Career Coaching for Students®

Career Coaching for Students is the premier student career guidance program valued by students, parents, career coaches - AND administrators and guidance counselors in high schools and colleges.

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Career Coaching for High School or College StudentsCareer Coaching for Students is the only program offering students the opportunity to complete the same assessments used by employers in the hiring process to measure the match between talent and job. Because of the higher validation and reliability standards required in the employer hiring process, our assessments carry an entirely higher level of quality, validity and reliability compared to assessments developed to serve the academic market. We've also worked directly with TTI Success Insights, a global leader in talent assessments, to develop a superior student talent-career report that you won't find anywhere else.

Why is career coaching important for students?

Career coaching can help the student gain greater self-awareness of their talents, interests, values and passions to more effectively determine which careers and jobs to consider, which major(s) or trade to consider, which classes to take, which university to consider and which internships to apply for, in order to establish a strategy that leads to the right career for personal success and satisfaction.

We start with quality career-focused talent assessments.

We use the same assessments as employers so that students experience accurate and in-depth relevance from the reports. Our Talent Insights-Career® assessment report by TTI Success Insights is designed to significantly increase self-awareness, expose the richness of the students' talents and provide a more meaningful connection between their talent and potential careers. In all, the student receives an insightful, easy-to-read comprehensive report about their talents.

A student career guidance system that promotes student engagement.

The student guidebook provides an easy-to-follow step-by-step process for student, parent and facilitator that promotes self-reflection and career exploration.The student guidebook helps the student through the entire career and education  exploratory journey. In this time of "all online" solutions, we believe something critical is missing: the ability to touch and use valuable information for an extended period beyond the actual duration of the program. Students and parents alike consistently state they will keep and use the student guidebook and assessment report for many years.

Online Bonus: A meta site of best supporting information resources.

As part of the program, students have access to Student Resource Central, another key part of our total quality strategy. This one-stop Internet resource offers vetted quality information, career and post-secondary research tools and content:• 30 high-quality marketing-free sites for Career Research• 14 high-quality, marketing-free educational institution research sites that are effective at matching a students different career interests to "best fit" educational options• 19 links to support the program's exercises, motivate the student, provide useful tips and techniques for the entire journey, find financial aid and scholarships and prepare for the ACT and SAT tests.

We come to you, virtually or onsite.

Career Coaching for Students can be customized and delivered in a classroom, workshop or one-on-one format including a student-parent family format in a virtual setting. We've delivered the program to thousands of individual families across the United States in the comfort and privacy of their own home using the latest in virtual meeting technology (we were doing it way before the pandemic made Zoom a household word).

What’s the challenge for students?

Students struggle choosing a career because they lack clarity about their talents and career options. In fact, the more ‘gifted’ a student is, the more anxiety they experience when it comes to evaluating career interests.

Businesses want qualified, motivated and engaged employees. Empowering students with a road map that leads them to satisfying careers exponentially improves their ability to be successful, reduces the odds of changing majors, avoids extending post-secondary education and saves parents unnecessary expenses. A lack of clarity of purpose has been established as a key component to decline in emotional health and self-confidence.

High schools (and colleges) are not equipped to provide the level of career coaching support that students need. Many students receive false or damaging social feedback, including feedback from teachers and counselors when it comes to career guidance. Many college career centers are typically staffed with part time graduate students who lack depth and knowledge necessary to provide competent career coaching.

A Coaching Focus

The Career Coaching for Students® virtual coaching enables students to develop greater self-awareness of their talents, understand how their talents match to different careers and set a plan of action for pursuing desired careers.

Coaching empowers students to explore their gifts, passions, talents and career options so they can start building their future today, establishing a foundation for long-term success and career satisfaction. “This program is an exercise in how to make big decisions.” The bottom line is that the assessment, guidebook, online resources and coaching integrate beautifully to build self-esteem and decision-making skills.

What this program is not

This program will not ‘tell’ the student what single career is best for them. Human characteristics or talent is much too complex to suggest only one career. Students are guided through a proven self-directed discovery process where they identify high-potential options of interest and ultimately make decisions using a learning mindset.

Who should receive this program?

• Students entering 9^th grade through seniors
• College students needing greater clarity about their career direction

Are parents are included?

Yes! Parents are critical partners to a teen's future. We encourage parents of high school students to participate.

When and where?

Career Coaching for Students® - a personalized virtual program that serves your schedule, including sessions in evenings and Saturday mornings. We'll schedule the sessions after you register. 

Notable program features

Workplace caliber assessments – The talent assessments used for this workshop are the same used by companies to evaluate job match of applicants.

• Why this is important: assessments used in the workplace must adhere to very high validity and reliability standards, unlike assessments used by many high schools and colleges.

Easy, insightful, engaging step-by-step career coaching strategies – The agenda for the one-on-one or workshop offering integrates with the guidebook in a manner that empowers and engages every student.

• Why this is important: Most student career coaching programs barely scratch the surface of what the student needs and many miss the mark altogether.

Workshop intensive and ongoing coaching – Carl Nielson has delivered this program to hundreds of students as a one-on-one offering and workshop.

• Why is this important: Our one-on-one or workshop intensive provide high impact and an economical solution.  

Planning for continued education and career – Regardless of a student’s interest in post-secondary vocational or college-based education, this program provides students with a strategy for researching and planning next steps.

• Why is this important:  Understanding career interests and exploring options as early as high school empowers and informs students. This must come before development of a post-secondary educational strategy.  Educational strategy comes before choosing a college, major or vocational training curriculum.

Nationwide program with consistently strong positive feedback from parents and students – Located in the Dallas area, Carl has been delivering this program in a one-on-one and workshop setting for over ten years to clients in the United States and internationally.

• Why is this important: Parents of students who attended the program have been the strongest champions and source of referrals. Students consistently state the program was “extremely beneficial”.

Partnerships in the delivery of this program – The Career Coaching for Students program has been delivered under contract to University of Texas College of Communications, Dallas Boys & Girls Clubs and local private and pubic ISDs in the north Texas area.

• Why is this important: The Career Coaching for Students program has been vetted against Texas’ TEKS requirements. As one large ISD senior executive responsible for student career development program stated, “This program is packed with TEKS satisfiers. We’ve never come close to offering something like this.”

Saves families $$ - Based on well-documented statistics, the average college student changes majors. On average, college students change their major at least three times over the course of their college career.

Normalizing the Norm of Changing College Majors - The University of Tulsa

• Why is this important: Factors that lead to changing college majors are well documented but aren’t being addressed adequately or timely. Reasons for changing majors include:
• Change in academic interests: Discovering new passions or losing interest in a previous major.
• Change in career goals: Realizing a different path aligns better with desired career outcomes.
• Academic performance: Struggling in a particular major might lead to a change.
• Personal reasons: Life events or personal growth can influence major choices.

According to the College Board, research from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows:

• 80% of students change their major at least once.  
• About 30% of undergraduates who declared a major changed it at least once within 3 years.  
• About 10% of students changed majors more than once.
• These statistics indicate that changing majors is quite common, and students often explore different academic paths before settling on a final major.

While traditionally referred to as a "four-year" degree, the average time to complete a bachelor's degree has increased in recent years.  

• Current Trend: Many students now take five to six years to graduate.
• The 4-year myth: Why longer times to graduate matters for student debt - Earnest

Historically: The standard was four years, or eight semesters.  

• The Average Student Takes Six Years to Earn a Four-Year Degree. Some States, Schools, and Organizations Are Working to Change That.

Several factors contribute to this increase:

• Part-time Enrollment: More students work while attending college, slowing progress.
• Changing Majors: Exploring different academic paths can extend graduation time.
• Financial Constraints: Students may need to take breaks due to financial reasons.

Time and Money: Why Students Take a Break - Higher Education Today

Personal Challenges: Life events can impact academic progress, National Library of Medicine

Student Career Coaching Program
Institutional Offering Available

Career Coaching for Students is available for use within university career centers and college and high school guidance centers.

Institutional branding is Important.

The program can be private-labeled including the guidebook, the online assessment administration center and student talent reports.

For fast implementation, the college version is ready for use with your students. All we need to do is customize with your logo/branding information. However, many colleges and universities desire an integrated approach with in-house content that has already been developed and implemented. We work with you to customize all components to meet your needs and goals.

Delivery Support to Meet Any Need and Any Budget.

We offer both career counselor training for in-house delivery and direct student-facing delivery support. We support you behind the scenes and can be an extension of your full-time staff for an optimized solution at the lowest possible cost.

What do college students have to say about the career assessment and career coaching workshop?

A customized private-labeled program was developed and delivered for The University of Texas Moody College of Communications. Here is what students had to say afterward.

[This program] motivates me to take more control of my career goals. It also made me recognize interest in certain career paths that I haven't considered before. Overall, it was an insightful experience that answered a lot of questions that I didn't even know I had.
College Student

I believe that it is helpful to gauge and understand your own thinking better when applying and looking for the right job to fit you.
College Student

I think the assessment is a great way to gain a better understanding about yourself. You are an expert on yourself as a whole, and sometimes that gets in the way of seeing the unique pieces you have to offer.
College Student

It goes into depth about your strengths and weaknesses, qualities you need to know when it comes to applying it to working or succeeding in school.
College Student

It helped gain insight on not only what I do but WHY. I have 4 motivators above the baseline and was so relieved to know why I always found difficulty in choosing what I want to do. Now i know what to focus on!
College Student

I found it very helpful and insightful! It also helped with my confidence and made me feel a little less alone in the stress that a job search process can bring.
College Student

I found it super interesting to discover more about myself and what motivates me. The workshop reaffirmed the direction I’ve started going in so that now I feel confident pursuing my interests and secure in my abilities.
College Student

I think this was a great opportunity that allows for students to finally feel like they have a sense of who they are and who they could become.
College Student

It was really in depth and I really understand my strengths/weaknesses and characteristics that shape my behavior. It was also really accurate and I can apply it to my personal life as well as my work/academic life.
College Student

I think its very useful especially for students to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie so they can find how to leverage that.
College Student

This workshop was amazing and insightful. I struggle knowing myself and so having the time to contemplate why and how I do things was SO beneficial. It also revealed to me what areas I can improve in and how to utilize my strengths.
College Student

It was a very insightful experience where both Julie and Carl explained the results of our assessment. A lot of information is included in both the moody workbook and the assessment. The assessment also made it easier to articulate my work style.
College Student

About the Creator of the Career Coaching for Students Program

Starting in 2005, Carl Nielson, a career coach and executive development coach with a corporate organizational development/human resource management background, was consistently asked by his friends and clients to "coach their kids" who were either in high school or college. These families had experienced the "online solutions" that schools were offering. They had also experienced the lack of counselor expertise and time to provide effective career guidance.

These requests motivated Carl to more deeply investigate what was being offered. That led to the discovery that the programs being offered by schools and colleges had serious flaws starting with the assessments they were using. "We might not be able to solve the time/cost challenge faced by most schools for the simple fact there was no priority to change the status quo, but we can certainly create a program that works better than what is currently being provided to students." stated Carl back when he was investigating the state of the career guidance industry. As of 2023, those same observations about the online solutions hasn't changed. "Too many families were asking for assistance for their kids for me to ignore the issues. My own kids were entering that key age where career exploration was becoming critical. So I took it on. Head on."

Today, Career Coaching for Students is the result of several years of development, research and experience in delivering the program. Many colleges are now recognizing their career guidance program is woefully deficient. For that reason, we've come out with a "college version" that is highly effective for anyone from incoming Freshman undergraduates to advanced degree students.

PROGRAM OUTLINE AND FEATURES

How we do it...

Step 1: Assessment administration - all online in the comfort of your home.

Step 2: Ship the assessment reports and guidebook to you.

Step 3 Conduct a minimum of 5 virtual coaching sessions, one hour each. We will provide as many coaching sessions as needed for the student to complete as much of the program as possible within 6 months of purchase. 

Step 4: We work between sessions to produce customized materials such as a career mind map and other analysis unique to the student's talents and interests.

Additional ongoing coaching time can be purchased at any point in the future. 

Ready to Purchase Career Coaching for Students?