What Sets This Program Apart

This program is an effective combination of science and counseling because it maximizes these components:

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01

It's catered to you: personalized and convenient

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This whole program is 100% for you and about you. It's designed to be a comfortable, safe, and fun time for you to look at yourself and your options in a new and maybe more concrete way. I think of it as a structured brainstorming session, all about you and your ambitions for the future. But, not only is the content catered to you, the timing is up to you as well. There's no rush, pressure, or timeline here. You'll take the assessments and book your meeting with me when it best fits into your schedule. You also have the flexibility to use this program when your academic timeline most calls for it. For example, underclassmen may choose to go through this program before signing up for classes for the next schoolyear. The information here is helpful in making future class choices and exploring new content areas. For seniors, you may choose this program as a way to get a jumpstart on making decisions for life after high school. It can help in considering potential trades, skill areas, or college majors you may want to explore.

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02

Family involvement
 

This whole program is meant to be a career-specific resource for you and your family. The goal is for you to have "a-ha" moments and gain insight into what you're enthusiastic about (and maybe what you're not so enthusiastic about). The people close to you may be the most instrumental in helping you gain this insight. They may recognize interests that you've overlooked in yourself or remember activities that you've shown excitement for in the past. That's why the family-focused part of this program is so important. During our meeting, I'll provide a packet full of information that we'll go through, but it's all the first step in looking at some of those big questions you may be facing right now. Ultimately, it's your family and the people who support you who will be guiding you through the bulk of your career planning process. Altogether, we're looking to create a collaborative planning time now, so that you may have the most support possible as you move forward on that journey to discovering your future career.

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03

Robust assessments

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Anyone can put together a personality questionnaire or online quiz, and some can be quite entertaining. (Personally, I had fun seeing which Office character I'd be...Jim Halpert. But why?) We really can't put much faith in those types of results. In contrast, the two assessments we're using here are among the most well-established in the fields of both psychology and education. There is a wealth of research-based evidence supporting their validity (they measure what they say they measure), reliability (the test results are consistent), and objectivity (the results are not influenced by preconceived notions about you). I'd love to go on-and-on about the psychometric qualities of both the Myers-Briggs® and Strong® assessments (if you're not bored to tears already?), when the main point is: they work! We can trust them to be useful tools in helping you understand your own preferences and how they match up to all the varied career fields out there. The last important note here is that the official versions of these assessments won't be found online for free. The publishing company has strict guidelines for how they're to be used. More about that next...

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04

A trained practitioner

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One of the most important parts of a personality assessment is understanding what it does (and doesn't) say about you. That's why a consultation is so important. As such, The Myers-Briggs Company and The Myers & Briggs Foundation (who are the developers and publishers here) only allow the Myers-Briggs® and Strong® instruments to be administered by certified practitioners. In fact, the ethical guidelines for both assessments require that when they are used, there is "an interpretative session in which participants discuss the results with a certified professional." I strive to follow these guidelines, not because they require it, but because I want to provide the best service to you. I see myself as your advocate. My goal is to provide the most accurate, clear, and non-judgmental information about the meaning of your reports. I also value the importance of offering practical suggestions for how to apply any of these insights to your life and career-planning process. I will keep everything we discuss 100% confidential, and I will do everything I can to provide a supportive and encouraging environment.

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05

Two huge databases of occupations
 

Another huge benefit of the Strong Interest Inventory® is that it's linked to two extensive databases of current occupations. In our meeting, we'll discuss how your interests match up to both of those databases. The first one we'll discuss is the more general Strong® database, which includes 200+ broadly-defined occupations, such as Engineer or Psychologist. This is a great starting point for you, as your responses will be matched up with people who are in jobs within those general categories. But that's not all! The Strong® is also linked to a more specific and massive database, called the Occupational Information Network (O*Net). The O*Net website is maintained by the US Department of Labor and includes detailed information about every single job title (almost 1,000 occupations). So, whereas the Strong® database uses the general occupation of Engineer, the O*Net has 292 job titles under the category of Engineer, including Mechanical Engineer, Fuel Cell Engineer, Aerospace Engineer, etc. In our session, we'll walk through your Strong®  results and how they match up to both the general Strong® and more specific O*Net databases. All that to say, we'll have an overabundance of occupations to consider!

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