Summer break is almost here and, it’s a matter of time before your teen is ready to get out of the house! How can you use this time in summer to help your high school student plan for the future? Start with researching summer programs for high school students! I’m sharing a few of my favorite ways to find summer programs for high school students that will give them great exposure to college and career options as well as help them build a resume for college, scholarship, and job applications!

Summer Programs for High School Students

1. University camps for high school students

Summer programs for high school students at local universities is first on my list! Attending a university summer camp is one of my favorite career planning activities for summer vacation because students are exposed to career paths and academics as well! Summer camps and programs at universities vary in length; however, most are one week-long and focus on specific career fields or areas of interest. For example, Wichita State University in Wichita, KS, hosts a variety of week-long engineering camps for students entering 4th through 12th grades. Similarly, the University of Alabama has various programs, including week-long camps in Forensic Science for high school and middle school students. Likewise, the University of California Los Angeles offers summer camps for students interested in digital filmmaking or game design, as well as many other career areas and interests!

University summer camps are often very hands-on and engaging for participants. These experiences also look great on scholarship and college admissions applications. Are you sold on summer camps as career planning activities for summer vacation? A quick search online will allow you and your student to quickly identify camps in your area or nationwide camps related to his/her interests.

2. National Parks Service Summer Programs for Youth

There are so many different summer programs for high school students available through the National Parks Service! It doesn’t matter if your teen has one week or two months, there are programs of all lengths and across a multitude of areas of interest! There is so much potential for a student to learn and grow through these experiences. And, after a long period of social isolation, what better environment to be in than the great outdoors! To learn more about their long and short-term programs, internships, volunteer experience, and more, visit their “Work with Us” page.

3. Take Dual-Enrollment classes at a local college

Great summer programs for high school students can be dual-enrollment courses at a local college! It is an added bonus if you have a community college nearby as these colleges often have existing agreements with local high schools and make dual-enrollment coursework very affordable (if not free in some states!). I am a big advocate for dual-enrollment coursework for high school students, and I have written an article about the Benefits of Dual Enrollment Classes to help parents and students understand what this means and to help determine if it is the right opportunity for them!

4. Find a volunteer experience

If your child already has a tentative plan for a future career field, why not encourage some volunteer experience this summer? Volunteering two or three afternoons per week can give your child a first-hand perspective on a career field. For example, if your student is interested in a career in the medical field, almost every hospital offers volunteer positions. Do you have a child that loves hands-on activities and building things? How about volunteering with the local Habitat for Humanity team? Not only are volunteer experiences great career planning activities for summer vacation, but they also look great on scholarship and college admission applications as well as a future resume! To find volunteer opportunities, start by entering your zip code on the search page provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service!

Additional resources for helping your child plan for the future!

I am passionate about helping students create a plan that empowers them to pursue the future with confidence! If you are in the midst of college and career planning conversations with your student, check out some of my additional resources:

1. Free College and Career Planning Guide – This five-step guide is designed to help parents and teenagers navigate the college and career planning process. Many people think the starting point of preparing for the future is choosing a college. In this guide, I introduce the idea of career planning first and then a more tailored college or training school search. Don’t miss this resource!
2. Motivating Your Child to Plan for the Future – Is your teen reluctant to begin the process? This free guide will help you ease into conversations with regard to the future. This doesn’t have to be a daunting process where you are tugging your child along fighting eye rolls and a lack of motivation. Ditch the frustration and make the process enjoyable!
3. College and Career Planning Coaching – Some students have huge amounts of anxiety about the future. Am I making the right decision? What career will be fulfilling for me? How can I find a major that I enjoy? If your student is struggling with these questions, I can help! My eight-week coaching package takes a student from uncertain and anxious to confident and excited!
4. Job/Internship Search Coaching – gone are the days of a college degree ensuring gainful employment following graduation. Employers want relevant work experience and successful internships to prove the graduate is ready for the workforce. I help students and recent graduates navigate the job search, prepare for interviews, and negotiate their compensation. Let’s get your student’s future career started on the best note!
5. Resume Help – Writing a resume is daunting. You have 10 seconds (or less) to showcase yourself on paper and capture the reader’s attention before they move on to the next document. It takes strategy and experience to really make your document stand out! This mini package will take your resume from common to exceptional!

If your child is beginning to plan for the future but struggling to identify a fulfilling path, I can help! I offer one-on-one college and career planning help as well as a free college and career planning guide for parents. In addition, you can set-up a free 30-minute chat to get your questions answered by choosing a convenient time in my online calendar! I look forward to supporting you and your child in this important time of growth. Let’s get your child on the path to confidence and long-term fulfillment. Message me today to get started or chat!

Let’s chat about your plans for the future!

Hello there! Thanks for visiting my site. My name is Loren, and I am a Career Coaching for Students! I am passionate about helping students identify a fulfilling career path and then executing the steps it takes (college included) to be successful. Let’s chat about your future in a no-strings-attached free consultation!

Summer Programs for High School Students
Loren Kelly

How do you know if career planning help for college students is needed or if you should wait and give them time to figure it out themselves? I’m going to give you some signs to watch for today so you know when to reach out for help for college students.

I know a young individual who graduated from college two years ago, was a good student and well-respected by his instructors and peers, very involved on campus, and had talent galore. He is now a Barista and struggling with what he is going to do with his life. Hear me loud and clear, Baristas are my favorite; they keep me and the rest of the world running with their magical caffeinated potions! The shame here is that this young man is working a job that he could have had just out of high school without the $100,000 of student loan debt he now has as a burden. I am confident this scenario could have been avoided. All this young man needed was a little help with career planning.

Five Signs Career Planning Help for College Students is Needed

The student is an undecided major or is taking general education courses and will declare a major later.

This one is very common. I know very few students, I actually can’t think of one as I’m writing this, that has had a career epiphany while sitting in a general education course. The idea of dabbling in some coursework seems logical. However, the truth is the general education core at most colleges is filled with math, English, science, art, history, etc. There is little to no career exploration going on in those classrooms. Once in a while, a student will engage in a College Success course where he/she will scratch the surface of career planning. The issue here is that there are probably 50+ students in that course and one instructor. It is likely the student will not get the challenging questions and one-on-one attention that such a serious life decision requires unless he/she is motivated and confident enough to seek out one-on-one help from the instructor during office hours. And, as a college student, I know I was not!

The student has not gained career-related experience.

Unfortunately, many students think that they are planning for their careers by going to college and earning that degree. This is not so. While academic planning and career planning are related, they are much different. Each student should have a set of academic goals and a separate set of career goals. In a competitive job market, employers aren’t going to be impressed with a college degree and no relevant work experience. Job shadows, internships, and part-time employment coupled with the degree make a candidate rise to the top. The student candidate with a 4.0 and no experience is rarely going to beat the 3.0 candidate who has experience working in the industry.

The student is not actively involved in networking opportunities.

When I teach a course, I always offer extra credit opportunities to students that revolve around networking. Yes, it is intimidating, but it is crucial. Some students, especially those with more introverted personality types, need extra help identifying good networking opportunities and coaching that will help them feel more comfortable and confident communicating in these situations. If a student is entering their second year of college and hasn’t explored opportunities to network, they are missing out on key opportunities! Whether they get involved on-campus, in community-based networking events, or in student chapters of professional industry organizations, students need to be making an effort when it comes to professional networking the moment they begin their post-secondary education.

The student has changed majors or has chosen a versatile degree.

Changing majors, especially more than once, is essentially a cry for help. I’ve seen many students who are unsure of what major/career they want to pursue, so they change several times and then end up settling for a degree that they think is versatile. The issue with a versatile degree is that other candidates have more specific and relevant knowledge. If a student expresses that they have chosen a major because of its versatility, challenge them to get connected with someone who can help them pinpoint a fulfilling and rewarding career path.

Need Help Choosing a Major?

Get my guide, “How to Choose a College Major!”

The student is pursuing a degree that does not align with opportunities in the job market.

A crucial step in the career planning process is the financial reality and job outlook piece. Many students skip this step. Communications and fine art degrees are two examples of degrees that graduates in 2018 had difficulty finding related employment. Here are some questions to get students thinking about how well their degree will translate to a viable career:

• Does the degree I am seeking align specifically with the requirements listed in job descriptions currently on the market?
• What is the projected growth of the career field in the next ten years?
• How many expected job openings in the next five years?
• What’s the average wage for my state/geographic region?

For students who struggle to answer the above questions, consider directing them to the US Department of Labor’s website, ONET, for at-a-glance data and statistics.

The sooner the better but, no matter the age of the student or recent grad, it is never too late to seek career help. Don’t invest thousands of dollars in education without a thorough career plan!

How can my career planning help for college students benefit your child?

My name is Loren Kelly and I have 10 years of experience in high education coaching students through career and education decisions. My approachable and empathetic demeanor makes my career planning help for college students effective and powerful! I specialize in helping students get clear on a career path and plan the education, training, and experience they need to excel AND I love this work! Book a no-obligation, free consultation today! I enjoy chatting about careers with students!

Book a free consultation today!

5 Signs Career Planning Help for College Students is Needed!
Loren Kelly

Your first semester of college can seem very overwhelming and scary, especially if you are a first-generation student. I am here to help by sharing advice for college freshmen. Some of the tips I am sharing I have either learned through experience or wish someone had told me my freshmen year.

Advice for College Freshmen from an Upperclassman

Get Involved on Campus

One of the best pieces of advice for college freshmen I can give is to get involved. There are so many ways to get involved on campus. For example, there are many clubs and organizations you can become a part of. There is also the option of joining a fraternity or sorority. Lastly, there are the events on campus all of this helps you gain connections and make friends during your time on campus. However, there are many more benefits to getting involved on campus.

Gain a Sense of Community

Getting involved on campus through organizations and clubs help college freshman gain a sense of community. This community can help you in numerous ways while you are getting your degree. For me personally, my community has helped me study for exams, kept me accountable for class attendance, and have events to look forward to.

Great for Building Your Resume

On top of gaining a sense of community, being involved in organizations can help you build your resume after college. These clubs and organizations can help you gain experience through holding positions and organizing events. All of which can be used on your resume to help impress future employers.


 

Keep Yourself Accountable

My next piece of advice for college freshmen has to do with accountability. One mistake I notice the most that college freshmen make is not keeping themselves accountable. Once you have lost your accountability it is very hard to regain it, by the time you do it might be too late.

Class Attendance

Most classes do not take attendance, meaning many students don’t come to class.  College professors are not like high school teachers, they do not care whether you show up to class or not.  As a result, students who skip class miss important information and fall behind in class very easily.

Classes that do take attendance, use the points for it in the grade book. As a student, it is very important to take every point you can get, you never know when you might need it.

Completing Assignments

Like I said before with class attendance, college professors do not care if you complete your assignments or not. It is your responsibility and the professors will not nag you to turn in your assignments, unlike high school teachers.

Buy a Planner

This is a tip I think is very important. Having a planner will help you keep track of due dates for assignments and important tests/quizzes. It can also help you plan ahead for studying as well as help you manage your time and prioritize.

In addition to helping you organize your tasks for classes, a planner can help you keep track of dates for events. Colleges should be a balance between classes and fun. An experience you should enjoy while working your degree.

About the Author

Hello! My name is Rebecca and I am Loren’s intern for this summer. I’m focusing on bringing you great tips on social media and informative blog content! I am majoring in integrated marketing communications with a minor in graphic design at Wichita State University. To learn more about me visit the Meet Rebecca page.

Advice for College Freshmen from an Upperclassman
Loren Kelly

Planning college visits might seem easy. But, to maximize your time and ensure that you (or your child) are choosing the RIGHT college involves a lot more than going to the college’s website, picking a date and time, and going on the standard campus tour. You are about to make a huge investment to the tune of more than $100,000 and four years of your life by the time that bachelor’s degree is complete. This decision is a big one and, thus, college visits should be taken seriously and be well-planned! Here are tips for planning successful college visits.

1. List the schools of greatest interest and reach out to the admissions team.

Do your research and determine the schools that are the best options for your major and your personal needs/preferences. (Side note: be sure to include technical schools and community colleges in addition to four-year colleges and universities. They often offer affordable, student-centered options that provide solid foundations for students!) Once you identify the schools that you believe will be great options for you, reach out to the admissions team and identify the options they offer for college visits.

2. Schedule visits at least one month in advance, during ideal months, and make them full-day college visits.

This tip is very important and includes three parts! First, you need to schedule your college visits at least one month in advance. Why? Because you are going to make some special requests (more to come on this!) and the admissions team will need time to make those accommodations for you.

Second, avoid the months of August, December, January, and May if at all possible. Departments are swamped with student requests during these months and will have little time to accommodate your needs, requests, and questions.

For the best results, visit during the months of September, October, November or February, March, April while the semester is in full swing but faculty and staff are not overloaded with the stresses and demands of beginning or ending a semester. It will be a win-win for everyone!

Third, plan to be on-campus a full-day. Because of the special requests you are going to make, it is important that you plan to arrive early and be there all day. Many admissions departments offer morning or afternoon visits. Take the morning time to allow time for additional meetings and information in the afternoon.

3. Request to visit the department of your declared major.

This step is very important and one that many parents and students skip when requesting college visits. Your request to meet with the department (or departments) that you or your child is considering is crucial. Again, you are about to invest a lot of time and money in education. It is important to have as much perspective as possible to make an informed decision.

When making special requests, it is important to allow plenty of time for the college to arrange the meeting (by scheduling it at least one month in advance) and visit colleges at a time in the semester where the department can accommodate the request (which is why August, December, January, and May are less than ideal due to the large number of student requests).

When you meet with the department, you’ll want to ask the right questions to get the best idea of what that program/college will have to offer you as the student.

I have prepared a list of 10 Questions to Ask During Your College Visits that will ensure you get as much information as possible to make an informed decision about a college and program.  Ideally, your college visits will include the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a professor in the program. Say you visit in the summer and a professor is unavailable, an academic advisor within the department can also be helpful. These professionals often work year-round and are available to answer questions, talk you through the degree plan and the courses you will take, etc.

4. Talk with current students in your area of study.

The students who work for admissions provide great tours during college visits! They are full of good information; however, they will rarely be the same major as you and, quite frankly, they are well trained to sell the college to visitors. Meeting with a current student in your program of study will provide a more candid perspective of what daily life is like as a student in that program.

Some colleges will even arrange for you to sit in on a class within your major during your visit. This is a GREAT opportunity to meet an instructor and visit with current students before and after class.

5. Inquire about meeting with any special programs that are of interest to you during your college visits.

Studies show that students are more successful when they are well-connected on campus. There are numerous special programs, clubs, and organizations to get acquainted with.

If you know for certain that you are interested in one of these opportunities, inquire about meeting with them at the end of your visit. For example, say you are a veteran or the child of a veteran who will be utilizing GI Bill benefits. I strongly encourage you to schedule a visit with the Veterans Affairs office while you are on campus. This will allow you to get acquainted on a first-name basis and help you get support as you apply to their school and set-up your classes, financial aid payments, etc.

What if college visits are not feasible for you due to financial or geographic constraints?

While experiencing campus first-hand and seeing the town and community is ideal, sometimes it isn’t always practical. I met with a community college student recently who was preparing to transfer. She is considering three different schools and is very torn about which one is best for her. My first question was, “Have you visited these three schools?” She had visited one of the three; however, the other two seemed out of reach because they were several states away and would require hefty travel expenses.

If you are up against this struggle, do not give up on college visits! Most college admission teams offer virtual visits that will provide you with the opportunity to speak with an academic advisor and ask the questions I have outlined in my guide 10 Questions to Ask During your College Visit!

Choosing the right college is important for your happiness, your success, and your future career! Don’t take college visits lightly and remember, you are making a big investment. You should ask as many questions as you need to feel confident you are making the best decision for yourself and your future!

How can I help?

As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students and young professionals one-on-one and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them! The path to success is not straightforward. My mission is to help you experience true career fulfillment through proactive coaching and career planning.

Book a free consultation today!

How to Plan Successful College Visits
Loren Kelly

Late adolescent years are extremely busy for parents and students.  For those of you with teens who are entering the last couple of years of high school, the topics of college and career planning have probably come up in conversation. The thought of this next step can be overwhelming for students and parents, but it doesn’t have to be this way! In fact, proper planning can save both of you time, money, and frustration. Here are three secrets to help you best help your child when it comes to planning for their future college education and career.

1. Begin with the end in mind: career first, college/training second.

No one wants to spend four years of their lives and $100,000 pursuing education without certainty regarding how it will be used and what the return on investment will be. Yet, every year, millions of hopeful students head off to college unsure about their plan and hopeful they will figure it out along the way. This approach often results in several major changes which will tack on more time and more money as well as increased frustration and anxiety for the student as each semester passes.

Students who enter post-secondary education with a focused plan are more confident, get better grades, and are more successful in securing employment after graduation. I help students get the experience and perspective they need to develop a career and education plan with confidence! A small investment of time and money up front can save loads of time, money, and frustration in the long-run.

2. Experiences are a key part of the planning process.

We learn through experiences, period. If a student makes a career decision without any first-hand perspective and experience, he will be taking a big risk by pursuing a four-year degree. A college education is a huge financial investment. We would never invest $100,000 of our hard-earned money in a start-up company with no business plan. The same should be true with a child’s education. Before investing the money in a college education, a student needs to do market research, understand the opportunities and threats of their top career options and then develop a well-thought-out plan for pursuing their future. Only when a student has thoroughly explored a career field and has a good understanding (through first-hand experiences) of the positives and negatives can she confidently proceed with education and training.

I have prepared a free five-step guide for parents who want to engage in college and career planning with their children. If you want your child to have clarity and confidence before making such a huge investment of time and money in a college education, get my free guide today!

3. College visits should be strategically planned.

After your child has spent time gaining the experience and perspective she needs to make a decision about her future career with confidence, academic planning is the next step. The best college visits are planning around strategic meetings with program department heads.

Let me explain. When I was transferring from my community college to a four-year university, I called the college admissions department and told them it was very important that I meet with an advisor/instructor within the Business Education department (that was my major). Meeting with her and being able to ask very specific questions about the program, graduate employment rates, etc., made my decision very easy. A tour of the library and dining hall is not nearly as important as the perspective you and your child will get by learning about a program and department by sitting down with someone who knows the degree inside and out. It reasonable and wise of you to know the program before you make a big investment in the university!

While planning for your child’s future can be overwhelming, it can also be a beautiful and rewarding process that brings you closer to your adolescent when approached a certain way. By having someone to walk them through the process and act as a sounding board, you can foster an experience and relationship that makes you both feel great and confident about the future.

Get my free, five-step guide to College and Career Planning today!

How can I help?

As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students and young professionals one-on-one and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them! The path to success is not straightforward. My mission is to help you experience true career fulfillment through proactive coaching and career planning.

Book a free consultation today!

3 Secrets to College and Career Planning
Loren Kelly

When should my child begin career planning? I had this question posed to me a few weeks ago and I was so excited because I love answering questions! So, if you have a burning question, message me or email me. I’ll answer it for free! Chances are if you have the question, other people do as well.

Simply put, it is never too early to begin career planning. In fact, when I worked for a community college, my colleague organized an entire career exploration day for 3rd graders (yes, you read that correctly)! In my opinion, which is based on 10 years of working with students from middle school to adult students in college and university, a student should *ideally* begin the career planning process as a high school freshman or sophomore. Before I continue, I want to say that it is never too late to begin career planning! If you have a high school senior or college freshman that hasn’t engaged in this process yet, that is OK. The best time to start is right now.

If I could get a student as a high school freshman or sophomore, here is the journey I would take him/her on with regards to career planning:

High School Freshman/Sophomore

Goal: raise self-awareness.
The first step in career planning is self-awareness. And this could easily be a focus for one’s freshman year and should continue to spill over into later years of high school as well. This is best accomplished by using everyday life occurrences as opportunities to have small conversations that add up over time to big results. There are so many free resources available online for raising a student’s self-awareness both in general and as it relates to career planning. I’ve listed three of my favorites in my blog post, “Career Planning: 3 Tips for Working with College Students.”

High School Sophomore

Goal: Explore careers of interest (start small).
If you’ve been having career conversations with your child, you probably got a bit of grumbling or just adamant “NOs” when you try to get your child to get out there and do some career exploration. If your student is reluctant, start small. We have a tendency to want to jump right into a job shadow or an internship. Start small, start easy, start with something more comfortable. A 15-minute conversation over coffee or, perhaps even more ‘safe’ for the student, is inviting someone in a career of interest over to your house (on the student’s turf so-to-speak) for dinner, to watch a football game, etc. Whatever is going to make your student most comfortable, do that. Informational interviews (of the informal or formal kind) are a low time commitment for all parties and can give students great perspective. Not sure what questions to ask? Kat Boogaard wrote a great article for The Muse called, “7 Questions You Can’t Leave an Informational Interview without Asking.”

High School Junior

Goal: Experience career fields for the first-hand perspective.
Hopefully, through early career exploration as a sophomore, your student will have narrowed down his/her top career choices to 2-3 that are of the most interest. This is where we start taking the exploration piece a little more seriously and move into getting her/her first-hand perspective. Informational interviews and informal conversations discussed above are a great low-commitment perspective builder for students. Once a career option has passed that screening test and raises the level of excitement a student has for a career field, I suggest getting him/her first-hand perspective. This could include a tour at an organization or a job shadow. Again, the time commitment doesn’t have to be big at this point to provide the student with the perspective needed to make informed career planning decisions. I suggest your student follow up with people who were kind enough to give of their time for informational interviews and ask for a follow-up tour or job shadow.

High School Senior

Goal: Choose a career field, gain paid or unpaid experience, and determine a training/education route.
You may have noticed I used the phrases “career field” here and “unpaid experience.” Best case scenario would be that a student has articulated the exact career path he/she wants to pursue and gains paid experience; however, what I have written is probably more realistic for the average student AND it takes the pressure off of the student and the organization who is hosting him/her for said experience. As a student is gaining some additional perspective on the career field (hopefully in the summer prior to or in the first semester of his/her senior year), begin looking at ways successful people in that field have prepared themselves through education and training.

Notice career planning came BEFORE or at the same time as college planning! This is SO IMPORTANT! We have a tendency to choose a college first and then a major and worry about how that translates to a career later. I wrote a blog post about this last week, the opposite should be true! We want students to choose a career first, then a major or training program that is going to best prepare him/her and choose the best college or technical school depending on the programs and majors that are available.

Finally, I must reiterate that this would be the IDEAL process. Life can get in the way. Sometimes it is hard to get student buy-in, students start school and then change majors, etc. If you have a student who has already graduated and might be “behind,” it is ok! I recently engaged in this very process with several college students. What I find is older students have a greater level of self-awareness and we end up spending more time on exploration and planning phases. It is never too early to begin career planning, but it is never too late either!

How can I help?

As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students and young professionals one-on-one and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them! The path to success is not straightforward. My mission is to help you experience true career fulfillment through proactive coaching and career planning.

Book a free consultation today!

When should my child begin career planning?
Loren Kelly

Having spent over 10 years in education, I know the inner struggles students face when it comes to planning for the future. Whether they admit it or not, most have anxiety, uncertainties, and sometimes even fear around choosing a career path. These feelings manifest themselves in different ways. Some students vocalize their feelings, some proceed forward believing it will all work out, and some let the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty of what to do keep them from taking any action at all. Regardless of the student, the key to clarity and feeling confident in their plan for the future lies in evaluated experience.

The key to clarity for students is evaluated experience.

You probably aren’t shocked. We’ve all heard the phrase “Experience is the best teacher,” many times in our lives. Given this widely-known fact, our focus should be on helping our students engage in as many opportunities to gain experience and perspective possible. The knowledge and self-awareness from these experiences allow students to make informed, confident decisions.

What kinds of experiences are best for students?

Any experience is better than no experience! If your child is at home this summer, there is still plenty of time to build in quality experiences. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Informational Interview – This low-commitment activity can bring a lot of perspective, and thus, clarity to a student. Need a free resource to walk you through the process? I have a Free Guide to Informational Interviews here!
2. Volunteering – a few hours a week at an organization of your child’s choice will bring a lot of new perspectives. As a bonus, students will also be developing highly sought-after soft skills such as communication skills, time management, and possibly even customer service skills.
3. Day Camps – There are so many different day camps available to students of all ages. Middle school, high school, or undergraduate—no problem. A great place to start your research is at local colleges and universities. They often have a schedule of a great campus that expose students to careers and academic programs simultaneously—it’s a win, win!

When I work one-on-one with students, we develop a student-driven plan for gaining perspective through experiences. Through one focused action a week, a student will exponentially grow and gain the confidence he/she needs to make an informed decision for the future.

What should you do after each of these experiences?

My original comment was that the key to clarity is evaluated experience. Gaining any kind of experience is great; however, there is a missed opportunity if a follow-up/evaluation conversation doesn’t take place. Students need help evaluating that experience and reflecting on what happened, how they felt as they were experiencing the environment, etc., and how they can use this knowledge moving forward. If the “evaluation” component is skipped, the student will likely struggle to apply this experience to their future. The key to this step is to ask questions and listen. Avoid inserting your own thoughts unless they are asked for. Inserting opinions/advice/thoughts will stifle the reflection process of the student. Here are a few of my favorite, less obvious questions to help students evaluate an experience:

1. Name an aspect of the experience that you like most. What made that so enjoyable?
2. What was something unexpected about the experience?
3. How did you feel when [insert response from the first question] happened?
4. Did this experience make you more or less excited to learn more about [insert industry]? Why?

Each conversation I have with a student begins with a debrief. The floor is the student’s and he/she will share out on thoughts, feelings, and experiences associated with last week’s action. From their sharing, I then use thoughtful questions to help a student drill down and evaluate their experiences. Together, we identify big themes and takeaways and keep that information to use in the career planning process.

Does your student need help planning some career-related experiences?

Life is busy and, even if it wasn’t, sometimes students don’t always listen to parents’ suggestions. If your child could benefit from a conversation with an unbiased, third party to help jump-start this process, I’m happy to help! I offer free, 30-minute consultation sessions to any student who is interested in discussing their future.

Book a free session with me here!

I also offer two other great resources for parents completely free of charge! If you’ve wondered how to go about helping your child plan for future, get my Free Guide to College and Career Planning. Not sure your child is ready to plan for the future? Are you concerned he/she may be falling behind due to lack of motivation? Learn how to Motivate Your Child to Plan for the Future with my free five-step article.

How can I help?

As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students and young professionals one-on-one and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them! The path to success is not straightforward. My mission is to help you experience true career fulfillment through proactive coaching and career planning.

Book a free consultation today!

The Key to Clarity
Loren Kelly

Help your child explore careers this summer without them even realizing it! If you have a vacation planned, company tours are easy, fun, and often inexpensive additions to an itinerary that can provide great exposure to interesting career options. In my blog post last week, I outlined three easy ways to integrate career planning exploration into your child’s summer.  We don’t have children yet, but my husband and I still try to take industry tours regularly! We both enjoy learning about products we consume and the people and the roles that make it all happen.

We spent the holiday weekend last weekend in Wales. If you haven’t been, add it to your bucket list! The small region/country is riddled with medieval castles, history, and delicious sea food. When I mentioned to a friend that we were going to Wales, she immediately mentioned a fabulous sea salt company called Halen Mon that we needed to visit. She added that they give tours and sea salt tastings – sold on both accounts! Is anyone else curious about how sea salt is made? Let me give you the overview.

A little about the Halen Mon Company

This small, but mighty, operation employees 30 people and resides in a small warehouse-style building. BUT, they produce massive amounts of sea salt per year! These 30 dedicated employees are responsible for all parts production, marketing, sales, and distribution—impressive! And, as a fun side note, Prince William and Kate also visited Halen Mon this month!

Location is key!

Halen Mon is uniquely positioned on the south shore of Angelesy Island right on the Menai Strait. This location allows them to pump clean sea water (the area is free from industrial ships and barges and gets fresh water from the Atlantic due to is location relative to the jet stream) directly into a holding tank (pictured below) next to the warehouse. Here, the water is stored for a few hours or a few days, depending on production needs, until it is pumped into the warehouse for the harvesting of the natural sea salt.

Seawater is pumped directly from the Menai Strait to this tank for sea salt production.

As the water is pumped into the warehouse, it goes through an intense filtration system. While the water from the Menai Strait is fairly clean by seawater standards, they still have to bring it up to the United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Standards. As pictured below, the water is first filtered through sand, then charcoal, and finally through a specially designed filter that catches all of the contamination missed in the first two phases. The water is now ready for sea salt extraction.

The seawater is filtered through sand (middle), then charcoal (left), and finally through a specialized filter (right) to make sure it pure and ready for salt extraction.

How sea salt is extracted

Halen Mon used the brilliance of a chemical engineer to design specialized water tables that heat the sea water to about 80 degrees Celsius. Water evaporates into steam at that point but does not boil. This temperature is key for Halen Mon’s process and saves loads of energy making the process very eco-friendly!

These specially designed water crystallization tables help Halen Mon extract the sea salt from the seawater

After most of the sea water has evaporated, the salt is scooped out of the water crystallization tables by hand! Employees enter the warm room in full health and safety gear and manually shovel the sea salt with stainless steel shovels. This helps keep the salt crystals in good condition.

Ensuring a High Quality Product

After the sea salt is scooped out of the water tables, it is run through one last process to make sure it is clean and pure. Bits of chalk manage to survive the process to this point, so the salt is rinsed with salt-saturated water (to prevent the salt from dissolving) and then dried. And that is how sea salt is made!

Tasting the Finished Product

After the tour, we got to taste sea salt from Halen Mon as well as other varieties of salt. Halen Mon sells their pure sea salt in business-to-business markets for the making of crisps (or potato chips), sea salt caramels, and more! They also use a smoke house to smoke and flavor some of their salts! After our salt tasting, we opted for a chili and garlic sea salt rub and a sea salt caramel sauce. We have used both already! The chili and garlic sea salt rub made delicious salmon tacos and the sea salt caramel sauce went perfectly with vanilla ice cream. Learning can be delicious!

What we learned about careers

Sea salt is a highly technical process! It takes engineers, biologist, business professions and even hospitality professionals to make this operation happen. What if you chose to tour a company your child is already interested in? For example, the Jelly Belly factory provides tours. Or, how about touring Harley Davidson? Exposing students to all of the different roles that make this company successful can be very eye opening! It can encourage this to really think about how they can combine their passions and work for an organization that they really like and already value.

Build career planning into your child’s summer!

Last week on the blog I outlined three easy ways to build career planning and exploration into your child’s summer. If you missed it, be sure to check it out! I provided links to several great websites that list great company tours by location and industry!

How can I help?

If you believe a child in your life could benefit from some thoughtful planning, often times an unbiased third-party can be a powerful tool! As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students one-on-one, meet them where they are, and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them!

Book a free consultation today!

Explore Careers with Company Tours!
Loren Kelly

What are your child’s summer plans? The earlier career planning activities begin for your child, the better! Today I am suggesting three easy ways to integrate career planning activities into your child’s summer agenda! I’m looking beyond the usual summer job in this post for creative ways to engage your child in career planning.

3 ways to work career planning into your summer break:

1. Tour an interesting company while on vacation!

Companies across the country and world open their doors to visitors allowing you to see the behind-the-scenes operations and all of the different people and careers it takes to make the production process happen! Your children won’t even realize they are being exposed to amazing career-related information and it will be fun for the entire family. When given the opportunity to ask additional questions on the tour, encourage the guide to talk about the different departments of the company, what they are responsible for, and how many people it takes to get your favorite products from the initial idea, to production, to your home. You can use this great resource, Factory Tours USA, to find a tour in your State or a city you will be visiting this summer or this great article by Popular Mechanics to explore option!

2. Attend a career-related summer program or workshop.

Museums, universities, and government organizations across the country offer short-term summer programs and workshops for students to learn about different career fields. For example, if your child has a strong interest in STEM (Science Technology Engineering or Math) subjects, there are numerous opportunities to get them involved with like-minded professionals and peers! For example, NASA has programs for students at all levels all across the country. Is your child more artistic? Does he/she have a strong interest in computers, design, photo, video, or animation? Digital Media Academy offers programs across the United States as well!

Conduct an informational interview over lunch.

For students who are working to narrow down their interests and exploring career fields, an informational interview can be a very low-commitment, high-impact activity. I have a great guide to informational interviews that will help you and your child make the most of a 30 to 60-minute, casual lunch with a professional in a field of interest. When I work with students, the first thing I ask them is who they know that works in a field of interest. They are almost always shocked with how easy it is to come of up several contacts within their family’s existing network! If it makes your child more comfortable, join them for the lunch conversation! Get my free guide to planning a productive and informative informational interview here.

How can I help?

If you believe a child in your life could benefit from some thoughtful planning, often times an unbiased third-party can be a powerful tool! As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students one-on-one, meet them where they are, and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them!

Book a free consultation today!

Summer Break! Three Ways to Incorporate Career Planning
Loren Kelly

Would you like to help your child plan for the future? Have you ever thought…

“I wish he would think this through more thoroughly.”

We live in possibly the most quaint, English country-side village called Woodhall Spa and this is one of my favorite outdoor work spots. I was sitting outside on the patio on Monday having lunch and working on an upcoming presentation when I couldn’t help but hear a chat between two British mums.

One mother began explaining that her son is currently at university and isn’t enjoying it.

“He wants to quit university and enter the military. Of course, I’ve given him my opinion; but, in the end, I just want him to be happy. I wish he would think this through more thoroughly though. Two more years and he would be done with his degree!”

When she said this, memories of conversations I had with my mother regarding my little brother seven years prior came flooding back (read this story here). Parents are willing to be flexible, but you just want to know that the child has really thought through his/her options and has a PLAN. And, rightfully so! A plan is so important!

If you can relate with the parent above, help your child plan with these questions!

Here are a few questions you can ask that will help your child plan for the future. Taking this approach will keep him/her receptive and help him/her think through the future in more depth.

1. 1. 1. That is interesting! What events have led to you considering this option?
      2. What do you see being the big benefits of this path?
      3. What are your reservations at this point?
      4. What do you think your next step is with regards to making sure this path is right for you?
      5. Above all, your happiness and success is desire. How can I help you with this?

As you have this conversation, just listen first.  Perhaps he/she has thought this through more thoroughly than you had originally thought! If not, these questions will help jump-start that process. As he/she is speaking, just listen and be present. If at any point in the conversation you feel as though there is more that your child isn’t sharing, the question, “What else?” is a great probing question to help them think it through more thoroughly!

Something to keep in mind…

Adolescents don’t always have the most efficient thought process, but I’ve found that most have pretty good intuition when it comes to knowing what will bring them fulfillment long-term. And, I absolutely know that success rates are substantially higher when students and young adults take ownership of their future and make decisions for themselves. I believe the key for adults in their lives is not to advise their future, but to support. And, if we support them well, the doors will eventually open for us to provide help and opinions.

How can I help?

If you believe a child in your life could benefit from some thoughtful planning, often times an unbiased third-party can be a powerful tool! As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students one-on-one, meet them where they are, and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them!

Book a free consultation today!

Help Your Child Make a Plan
Loren Kelly