I love fortune cookies and the surprise and anticipation of what it’s going to tell me. If you are like me, you may try to make it seem true.
This week, I had a fortune cookie that read, “You could prosper in the field of engineering.” Wow! That’s pretty direct, I thought. I wonder if the fortune cookie business realizes how many teens and college students end up on the wrong path and in huge debt that they decided to help out. Maybe other fortunes say, “You could prosper in Human Resources” or “You could prosper in Construction.”
Of course, we know a fortune cookie can’t truly predict the success of your teen’s future. But did you know there are scientific tools that can? I am a true testament to that. A scientific tool predicted that I would enjoy a career in Training and Development. It was so right. I enjoyed my career in Training and Development so much that I received promotions consistently.
Many teens who come to me have taken a career assessment before, like the free ones you see online. They might as well open a fortune cookie and follow the career path it tells them.
The problem with the free online assessments is they don’t have the scientific research behind them. I use Harrison Assessments. I love Harrison because one theory it’s based on is the enjoyment performance theory – “If your job contains at least 75% of what you naturally like to do, you will be THREE times more successful.” Isn’t that what we want for our teens, to be happy and successful? Isn’t that what they want too? Working with me, I can help teens define what that happiness and success look like.
The other part of using a fortune cookie as your guide is that it doesn’t give you a plan or a step-by-step way of navigating how to get to that career. There are many parts to it, including finding the education, making sure the job will still be there in the future, standing out from the other school or internship applicants, and making connections with people in those careers.
It can be hard choosing a college or trade school when your teen has no idea what career they want. To make a smart choice, finding the right career path is a critical step. If your teen is struggling with what to do after high school, schedule a complimentary call with me. You will walk away with a clearer vision of what success looks like for your teen and how to motivate them to achieve it.