College Career Life Planning

Get Motivated - Major Need Among Youth

Tools for

Major Need Among Youth for Career Planning

Over a brief 10-day period in 2005, I received the following comments from students and parents suggesting the tremendous need:

"My son just graduated from college. He doesn't have a clue what he wants to do. Maybe forensics. Maybe art."

"My daughter is a sophomore in college and she hates accounting. She is changing majors, but doesn't know what to choose. That means at least one more year of college that we can't afford. How do I know her next choice will be the right one?"

"Now that I have a college degree, I need to think about a career. I majored in Marketing, but I'm not sure that is what I really want to do."

"I hate my major, but switching involves two more years of college. My parents would kill me. I'll gut it out. Maybe I'll learn to like it."

"I wish I had known four years ago what I know now. I would have taken career planning and college more seriously. My major was easy and fun, but now I can't get a decent job."

The above examples reflect the unnecessary frustration, confusion, and concern experienced by many students and parents.

Our greatest resource is our young people. They are the future! Their career decisions will have a major impact on their lives, on their families and on their contribution to society. Yet, we do little to prepare them.

Career counseling resources tend to be very limited at high schools and even at many colleges. Frequently, the student to guidance counselor ratio is several hundred to one. According to the National Center for Education Statistics survey on guidance counselor time/priorities, career planning ranks fourth behind high school course scheduling, post-secondary admissions activities and student discipline. Despite the obvious value, few academic programs require students to take career planning in their curriculums.

This site is designed to help students, parents and teachers fill the career and education planning void. Counselors and teachers can utilize the tools on this web site to leverage the effectiveness of their limited time with each student. By making it easy to quickly find and use effective career/education planning tools, the web site will enable students/parents to make informed decisions with less effort and time. Hopefully, this will result in more students making informed decisions about their career and education.

Let's help our young people succeed!