Better Career Planning, Better LIfe

Career Coaching for Students^TM is the leading career exploration and planning program that takes a proven approach to:

Recognizing your talent, greater self-awareness

Understanding your strengths

Identifying high-potential career options that leverage your talents

Leveraging a network of people you already know that will help you acheive your goals

Investigating careers of interest beyond the typical surface analysis
Obtaining summer internships that aligns with a career interest

Choosing an educational strategy that positions you for the best job opportunities

Differentiating yourself from the crowd

Building a foundation for future success and satisfaction

Check out our Scheduled Events

Watch for 2011 Summer Career Camps coming to Your Area!

Home Study Personal Edition available now!

The evidence and costly impact of typical school-provided career exploration and planning is found in the statistics:

The average U.S. college student changes majors at least once

Studies show as many as 50% of students change majors 3 times

Most college students take 5 years to graduate strictly due to changing majors

Extra time results in thousands of dollars of avoidable expense per student

Average college student faces a whopping $19,000 of student loans

Studies show 40% - 65% of adults are unhappy in their current job - an unfortunate path that is set during school

Parents, Students, School Counselors and Administrators

Free White Paper, Parent User Manual and E-Newsletter
Find out what 80+ professionals and coaches said when asked the burning question, "What would you say if a teenager asked: What is the key to success in life?'"

You'll also receive a complimentary parent assessment (Parent User Manual) and our periodic newsletter full of useful information for teenagers (and their parents) engaged in the career exploration process. Sign up below:

* Required info
** Interested in learning more about becoming a licensed facilitator? Don't fill this form out, click here instead.

Kenny Chesney - Boys of Fall video speaks to passion, personal accountability and motivation.
"Having a son who was a Celina HS Texas football player, the Boys of Fall video stirs very positive emotions about the experience - for my son, and for me and his mom (our son graduated the year before the Kenny Chesney video was produced but several of his teammates are in the video - they are the team in Orange). Football, band, and all of the other activities of high school develop character and memories.

One thing I encourage all high school students to do - give whatever you enjoy your all, don't hold back. When doing right things, don't worry about making mistakes. Look forward to your future. See yourself in the future. The future will change based on opportunity and circumstances. But always take time to create that future view while staying focused on the task at hand. Know that you have the ability to do anything you want to do. Self-awareness is one of the keys to successful people - do things to keep you aware of who you are, and who you want to be.

I created Career Coaching for Students for my son and daughter. Pro football isn't the goal. Learning life skills, finding what excites you and pursuing your passions is the goal. You will find passion in your talents. Your talents are already in you - regardless of any academic rating or what a teacher or coach may have said about who you are. If allowed to develop your talents and leverage them, you'll not only be successful, you'll be extremely happy in life. Look for people like those coaches or teachers that inspired you to grow, motivated you, valued you. Surround yourself with those types of people as you find your passions. And let your parents be that person too. I dedicate Career Coaching for Students to all those coaches and teachers that inspire greatness, value students and push for personal excellence. To my son's coaches, band directors and teachers, you know who you are. Thank you.
Carl Nielson, creator of Career Coaching for Students

Career Coaching for Students™ helps answer many questions. A few are listed here:

For parents: For students:

How do I inspire my teenager to think about and engage in a future, not just the moment at hand?

Besides monetary considerations, what should I think about when considering a career?

How do I guide my teenager without imposing my own goals and dreams?

How do I choose a college that best supports my career interests?

How do I help my teenager deal with the apprehension about their next stage of life?

What questions do I need to ask myself -and answer- to identify and explore my passions and potential career choices?

How do I parent while leaving the final choice in the college selection process to my teenager?

What needs to be my top priorities for choosing a college? How do I find the best college choices for me without spending a lot of time?

What activities can my teenager do at home or over the summer to support a career interest?

How will I know a career is right for me? How can I talk to someone in that career interest? How can I find a job-shadowing opportunity to learn more about a career interest? What questions should I be asking if given the opportunity to talk with someone in a career interest?

How do I find financial aid and scholarships? What is FAFSA and why do I need to know?

How do I shift from a feeling of "walking blind" and uncertainty to confidence and faith that I'm doing the right thing and feeling I'm in control of my own destiny?

How do we avoid thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses/loans?

How do I avoid changing majors several times and adding extra semesters (and thousands of dollars in college expenses) in college?

How do I significantly increase the odds that my son/daughter will find happiness and success?

How do I find happiness and success? How do I confidently select a career path and an educational path that will best position me for the future?

"The desire to do something because you find it deeply satisfying and personally challenging inspires the highest levels of creativity, whether it's in the arts, sciences, or business."
Teresa Amabile, Professor, Harvard University

Taylor Mali on "Speaking with Conviction"
Taylor Mali speaks with passion. Through his passion he found his career. When you find your passion, you can find a career that you can leverage to achieve great things.

Who is Taylor Mali?
"I loved geometry. All poets do. And I worked so hard on my homework in 10th grade that the teacher invented a new grade, "Elegant," which was a little bit higher than "Excellent." The first trimester, I ruled the class without rival and got an A+: highest grade in the class. But the second trimester, I slipped a little bit and Ray Flores got the highest grade (A+, as opposed to my mere A). So the third trimester we competed really hard against each other. On the final exam, Ray got a 102 and earned an A for the year, and I got a 103, which got me an A+ for the year. Back then, I considered myself a math/science type of person, and for a while after that year I thought I wanted to go to MIT!"

The following are the "top 10 reasons" adults gave for not having chosen a fulfilling and satisfying career:

Told to follow high school academic achievement, traditional career choice (ex: good in math so be an accountant)

Enjoyment in a subject at the high school level (not encouraged to explore their full range of talent)

Parents’ desire or pressure (preconceived ideas about what is best)

Followed friends to a college or university (dating rituals and wanting to stick with friends derail many from looking beyond their high school years)

Didn't become concerned or interested in a career soon enough (see article Should Students Have Career Goals? What We're Learning About Career Goal Setting)

Bogus college or trade school marketing literature (SAT and ACT data capturing techniques and websites are a collection center for marketing - tons of glossy literature, websites with bogus assessment tests that "suggest" a program at their school would be ideal)

Career curb appeal, no real knowledge to base the decision on (Lack of proper investigation - yes it is a little work but well worth it, especially when the career interest peaks your interest)

Career or Aptitude Assessments with questionable validity (too many poorly designed assessments and improper use of the information - assessment reports need trained/experienced facilitator to ensure understanding and proper use)

Best scholarship money offer from a college or university (money talks! How costly is that if the degree isn't an enabler to "achieving something great"?)

Apathy (i.e. the opposite of interest and / or passion, perhaps due to a lack of self-confidence (this is totally unnecessary!! - You've got talent!)

Wouldn't it be great if there were a better way? Well now there is!

It's called Career Coaching for Students™.
It is the career coaching program that will make a real difference!

Career Coaching for Students™ is a unique 21st Century career exploration and planning strategy delivered by certified professional career coaches, career counselors and teachers.

Check out our Scheduled Events
Registration Now Open for Summer Career Camps in Your Area!

How we do it? Why is it Different? Is it really that different?
We have an entire detailed outline of the program at our Program Details page. Career Coaching for Students™ takes a comprehensive approach that emphasizes self-awareness first, connecting career possibilities in a valid and reliable way, learning the components to in-depth exploration of career interests and experience by having students complete the steps so they can be repeated, finding and evaluating higher education options and how to prioritize those options, creating an action plan to support taking action, introducing life skills and how to easily develop them to support success.

Are we really that different? The short answer is YES! But don't take our word for it - read just a few of the testimonials.

"You need not see what someone is doing
to know if it is his vocation,

you have only to watch his eyes:
a cook mixing a sauce, a surgeon

making a primary incision,
a clerk completing a bill of lading,

wear the same rapt expression, forgetting
themselves in a function.

How beautiful it is, that eye-on-the-object look."
-W. H. Auden, American poet regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century.

There are several ways a student can acquire and utilize the Career Coaching for Students™ program:

Purchase the Home Study Personal Edition - the student guidebook is easy to follow and you'll have access by phone to a certified coach if you have any questions

Register and attend a workshop or webinar in your area delivered by a licensed, certified Career Coaching for Students™ facilitator

Employ one of our certified coaches. Read articles by our coaches and learn more about our certified coaches

Participate in the program when offered at your high school. Help us introduce the program in your school. Ask your High School principal to contact us at 972.346.2892.

Career exploration and choosing a career are not the same thing as Finding Your Passion

Definition: Finding
a. A conclusion reached after examination or investigation
b. A statement or document containing an authoritative decision or conclusion

What this means is that "finding" involves a little work. But where does one start? "How" do you start? There are many online resources that offer career tests, lists of best careers, career guidance and career counseling.

According to The Conference Board, a global nonprofit membership organization supporting C-Level executives and the public good, the drop in job satisfaction between 1987 and 2009 covers all categories in the survey, from interest in work (down 18.9 percentage points) to job security (down 17.5 percentage points) and crosses all four of the key drivers of employee engagement: job design, organizational health, managerial quality, and extrinsic rewards.

"Challenging and meaningful work is vitally important to engaging American workers," adds John Gibbons, program director of employee engagement research and services at The Conference Board. "Widespread job dissatisfaction negatively affects employee behavior and retention, which can impact enterprise-level success." In fact, 22 percent of respondents said they don’t expect to be in their current job in a year. “This data throws up a big, red flag because the increasing dissatisfaction is not just a ‘survivor syndrome’ artifact of having co-workers and neighbors laid off in the recession," says Gibbons.

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids
Child prodigy Adora Svitak says the world needs "childish" thinking: bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Kids' big dreams deserve high expectations, she says, starting with grownups' willingness to learn from children as much as to teach.

Parents, Students, School Counselors and Administrators

Free White Paper, Parent User Manual and E-Newsletter
Find out what 80+ professionals and coaches said when asked the burning question, "What would you say if a teenager asked: What is the key to success in life?'"

You'll also receive a complimentary parent assessment (Parent User Manual) and our periodic newsletter full of useful information for teenagers (and their parents) engaged in the career exploration process. Sign up below:

Name

Email

Phone

City

State

Zip

Interested in program as:

* Required info

** Interested in learning more about becoming a licensed facilitator? Don't fill this form out, click here instead.

For parents:	For students:
How do I inspire my teenager to think about and engage in a future, not just the moment at hand?	Besides monetary considerations, what should I think about when considering a career?
How do I guide my teenager without imposing my own goals and dreams?	How do I choose a college that best supports my career interests?
How do I help my teenager deal with the apprehension about their next stage of life?	What questions do I need to ask myself -and answer- to identify and explore my passions and potential career choices?
How do I parent while leaving the final choice in the college selection process to my teenager?	What needs to be my top priorities for choosing a college? How do I find the best college choices for me without spending a lot of time?
What activities can my teenager do at home or over the summer to support a career interest?	How will I know a career is right for me? How can I talk to someone in that career interest? How can I find a job-shadowing opportunity to learn more about a career interest? What questions should I be asking if given the opportunity to talk with someone in a career interest?
How do I find financial aid and scholarships? What is FAFSA and why do I need to know?	How do I shift from a feeling of "walking blind" and uncertainty to confidence and faith that I'm doing the right thing and feeling I'm in control of my own destiny?
How do we avoid thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses/loans?	How do I avoid changing majors several times and adding extra semesters (and thousands of dollars in college expenses) in college?
How do I significantly increase the odds that my son/daughter will find happiness and success?	How do I find happiness and success? How do I confidently select a career path and an educational path that will best position me for the future?