While we have tried to anticipate every potential scenario, at times you may encounter questions that have not already been addressed elsewhere in this handbook. Following are responses to some additional concerns that may crop up when presenting our assessments in the classroom.
Your student is not sure their results are accurate
No self-assessment can identify every person’s attributes accurately 100 percent of the time. A modicum of critical thinking and social-emotional skill is necessary just to reflect and provide accurate, honest responses to the survey questions. The first thing you should do is find out how accurately the assessment report describes your student, in their opinion. This will help you feel confident that the information presented is valid for this individual. If students do not feel their report presents an accurate description, there are a few things you can do to help them determine a more precise profile. To begin with, you may simply suggest that the student take the assessment again. Alternatively, you might have them work through it with someone who knows them well, as the other person's insight may help the individual to identify their attributes more accurately. If neither of these efforts helps, we suggest you minimize the importance of verifying the profile and instead focus on ways to accommodate and develop all of the student's attributes.
Your student resists the notion of being "labeled”
While the majority of students seem to enjoy discovering more about themselves and the sense of validation it can bring, occasionally some may feel that it pigeonholes or stereotypes them. If your student is truly resistant, it is helpful to explain that the assessment is only one way to learn more about themself; it is up to the student to decide how useful and accurate the insights are. This process is designed to empower students: they should never be made to feel that they must accept a profile as theirs if it doesn’t feel right to them.
Your student has a strong interest in a particular career that doesn’t show up on their list of recommended occupations
This may happen on occasion. The recommended careers are matched to those that best fit the individual's current results. However, a career that matches their results may not always be a career that they want to pursue. The student should be advised to use the additional filters (such as career clusters) to make the list more specific to their career ambitions. They should also be reminded that it is a good idea to retake the Intelligences and Skills assessments after having spent significant time developing their skills and intelligences. As their skills and intelligences change, their career list will change as well. Students should never be counseled into or out of a particular job based solely on the results of their assessment. When a student expresses an interest in a career that you do not believe is a good match—based on the assessment or your own intuition and experience—you should make sure the student really understands what it’s like to have that job. This can be accomplished by encouraging them to do field research or a job shadow. If they have done this and remain interested, your student should be encouraged to continue exploring the field.
Your student's list of possible careers doesn't include any jobs in certain career fields. Does this mean your student isn’t suited to jobs in those fields?
No. This simply means that relatively few people with similar results to those of your student are well-suited to this kind of work. However, students should be encouraged to explore any occupational fields in which they have an interest. While our assessments can help them learn which careers may be a satisfying match based on their profile, there are always exceptions. And because skills and intelligences can be developed, they may find that their career list changes as they grow and develop. Your student should be encouraged to explore any occupations or career fields in which they express an interest. This program will hopefully help them understand what may or may not be a satisfying match.
It should come as no surprise to your student to learn that people have a tendency to surround themselves with others who are similar to them. These two students may have connected through shared experiences, which are also reflected in their skills and other characteristics. However, while they may find parallels between their reports, there will usually be a difference in the degree to which they score high or low in a particular skill, because they may not have the same level of ability. It is also likely that there will be a dissimilarity in the degree of match in their top careers list, because their abilities and preferred activities in each of the career fields may differ somewhat.