Empowering career search and enrichment

Written by Catherine Rains

One of the best strategies for supporting students with a Perceiving preference is to first allow them to delve into the many options that fascinate them. Suggest they take classes and internships/co-ops in the many topics that interest them. If they also have a preference for Intuition, that list will be even longer and more diversified, making the process of narrowing and selecting even more challenging. However, one way to get them to finally commit (at the deadline), and to stick to their choice, is to show them how their chosen major will allow them to pursue many different kinds of careers after graduation. Majors such as Communications, English, Psychology, and even Business, are common choices for Perceiving preferences because of the many potential career paths each offers.

Why do Perceiving students really wait until the deadline to declare their major? Stay tuned for a discussion on this topic next week.

Written by Catherine Rains

Face it – in the United States we train our citizens to have a Judging preference, whether they like it or not. Where is my evidence? It starts with how we encourage students to choose a major before they leave high school or at the latest by the beginning of their freshmen year. We feel sorry for students who are going through college as a History or Communications major, not knowing what they are going to do after graduation. As someone with a preference for Perceiving, I know first-hand the shame that is inadvertently bestowed on students who cannot quickly answer the question “what are you going to do after graduation”. On the outside looking in, it appears that P’s will never make it.

However, you and I both know lots of people with a preference for Perceiving (50% of our colleagues), and they are doing quite well in their professional lives. It’s simply another path to success, equally valid to the one that most J’s take. Ask a professional with a Perceiving preference how they got to where they are today and they will say something like this: “it just happened”. Usually without a plan or goal in mind, other than maybe to like the work they do. They began by choosing a major that interested them, and possibly a second one (and a third), and then choosing jobs after graduation using the same criteria. One simple step at a time, until they find themselves in the career they are in today - as successful as their Judging preference colleagues. Just a different—and often misunderstood—path to get to the same destination.

According to Introduction to Type® in Careers by John K. Ditiberio and Allen L. Hammer, people tend to be attracted to, and are most satisfied in, careers that provide them with the opportunity to express and use their preferences. When students learn about their personality type, they can be better prepared on their search for a career. Knowing the type of work settings they can expect from certain occupations (which is something they can research) can help them decide if that will fit with their personality. A great example is the article I shared in my last blog.

In the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing how each of the sixteen types chooses a major on our facebook and twitter pages. I encourage you to check out the booklet. It is broken out in six main sections which lead to more specific insights for each of the sixteen types:

1. Choosing Courses, Majors and Careers – includes how students choose majors and what majors students choose. 
2. Learning styles – each of the sixteen types has a different style that works best for them.
3. The tasks of a college student – includes writing, studying and taking tests.
4. Its not all work - this section focuses on dating and relationships.
5. Living with a roommate – learning how to deal with other types in a situation where there isn’t much control on the student’s part. 
6. Dealing with stress – each person copes differently, but knowing what works best for one’s personality type can be helpful.

If you haven’t connected with us yet, find us on www.facebook.com/cppeducation and www.twitter.com/cppeducation. Don’t forget to visit us to collect all sixteen insights!

I understand that I’m a little biased saying this, but I love hearing success stories from students who have used our products. I was one of them, but many feel it’s much more credible to hear from others who have no ties with CPP (i.e. aren’t employed there, as I am). I came across a blog site called “Beyond the Elms: Exploring Careers with Scripps Students and Alumnae” where several students from Scripps College track their career search journey by blogging. One blog in particular is from a student, Emily Chesbrough, who was having a hard time deciding on what major to choose. She felt she loved each equally but needed to pick one. After meeting with a career counselor at her college, she was advised to take the Myers-Briggs® assessment. Click here to read more about her experience and how the MBTI® helped her make a decision.