including career counsellor fellows, master career counsellors, registered professional career counsellors and master career development professionals. Generally changing a career is exactly what theyre trained to help with. They help folks make these career changing decisions and help get them on their way to the new career. They help people determine the education and skills that are required of the career theyre thinking of changing to, and help them find the educational facilities and tools to acquire that training.

Specific techniques and strategies for career changing that counsellors practice include group and / or individual counselling session that help clients clarify their life as well as their career goals.

Career counsellors carefully listen to the situations and circumstances that bring the individuals to the point in life that theyre thinking about changing their career.

Career counsellors administer tests that help assess career interests and skills. They interpret the results of the tests, and explain to the client what the tests suggest in the way of interests and abilities. Based on the test results, the career counsellor can advise the client on career changing goals.

Career counsellors encourage their career changing clients to complete exploratory assignments and activities that assess career appropriateness. They provide the opportunities that will help their client improve their own skills in decision making. They help the client draw up career plans and teach job hunting and resume development skills and strategies.

Before suggesting changing careers the counsellor may help the client resolve personal conflicts in the current job situation, or the potential for conflict in any new job situation through the improvement of human relations skills.

A career counsellor can also help the client and the clients family improve their work / life balance to the betterment of family and personal relationships. The counsellor can also be supportive to the person who is experience stress due to job loss, changing career due to forces beyond their control such as downsizing or termination, and just the fear of the unknown career and work environment.

To help those changing their career a counsellor must have at least a Masters degree in counselling, which includes the completion of at least two years of supervised counselling experience.

Career Advice: References Can Make or Break Your Job Search

Career Coaching

References are golden assets as you travel your career path. Nurture them with great care.

They may be personal or professional. The personal ones can speak to your stability and character. On the professional side, references should address your qualifications to handle the job. A combination of both types is first prize.

There are six career tips that will help you make sure your references assets work to your advantage in your search for a job.

1. Never take for granted that a reference will be positive. Get approval from each one, no matter how solid you may think the relationship is, so that the referring person can be prepared to speak for you from first hand knowledge. The last thing you want is for a reference to be caught off guard. This contact is best made with a face-to-face meeting. 

2. Bring the potential reference up to speed on your job status. Detail the history of your career. Explain the reasons you are looking for a new position. Explain your career goals.

3. Describe in detail the job you are seeking. Ask for career advice, as well as any leads to job opportunities. Never forget, everybody likes to be ask for advice.

4. After you secure their assurance of a positive reference, send them a copy of your resume and cover letter. Request their comments. This is a good way to get them involved in your search.

5. Keep references involved in your job search. Request that they notify you when they receive calls from prospective employers. Get their take on the degree of interest the interviewers have in your application and the status of the search.

6. The follow-up is an extremely important part of the process. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and challenges of a new job so you forget to thank those who provided references. That’s a big mistake. Send “thank you” notes for their agreeing to serve as a reference. Keep them posted on the progress of your job search. After you get the job, keep your references posted on the progress you make on your career path.

Never burn your bridges. Remember you may need these references in the future.

Discover The Essential Information You Need When Considering A Career Change

Are you dismayed with the way your career is shaping up? More accurately, has it something to do with the lack of direction in your career management?

If that be the case, you are in need of a thorough overhaul of your career planning. You want to explore career job opportunities in areas totally different from what you are engaged in right now. While this is not impossible to achieve, one must remember that all career fields are not the same.

Often they require a completely different set of attributes and mind sets. For example, your expertise in legal security doesn’t necessarily qualify you to be a successful nurse or paramedic. This is something you need to remember before you opt for a radical career transition.

Now since all career fields are different, it is important that you do not suffer from any pre-conceived notions regarding your abilities. Feel-good assumptions having no basis in reality are the worst enemy of your career development goals.

Before seriously deciding on a career change, you need to step back a little, get a perspective on your career planning, and do some thorough research on the career fields that interest you. These may be anything from teaching, medicine, law, retail, to automobiles. The research should cover aspects like current and projected job prospects, average pay, requirements in terms of skill sets and so on. All the related career information that you may need can be obtained either online or at the local library.

Once you have zeroed in on a few career fields that you would be interested in, you may start searching for job openings. Don’t apply for those jobs just yet. Instead, it is advisable to examine these options with respect to the criteria mentioned above.

One of the primary concerns will be your earning prospects. You need to check if the salary and benefits offered in those positions are enough to carry out your financial obligations. Some circumstances like job satisfaction, additional benefits and prospects of career advancement may allow you to take a pay cut; but the onus of making the final decision rests with you.

Another such criterion in your quest for career development is the specific job requirements. You will want to examine some of the job openings in the light of required education, training, skills, aptitude, previous work experience, and the like. What is nice about this part of the research is that data in this regard is easy to come by.

You will find that most job listings, both in print and in online recruitment portals, usually outline all the requirements for the job. You will easily get a good idea as to whether or not you have got what it takes to qualify for your career dream find. If you find any divergence between your ambitions of career transition and the requirements of achieving them, you may want to invest in a few career training courses to help upgrade your expertise and experience.

Continuing with career training, you could access various kinds of courses, all designed to help you prepare for your career dream find. For example, if you want to become a successful accountant, you will have to learn how to keep books of accounts, prepare balance sheets and cash flow statements, maintain records of transactions; prepare tax returns, and so on. Needless to say, the period of training required will depend on the direction in which your career planning goals take you.

If you decide on attending career training courses to improve your chances of making a successful career transition, you will need to look for the career coaching option that will suit your requirements. Many career training courses are advertised in local newspapers. You could visit the local colleges and vocational centers to see what courses they offer.

You may also opt for online career training. These courses will cost you money, but it will invariably be worth it in the end. Hopefully the outcome of the whole exercise will be a foothold into a new career field and a stepping stone to career advancement and job satisfaction.

Career Tests for Teens: How the Newest Assessments Reveal your Child’s Perfect Career Path

Most of us remember a day in our teens when our high school guidance counselor called us in for career counseling. She scrutinized and evaluated us, gave us tests with cryptic questions, and in the end proclaimed with some certainty that our career destiny was to become a fireman–or a stonemason, or a math teacher, or something equally mysterious. As baffling as this process was, if you’re the parent to teenagers, you probably find yourself wishing you could give them such definite career advice.

With so many career options in the modern workplace, it can be difficult for parents and teens to narrow down the choices. The good news is, those career tests your guidance counselor gave you have come a long way. Today’s career assessments provide an accurate, sophisticated, and time-effective way to help your child discover their career aptitude. Tests of your child’s personality, preferences, talents, and interests provide you and your teen with essential information as you make choices for college and beyond.

Do you know whether your child is a structured traditionalist, or a sensitive artist? Do they do their best work in solitude or on teams? One of the most widely used career assessments for teens, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®), assesses your child’s personality type on four scales: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. Based on these measures, the test results provide information on careers, industries, and work environments that are good choices for your child’s personality type. Knowing your child’s personality type is crucial to choosing a career path that will motivate, challenge, and satisfy them.

Extensive research has been done using the MBTI to correlate personality type with career success, so that once your child knows their type, they can benefit from the career experience of thousands of similar types. The test results will help them to understand the key factors for their job satisfaction, crucial stressors to avoid when choosing a career, and some common pitfalls they may encounter as they start on their career path. Although your child’s interests may change over time, their personality type will remain constant, and preparing your child with an awareness of their personality type will benefit them for the rest of their life.

To discover the best career for your child, it is also important to understand how their interests, hobbies, and favorite activities can inform their career choice. The Strong Interest Inventory®, a well-researched and widely used career test, assesses your teen’s interest level in six major career categories: Conventional, Investigative, Realistic, Artistic, Enterprising, and Social. Then, it matches your teen’s test scores with the interest profiles of successful professionals to rate the careers that are the best match for them. The Strong Interest Inventory results can help your child to understand the day-to-day tasks that certain jobs require, and how their interests match up with possible careers.

Both the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator can be taken with the assistance of a qualified career counselor. You may choose to visit a counselor in your area, or you can have your teen take these tests online. If you feel your teen may need ongoing coaching, it may be best to visit a counselor in person. However, many families find that it is most convenient to access these career tests for kids online.

However you decide to take the tests, you can ensure you get the most out of the assessment by reviewing and verifying the results with a qualified counselor or coach. Both the MBTI and the Strong are designed to be interpreted and explained by a professional with training in the use of the assessments. Your counselor or coach will help you to make sense of the results and apply them to your teen’s individual situation, and will assist you in planning the next steps for your child’s career exploration.

The sheer variety of career options today is astounding. Your teen has a dazzling, and sometimes overwhelming, array of choices. With so many options, teens and parents will benefit from using the excellent personality and career tests that have been developed to help students choose a rewarding career. Not only can these assessments provide much-needed direction, but they can help steer your child towards a career that will challenge and satisfy them for many years to come.

©2007 by Molly Owens