Category: - EPIC Career - Career Guidance, Consulting, Coach

Gap Year Hazards

5/3/2016

Brought to national attention in recent days by President Obama’s daughter's decision to delay Harvard admission by one year, arguments for high school graduates pursuing a Gap Year before college are quite compelling including developing greater understanding of career interests before settling on a college major. Having passed from the inherent pressure of compulsory education, exploring new or long stifled interests through travel, volunteer experience or generally non-academic pursuits seems like a logical step toward clarifying career goals, and generally healing oneself before embarking toward the college and career pursuit climb into adulthood. While all of this may be true, there are some definite potential hazards to consider before pursuing such a period of hopeful enlightenment.

1. Gap Programs Costs
If your going to do it, do it right - sign up for a Gap Year program. Often spanning a typical academic year and including international travel, these programs offer a wide array of opportunities for personal enrichment, new skill development and volunteering experience. While this arguably seems idyllic, be aware that although many offer possible financial assistance, these programs are typically quite expensive - some in the 10K - 20K range.

2. Missing a Year
While a Gap Year may be invigorating, you could earn a year of college credits while at the same time potentially discovering the same or more about yourself through the college experience. You could have even prepared yourself for a far less expensive upcoming study-abroad experience from which you could further earn college credit.

3. A Simpler Alternative
Perhaps not seemingly as exciting, a simple career assessment and a few hours of consultation would likely offer you as much or more self insight to help you shape your career interests into confidently-made decisions. Fulfilling as world travel may be, career assessment and consultation can help you simply see how everything you enjoy relates to the career world so that you can begin constructing a unique strategy for your long- term career success.

Don't get me wrong, everything about a Gap Year sounds wonderful. How could anyone argue with the advantages of exploring the world, helping others, and developing diverse friendships from such an experience. My argument is simply that for those for whom such an experience is financially impractical, great benefit can be gained from a far less costly and timely career assessment and consultation experience. If you are ready to extinguish the anxiety of your career indecision and begin creating a plan with the highest likelihood of long-term career success, EPIC Career is here to help.

First Semester Bust!

12/31/2015

Did your first college semester not go so well? Were you surprised to learn that the major that you long planned to pursue really wasn't your fit when you began taking related courses? The key now is to find your fit as soon as possible to save you time and tuition costs and so that you don't earn unneeded coursework by graduation. Many believe that internship, volunteer and other short-term job opportunities are the main answers to this conundrum, but the reality is that you do not even know in what professional field to focus these efforts. This is where career assessment and consultation comes in.

At EPIC Career, our assessments compare your responses to those of thousands of men and women who have indicated preferences for particular career fields and college majors from more than 50 years of solid research. Even if you are comfortable in your career focus, wouldn't you like to know what all these individuals just like you have for so long indicated to be their preferred career fields? From this knowledge, we help you make sense of your past and present interests to make a college major and career plan that offers the highest possible likelihood for a lifetime of career success. Sign up now, and you can move into next semester with confidence in a new long-term college major and career plan that will work, lose the anxiety of uncertainty, and have fun in college. This will help you not just in immediate course planning, but also in internship and volunteer pursuits and networking preparation for the big job when you graduate or graduate school. When you are ready to build this kind of solid confidence in your career direction, EPIC Career is ready to help!

career assessments myth #1: i know what i am doing so i have no need for career assessment

7/29/2014

Myth 1: I know what I am doing, so I have no need for career assessment.

False!

Are you sure about jumping into that career field? From my experience working with clients about career and college major choice issues, I can often fairly quickly see how a career choice might or might not be a long-term career fit. Actually, sometimes it is a great fit and I breathe a huge sigh of relief. But far too often, I know that the choice is a terrible mistake.

Why does it bother me to learn that someone is about to embark upon a career from which they are not likely to find long-term satisfaction? First, I think about their future disenchantment with the choice and what a blow to their future self-confidence it will be. Secondly, I think of all of the resources (time, energy, tuition and certification expenses) the individual will personally invest. Finally, I hate to think that the American taxpayers are about to potentially loan that student tens of thousands of dollars to pursue a program that might only lead to disappointment.

So when I hear "This program has great job prospects" or "I have a friend who did that program and everything turned out great for them," my response is "Are you sure that you are completely confident about spending or borrowing all those many thousands of dollars on this program that you are not quite entirely sure will work for you?" Are you sure you don't want to know what more than 60 years of solid research suggests would be highly likely to be an ideal fit for you?"

Before spending all those thousands, wouldn't it be wise to explore a wider set of options that will offer you understanding of clear pathways for your future career success? Whatever your college major or career decisions, wouldn't this knowledge help you breathe easier as you make them? At EPIC Career, we are here to help.

The Top 5 Myths about Career Assessments

3/11/2014

For the next several posts, I will be counting down the top 5 myths individuals I’ve worked with tend to believe about career assessments. Stay tuned for the complete list!

Myth 5: Assessments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) and Strong Interest Inventory® generate 100% flawless results.

False!

So how can I vouch for them as a career consultant? The answer is that these assessments, including the MBTI are not intended to be used without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Unlike a medical test, for example, that confirms whether a patient is carrying a certain virus, psychological instruments point to general tendencies. They are not designed to be provide a diagnosis! Rather, the responses on the instrument can serve as a lens through which to understand the client. I also advise clients to try to answer as though they are living in an “ideal world” to try to prevent responses that are provided because the client thinks that s/he “should” answer a particular way.

A Personal Example

For example, my wife took the MBTI as part of a requirement in a college course. When the professor scored the assessment and gave each student his/her profile, my wife did not recognize herself on the description. Then, the professor placed students into groups with their similar “type” so that they could find commonalities amongst each other. Again, my wife felt like a fish out of water in this group. For this reason, she did not hold much faith in the MBTI assessment at all.

Years later, she re-took the exam. This time, however, she tried to answer with the “ideal world” framework in mind. It revealed that one critical point of her prior results were inaccurate. With this correction, her entire profile changed, revealing a profile with which she really identified. It was a genuine “Eureka!” kind of moment. With these new results, she better understood why her current field of study and career prospects were not such a good fit.

Understanding Inaccurate Results

So why were her first results so skewed? That is a complicated answer, and it points to why it is so necessary to discuss results with an experienced practitioner. In her case, Western culture tends to exalt certain preferences – like logic, hard science, and rationality – above other preferences, such as empathy, cooperation, and emotion. When she answered the assessment the first time, it became clear that she was answering what she considered the right, university-approved kind of answers should be. She knew those initial answers did not reflect how she saw herself, but she blamed the instrument, rather than the way in which the assessment was administered.

This case is actually common. My goal for each client is to help him or her see how our world needs people who embody all of these types, despite what our culture tends to reinforce. In sum, no career assessment is intended to be fool-proof. Take your raw results as a starting point for a rich discussion about yourself. At EPIC Career, we are here to help.

Helping the Teen or the Parent?

3/11/2014

I started career consulting wishing to use my career assessment and higher education leadership background to help individuals make a career plan. What I did not expect, however, is the impact my work with teens would have on their relationships with their parents. I have been amazed at how parents and teens have revealed that in addition to helping the teen develop well-formed career goals, the service has enhanced their mutual understanding of one another.

Parent Perspective

Based on assessment results, parents report improvement in how they interpret the personality proclivities of their teen after consultation. Specifically, they see how the unique talents and interests of the teen can translate into a significant career. They often report that they have wondered how their teen would adapt to the adult and work world. After consultation they understand the root of their teen’s behaviors and how their teen has already made adaptations in his/her life to overcome weaknesses. Upon reviewing this history, it becomes clear to parents that their teen is highly likely to continue successfully using their strengths and adapting for weaknesses in the same way throughout his/her life. When reviewing career roles typical of others like their teen from assessments based on decades of research, they also see how their teen is likely to act successfully throughout his/her future. Both teens and parents seem quite relieved to gain this insight.

Beyond Just College Major Choice

While I started career consulting with the main purpose of helping clients build focus around a career that they will love, I have found that the insight gained from career assessments has yielded enhanced understanding and communication among parents and teens. As a parent, have you felt unsure about how your teen’s interests, skills and overall personality could lead to college and career success? Have you worried about whether your teen will ever discover career success because you feel some of his/her behaviors or past decisions illuminate a future trend resulting in your teen being too unusual to “fit in?” At EPIC Career, our gold standard career assessments will reveal exactly how your teen’s responses relate to responses of individuals who have reported success in particular career fields. In addition, we help you better understand your teen such that a lifetime of success in particular career fields becomes clear. If you seek this level of insight about your teen, we at EPIC Career are here to help.

College Major Choice: Why Music?

2/28/2014

The short answer, the long answer and the only answer is, “because I didn’t know what else to do.” In seventh grade, I was 7th chair of 8 trombonists. I was overweight, made poor grades, had very crooked teeth, crazy hair, few friends and very low self-esteem. Yes, I suppose many could say that they felt similarly awkward in middle school, but my day came.

One Friday when the band director said learn and memorize as many scales as possible and be able to play them on command by Monday morning, for some reason, I decided I was on a mission. The directive just didn’t seem difficult to me. I thought, “well, all I have to do is simply practice over and over until I got them.” I knew I only had to commit one weekend so I thought, “why not - let’s go for it.”

That Monday morning when I started playing all manner of exotic scales in perfect consistent tempo at 2 and 3 octaves from my practically bloody lips, I won first chair. I had never before won anything. I was not going to give up that high. I think one of my best friends beat me a couple of times on those weekly chair tests, but for the most part I remained 1st chair until I graduated high school. I played in concert band, orchestra and jazz groups and won many of the standard competitions for which many other middle and high school students competed.

It was fun and it was what I could do. So when college time came along, what else was I to do but study music. Everyone I knew assumed that this was what I would do. When schools around my state started offering me scholarships, I assumed that this was what I should do.

College Years: Not Quite as Rosy

I came into college with similar musical experience and ability as my peers. Suddenly the nerves set in. During these years, every time I auditioned for a college ensemble, I choked. Though I would practice tons in preparation for these auditions such that I could practically always perform each excerpt requested from memory, the tone that was generated from the tightening of my throat sounded wobbly and shaky. Naturally, this also made everything else about my performance suffer. Why couldn’t I just go with the flow like I did in practice and just enjoy playing the music? I guess I will never know the answer to that one. I have deliberated for years, but can never figure it out. Perhaps it was because while I experienced often weekly chair tests in high school and multiple other competitions (if I blew it I always knew there would soon be another one), placements for positions in the best ensembles in college were usually made only annually. Needless to say this performance hindrance killed my then dream of a career in music.

A New Career Path

The parting of the private lesson instructor with whom I had studied for 4 years as an undergraduate impacted me greatly. When he gathered all of his students in his studio to inform us that he had accepted a faculty position at another university it set off a flare inside me. It was then that I started realizing just what all I had learned from that man. Both from direct instruction and simply from the modeling of his ever-professional behavior, I learned how to manage my time, communicate with others professionally and respectfully, balance the many pressures of practice, rehearsals, free time, rest, etc. When I realized just how much I had learned from him, I realized not only why his parting impacted me so strongly, but also what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. The answer soon became entirely clear.

I happened upon a man at the same university who managed a master’s program in higher education administration and I thought it sounded fascinating. To study how colleges work in preparation for a job wherein you assist college students (e.g., admissions, residence life, student activities, advising/counseling) sounded like preparation to assist others as my private lesson instructor had. This sounded ideal. I studied with many retired college presidents and learned how things worked in various types of colleges and universities.

When I later accepted my first job out of my master’s degree as a university career counselor, I was not thrilled about having to take a career assessment myself and the idea of using these assessments with students to help them decide about a college major and career choice. When I completed the assessments and discovered how much insight they revealed about me, I was blown away. The results indicated that I and others like me (who were a very small percentage of the U.S.) were natural counselors. The results included a long list of helping professions like clergy, psychologist, professor, etc.

At that time I looked back at my many years struggling to figure out what I should do with my life. I thought that had I known this information before, I might not have chosen music. I realized, however, that most of the helping professions listed required a graduate degree and that the undergraduate degree area mattered not. So my bachelor’s degree major could have been in anything. While I realized that I had not spent time or resources on a degree that would not lead me to my next goals, I was very pleased to learn of the results.

As I realized I was preparing for a life working in a college, I thought it logical to study a bit about how we learn, so I completed my doctorate in Education. As I studied the history of formal education throughout the world, and all sorts of ways to measure learning, I focused on career assessment. I studied theories about how we develop throughout our lives in terms of career, differences in men’s and women’s career issues, and how to assist clients in making sense of career assessment results.

After career counseling for a few years, I spent many years teaching psychology, as a department chair, dean, and then campus director. While I greatly enjoyed academic administration, the issue that bothered me most was about career guidance. As I would attend professional meetings of senior college administrators, the issue always arose of how to let the citizenry know of the opportunities available to them via their colleges and universities. Also, everyone wanted to know how to retain students through graduation and ensure that they secured gainful employment for a satisfying career afterward. Increasingly, it occurred to me that budget constraints and the sheer volume of individuals needing career guidance were likely to continue to impede colleges and universities from offering the level of support that anyone entering college or considering a career change needed. This is why EPIC Career was born. I thought it only made sense to use my background in higher education administration and expertise about career assessment directly to individuals who seek it.

Have you likewise experienced confusion about your career path? Have you wondered if there is a career that would be a better fit than the one that you are currently focused on? If so, seek career guidance. At EPIC Career, we are here to help.

Why Are They So Good at That?

1/27/2014

Why are they so good at that? We ask this question a lot, and the underlying reason for these comparisons is problematic. I often find that my clients have one attribute in common: they feel unusual. They explain that their lives have been based in constantly struggling to figure out how to embody the same strengths as others. It makes sense that they would feel this way; after all, our education system steers all toward achievement of the same academic standard in lockstep fashion. This one-size-fits-all mentality only exacerbates the message to those who feel unusual.

The “Big Three” Problem Areas

I find that individuals tend to report three main problem areas: communication, mathematics, and organizational skills. Many of my clients report that they have difficulty communicating, whether through organizing their thoughts or generally are fearful of approaching someone to engage in a casual conversation. Others report that math skills do not come naturally, and that math has hindered their educational advancement. Still others struggle with organization – they prefer to move from task to task in a flexible, spontaneous fashion. Yet these are skills that a cookie-cutter approach to education takes for granted.

What To Do?

The good news is that if you feel likewise bothered by any of these issues, there is a place for you. Assessments like those offered via EPIC Career can show you exactly what career fields are common for individuals of any number of the above personality traits. I strongly believe that we must begin working with our natural talents and strengths, rather than making fruitless comparisons.

What I most love about working with clients is showing them professions that prize their personality traits and wherein others have long reported career success and satisfaction. I then use my background in higher education administration to show them how to navigate colleges and universities toward helping them create a workable plan to achieve their new career goals in a way that fits their life circumstances. If you ever have any doubt about whether a possible career choice is likely to be a strong fit for you in the long term, seek assistance. At EPIC Career, we are here to help.

Is This Degree Program Legit?

10/28/2013

You’ve decided to go back to school, and you’re ready to evaluate potential programs, but are all college programs created equal? This discussion is about the importance of accreditation, what to ask colleges and universities about it, and most importantly, how it can limit how you can use college credits earned.

Accreditation 101

Accrediting bodies are tasked by the federal government to ensure that schools are abiding by strict guidelines that support the idea that they are offering a quality education and related support services to students. Toward this end, accrediting bodies assign reviewers (typically faculty or administrators from other schools that they have accredited) to evaluate colleges and universities regularly (typically every 5 – 10 years). Institutions report significant amounts of data about their teaching and administrative operations to accrediting bodies toward this review. In the U.S. there are national accrediting agencies, agencies associated with particular academic programs, and six regional accrediting bodies. While any accreditation connotes some professional review of a program, the six regional agencies are generally considered to represent the gold standard in accreditation in the U.S.

Why Should I Care: Transfer Credits

Accreditation matters because most regionally accredited schools will not accept transfer of courses from schools that are not also regionally accredited. If you complete credits at a college/university that is not regionally accredited then later want to transfer those credits to one that is, it is possible that none of the credits will transfer. In fact, if you complete a bachelor’s degree from a school that is not regionally accredited, the degree may not be recognized if you apply to a master’s program that is, and you may not be eligible for admission to that program.

How do I find out about a school’s accreditation?

You can usually find out from what agencies a school has obtained accreditation simply by asking most individuals among a school’s personnel. The best folks to ask are the Admissions staff, but most staff and faculty should be pretty well aware of this. This information is usually also noted on a school’s website.

Why would I want to attend a school that is not regionally accredited?

If the education that a school provides seems to you to be of good quality and you feel fairly secure that you will not ever attempt to transfer credits from those schools to a regionally accredited school, no problem. Also, if you feel the non-regionally accredited school adequately prepares you for a career and will not impair you from any future career goals, no problem.

The mission of accrediting bodies is to ensure that schools provide quality education and related services. As a great majority of colleges and universities in the U.S. are regionally accredited and these institutions generally stand together in allowing transfer of credits between them, many students opt to pursue higher education only at regionally accredited schools. As we have noted, however, there are compelling reasons to also pursue courses with college or universities that are not regionally accredited. The choice is yours.

If you have further questions, feel free to drop us a note or give us a call. We’re at [email protected] or (832)-4Career, and we are here to help.

Gender and Age Differences in Career Choices

10/3/2013

I am often asked about differences that I have seen from my career consulting practice in men’s and women’s career choices. Are men more likely than women to choose certain professions, for example? Since I wrote about this topic in my doctoral dissertation, I thought I would address this here. While my study revealed differences that I somewhat expected, I was intrigued by changes that I discovered in these differences as a function of age.

Gender Differences

My study revealed that men were more likely than women to choose professions that required much coursework in science and mathematics, such as engineering or medicine. Women, in contrast, were more likely than men to choose helping-related, or artistic careers such as teaching, psychology/counseling, nursing or the arts. The higher the socio-economic status of the woman’s family, the more likely she was to choose a traditionally male-dominated profession.

Age Differences

While these tendencies seemed somewhat expected from my experience helping people choose professions, what I found fascinating were the age differences. As I reviewed the population that I studied from youngest to oldest, I found that younger men and women were less likely to report interests in professions traditionally dominated by their gender. Put another way, the younger the man or woman, the less likely they were to choose professions typical of their gender.

The Implication

For me, this means that in recent decades, both men and women have grown increasingly open to pursuing a wider range of professions. I hope this information is helpful to those trying to make career choices. Specifically, I hope that this will help individuals feel that they may choose a profession based far more on the degree to which it excites them than upon the degree to which the profession is typical among those of their gender.

Parents on the Scene: Answering Tough Questions

8/27/2013

As school starts again, I am busy working with young adults and their parents. I thought it might be helpful to discuss a few key issues raised by parents in considering their student’s transition from high school to higher education to work. As a parent myself, I truly appreciate it when a parent trusts me enough to work with his/her most precious asset. I firmly believe that we can give no greater gift to our children than guidance and encouragement as they face those incredibly difficult decisions about their life’s work. Here are the most common concerns I hear from parents, as well as some advice that might help you sleep better at night.

Concern One: My child does not seem excited about any careers or education.

My first question is always to ask the parents what the child seems to most enjoy. Usually from their response I begin seeing potential career fields that prize those interests. Career assessments like the ones I use synthesize the many personality strengths, talents, and interests of the student into a list of career fields wherein those strengths, talents and interests can be used. I try to encourage the parent that once a child (and even the parent) sees these results, the child often gets excited about a career identity that they had never before envisioned for themselves. Then they want to know what they can do to move toward that career.

Sidenote: In addition to the insight provided from the assessment and my expert knowledge about how to help the student understand these results, I have worked as a university instructor and administrator so I can coach the student as to how to approach college personnel, what questions to ask them, and how to approach college, in general.

Concern Two: We want our son to be a lawyer or doctor, but we don’t think his grades are good enough. What can we do?

Another tough one. What does your son think about this situation? Is he just as passionate about this profession as you are? If the answer is yes, then we can work out a plan to situate him in a position to make that dream more feasible. It may take years to come to fruition, but trust me, not all lawyers, doctors, etc. were perfect students in their younger years. If the (honest) answer to the first question is no, then we use career assessments to together find an area in which your son will excel. I firmly believe that we are all gifted in some way – differently gifted, but gifted in a way that can translate into career success.

Concern Three: We want our daughter to go to (insert name of prestigious university), but we don’t think her grades are good enough. What can we do?

What does your daughter want to study? Often the parent either looks at me perplexedly or answers, Pre-Med/Biology or Business. After realizing that the parent and the student are both unsure about choices I explain that it is critical to review career assessment results. These often reveal career choices that neither the student nor the parent has ever considered. The goal is sustained, lifetime career satisfaction. Assessment results reveal types of careers that will likely be a great fit for the student. If we can begin the college choice process by first considering the career pursued after college, the student is more likely to choose a college that is a fit for them. While it is great to attend a prestigious university, it is important to know what you want to study before you begin either spending or borrowing big money on tuition and fees.

Of course, every case is unique and merits more discussion than a blog post allows. So please, if I can help, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or (832) 4-Career. We’re here to help