Education and Career assessment tool

ThinkToday

I post this here since this seems more about psychology profile, and IMO software tools that evaluate the person. The general tools that ask if you’re good in math, analytic skill, etc. really aren’t adequate. I've been going back a forth with my 17 yr old son about college. What do you want to do for a living and what college will best prepare you type questions. Outside of the focus on money, he's all over the board on this. Business, accounting, engineering, writer, music (very gifted but not driven), are some of the things he's mentioned. Outside of the generic self assessment tools the HS guidance councilors tell kids to try, are there any that are reliable objective predictors of where a person would find the best match of personality, knowledge, skills, etc.? I suspect we’re going to end up winging it, but at the current cost of college, ouch, I hate that thought.

Evo

From my experience with my girls, after two years of college they finally found their true love, but not until after a few changes in majors and even a short break.

My older daughter went back to her original major - computer science.

My younger daughter went from pre-med to pre-law, then decided she loved psychology, so she plans to be a psychologist.

Sometime it's just trial and error.

Good luck!

Pythagorean

I have many of the diverse interest your son had. That's why I chose physics for my undergraduate. I don't know if that makes sense, but it seemed to be a fundamental and diverse choice for me.

People often use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for career guidance. I don't know how tested it is with regards to career outcome, but I remember using it in school.

Bobbywhy

ThinkToday, I agree with Evo's method...after about two years of "General Educatiion" many students will be fairly certain of "what do you want to do for a living", as you put it. In my experience few 17 year-olds can be sure what they "want" to do in future.

After I had already found my career and was taking a few extra classes (at age 30 or so) I was given a test called the "Strong Interest" evaluation. Surprise: it described my interests accurately. Although I did not need it then, it would have been valuable a decade earlier. It may prove useful for your son.

"The Strong Interest Inventory (SII) is an interest inventory used in career assessment. The goal of this assessment is to give insight into a person's interests, so that they may have less difficulty in deciding on an appropriate career choice for themselves. It is also frequently used for educational guidance as one of the most popular career assessment tools."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_Interest_Inventory
https://www.cpp.com/products/strong/index.aspx