If you are stressed out that your high school teen hasn’t found a career interest yet, relax. Some kids decide on a career when they are very young, and others don’t decide until much later. You can help with career assessment for your high school students – read my tips below!
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You and your teen may find that their aptitudes and preferences naturally become clear through daily life, learning, and conversation. Parents are usually excited to learn that there are some pretty great testing tools available to help teens discover their potential career choices. These career aptitude tests match your student’s interests, skills, abilities, personality traits, goals, and achievements with possible suitable career paths.
This article, Top 11 Career Aptitude Tests for High School Students, has 11 assessments that you can use to help with career assessment. Some of the aptitude tests, I’m sure you’ve heard of, even if you didn’t realize how to use them. No matter which test you decide to use with your student, don’t get intimidated by all of the acronyms. Most of the tests come with an explanation page, explaining what the acronyms stand for.
Other websites (some paid and some free) that you can use that provide information for career assessment are:
- Roadtripnation Career Finder – A site by College Board and Roadtrip Nation has a free resource for identifying your child’s strengths and provides ideas for possible college majors and career suggestions.
- 16Personalities.com – Free personality test. This free personality test reveals who you really are. Discover the 16 personalities created by Myers & Briggs, test your personality type, and find your strengths.
- CareerKey.org – Personality related to occupations
- CareerDirectOnline.org – The Career Direct assessment examines four critical components of career selection to help you discover what you were made to do. From Crown Financial Ministries, founded by Larry Burkett
And, if your student is nervous to take one of these aptitude tests, be sure to remind them that there is no right or wrong answer! They are answering truthfully, how they feel about a situation. These ‘tests’ are just a form of guidance that you can use to help your student (and should be taken with a grain of salt).
After your student has an idea about what kind of careers they would fit well in, have them do a little research. Researching each possible career can help them decide further if it is something that they feel an interest in. They can check things like the job description, the work environment, what entry level positions look like, the advancement capacity, if there are geographical restrictions, potential earnings, and what the growth of the career looks like in years to come. They can also find out if a college degree is needed for that specific career. Or maybe if it requires certification or licensing. There is so much to look at once your student has a direction! (This research project could even be designed as an elective class that you have them take!)
For this type of research, point them to sources like:
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics
- US Department of Labor’s apprenticeship
- The Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop
- iSeekCareers.org
In addition to those resources above, there are some great career guidance books that you can use to help your student with career assessment.
- What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers
- Your Career in Changing Times by Larry Burkett is a Christian classic for career exploration
- Finding the Career that Fits You: The Companion Workbook to Your Career in Changing Times is the workbook to accompany the book, Your Career in Changing Times above.
- Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type
Is there a career assessment tool or book you or your child has found helpful? Please share!
