How many of you can relate to the following scenario? You're walking through the store, with several preschools toddling along with you, and you come across an elderly person, who looks at your family, and with a note of nostalgia remarks, "Enjoy them now, they grow up so fast." I've had quite a few of those sweet encounters, and typically, I would simply nod, smile, and be on my way shortly after. The thing is, it's so true. They do grow up fast. I blinked, and found myself with two teenage daughters in the house. Now, as we begin our journey through the high school years, the question is looming larger in front of us, "What will you do for the rest of your life?" Interestingly, that question isn't only for my daughters. I find myself beginning to consider what I will do with my time when my girls leave home, and begin to make their way in the world.
Fortunately for me, this is where being a member of the Homeschool Review Crew has once again provided a great resource to review, that addresses this very topic. My daughters and I had the opportunity to each take the CashCrunch Careers test from CashCrunch Games .
First, you will set up your account or accounts if you have more than one person taking the test. It was very simple to complete. You should know that each person taking the test requires their own email account, as it will not allow more than one person per email address. This was not an issue for us, as both girls have their own emails, but not everyone does, so there you are.
The test is online, and made up of seventy five questions. For each question, you will choose between a pair of words, selecting the one that you feel best describes your personality. It doesn't take a very long time, about ten minutes or so. If you have trouble deciding which word fits you the most accurately, you can hover over each word, and see two more synonyms for the word that may make the answer a little more clear. Once you have completed the questions, click on the "submit" button, and the test will generate a report for you. You can immediately read it online, download it, and print it, if you like. Using research from the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as other sources, you will find a list describing what motivates and demotivates you, your ideal work environment, and a list of jobs that line up with your answers. The website also provides a list of possible colleges to choose from, that offer degrees in the fields suggested. They also include estimated projections of job growth in each particular field.
So, our results were not exactly what I was expecting. While the test revealed some attributes that described our personalities, the list of jobs that were suggested to be a good fit for us, were pretty much the same for all three of us. While we do share similar personality traits since we are related, there are enough differences between us where I expected a little more diversity. I also found that the suggested careers were very broad, and basically all management. We did have a laugh that all of us had the career of Funeral Director included in our assessment. Um, no.
As we took the test, we all struggled with certain word choices where neither felt like an accurate fit. There were also no creative or artistic questions, which I felt neglected a large part of my and my daughters' personality. Basically, while I like the idea of using our character traits and skills to help in determining a good career path, this particular test skipped a big section of the population. After all, not everyone is cut out for a management position. Unfortunately, I don't think that any of us, me or my girls, found this to be helpful in choosing a career. I would love to see this company fine tune the details, and perhaps include more choices, both in the test questions, and in career options.
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