According to the American School Counseling Association, in the 2004-2005 school year the counselor to student ratio was 479 to 1 which was an improvement over the previous year’s statistics of 488 to 1. At the high school level the national average for the 2004-2005 year was 229 to 1, whereas on the middle school level the average was 882 to 1.

These statistics make you wonder how students are able to truly engage in planning for the future. At Kuder we say the earlier the better. We believe giving students the opportunity to start exploring their options at an early age will increase the likelihood that they will be satisfied in their education and career choices. This article will point out the importance of early intervention by counselors and how it will enable students to dispel misconceptions about planning for the future, increase retention in school, and in the end, lead to more fulfilling decisions. What better way to ensure future success than through the proven to work, Kuder Career Planning System.

Starting at a young age, students begin to develop ideas of what they would like to do in the future, but that also comes along with certain misconceptions. According to an article by Ann Emerson, entitled Career Planning Misconceptions, “students may have difficulty ‘learning’ information they believe they already ‘know.’ When 8th through 12th graders don’t seem to be getting the best of a career development activity, it is frequently because they have misconceptions that influence their attitudes towards the future.”

The Kuder Career Planning System’s Person Match feature is one way to avoid these misconceptions. First, students take an inventory that generates a summary of their career interests; in a similar way Kuder asks professionals to participate in the Person Match process by completing the same survey. Then, students and these Person Match role models are scientifically compared to one another and the top fifteen Person Match sketches that most closely align with the student’s interests are displayed. This allows students to see how one occupation can vary so widely from anther and how interest in one cluster can match thousands of different job opportunities.

Another middle school misconception includes students lack of career exploration for jobs that require a college education; because jobs that typically do not require higher education (arts, entertainment, professional sports) are easier to find and generally more popular to youth. The truth of the matter is that these occupations are saturated with individuals, but there is a shortage of jobs that require these skills. Emerson states, “stick to presenting the facts. The students can usually tell you the implications of such facts, that not everyone who wants a job in these fields can get one, only the people who are best, get the jobs.”

Not only are there misconceptions between middle school students and their plans for the future, but high school students also have certain ideas about higher education and careers. Emerson noted one of which is that “students who expect to attend college show little interest in their high school assignments and take shortcuts whenever possible.” In all reality, “students who succeed in a four- year college are more likely to be those with higher levels of achievement in high school.”

By starting career and education planning early on, students are able to pay more attention to occupations that fit their interests and attain a more focused education and career plan. In which case, they are able to focus in on classes that interest them, hopefully resulting in a higher level of academic performance in high school and into college.

By using the Kuder Career Planning System as early as middle school and into high school, students are able to create a portfolio with their education and career planning process documented to follow them for a lifetime. While their interests, skills, and values are sure to change, Kuder offers the tools to help guide students through making well-informed, educated decisions.

According to Emerson, “when school and career counselors’ correct misconceptions, we are enabling students to disengage from fantasies and engage with possibilities. Addressing these misconceptions as early as middle school and directly in high school, helps form correct attitudes about the future.”

Academic and career counseling doesn’t stop after high school. In fact, Saint Louis University requires that all incoming freshman have a one- on-one meeting to discuss their plans for the future as a part of the orientation process. According to R.S. Feldman, “fostering the career development of incoming freshman increases student’s satisfaction and has the added benefit of aiding the institutions retention efforts.”

St. Louis University’s objective in establishing this freshman orientation program was to “increase student awareness of the career decision-making process that will be part of their college experience.” Their goals included, “connecting early with freshman, educating incoming students on the career development process, and assessing the students early, to identify individual needs in the areas of self-knowledge, career information, career choice anxiety, and general decision making skills.”

Think about how many more students would complete their education on time and be satisfied in their education and career choices if all schools implemented a similar program. Kuder provides the tools to help make implementation easy by providing counselors with a administrative database where they can access and track students exploration and really help guide them in making decisions appropriate to their needs and interests. It also allows students to search different majors, career options, and scholarship opportunities, build resumes, and get interview tips. The Kuder Career Planning System is the lifelong tool that guides students through academic and career changes.

Education and career planning and exploration is vital to the success of students and adults. Through early awareness and intervention by counselors, students are able to see the opportunities available to them and move forward with a realistic approach to planning for the future. It is not to say that dreams aren’t attainable, but rather gives students a real-life look into the many education and career choices they have before them. The Kuder system provides the tools to help educators and counselors guide students and adults to connect the choices they are making today to what they will be doing in the future.

If you would like to learn more about engaging students early in the career planning process by implementing the Kuder Career Planning System, please contact us at 800.314.8972 or info@kuder.com.

References
Becker-Jamison, Wendy. “Career Development as a Retention Tool: Early Intervention for Incoming Deciding Freshman.” April 2008 www.ncda.org; 2008.

Emerson, Ann. “Career Planning Misconceptions.” April 2008, www.ncda.org. 2007

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