The "Guess & Go" College Strategy and Why It Doesn't Work

Not long ago, my social feeds were flooded with college freshman dorm pics showing off new comforter sets and cool school swag.

I probably wasn't as happy for them as most others were.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they graduated high school and made it into college, but I know the reality of what will happen to a majority of them.

After doing career guidance work for over ten years I have a decade's worth of anecdotal evidence that confirms the published stats.

I dropped those numbers in the last issue, but the summary is that many of these happy young people are going to become lost, confused, stressed, and wracked with anxiety about career direction in the next few months.

I don't wish that on anyone, but I can't pretend it doesn't happen. I'd do a disservice to families and be a fraud if I didn't constantly sound the alarm.

The rhetoric in this issue often makes certain people upset and defensive. It exposes the ineffectiveness of a profit-drenched pathway that doesn't work out for most travelers. They pay all the tolls only to wind up with debt, dead-ends, and disillusionment.

The big question is, "What causes college freshman to start ditching their majors, disliking their classes, or doubting college altogether?"

This is what many parents of second-year college students are asking. They want to know where all of the optimism and confidence of freshman year went.

The reason for the "sophomore shift" is that most young people use the Guess and Go strategy to make their college plans. Here’s what it looks like….

PICK: Young people pick a career based on subjective feelings, romanticized projections, and incomplete information.

PREPARE: They begin the journey of earning their degrees.

PROBLEM: As they become more familiar with the jobthey're preparing for, they discover things about it that are significant turn-offs.

PIVOT: These discoveries cause them to switch their path and ditch their major.

Students often get stuck in this terrible PREPARE / PROBLEM / PIVOT cycle because their new pursuit is just as uninformed as the first one. It's only a matter of time until they, once again, discover problems and pivot.

What's really crazy about all of this is that the problematic aspects of the job aren't subtle or hidden. They're surface-level facets that could have been easily discovered with five minutes of free time and some killer ChatGPT prompts.

Young people will spend more time researching their prom dress or first car than their career of interest!

That’s quite alarming when you consider what’s at stake!

TAKE ACTION

If you know a young person who just started college and is still experiencing the “freshman feel-goods” and is at school without a holistic understanding of what’s actually involved with the career they’re pursuing, please reach out to me with their mailing address so I can send them a free copy of my new book, "Know Before You Go". The link is in the footer if you want to check it out first.

If you know a college student experiencing the “sophomore shift”, please share the Guess and Go strategy and explain how it's the cause of what's happening to them. If you're unable to do that, reach out to me and I'll donate an hour of my time to meet with them on Zoom and walk them through it.

START A CONVO

Use these prompts to start a conversation with a young person you influence.

1. Do you have friends who are less clear on their major and career path after they started college?
2. Statistics say that eighty percent of college students will change majors multiple times. What do you think causes that?
3. Do you feel confident in your current understanding of what’s actually involved in the career you’re pursuing and if it matches how you are wired for work?

ADD YOUR VOICE

As a parent or youth professional, I'd like to know your thoughts on this topic:

How do you help young people avoid Guess and Go?

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

In the next issue, I’ll dive into the four false assumptions well-intentioned adults often make about college that continue making it the dominant post-high school option even though it doesn’t work for most young people and leaves a wake of waste!

SO FAR IN THIS SERIES...

This is part two of our four-part series on Degrees Without Direction: The Perils of College Without Career Clarity

Part One: Alarming Stats on Career-Confused College Students

Thanks for reading this GHA (Genuine Human Artifact)!

All the best,

Jay

Founder/Lead Guide

Life after 12th

Next-Gen Career Guidance

www.LifeAfter12th.com

I’ve spent over three decades working with young people and parents as a mentor and life coach. I started focusing exclusively on career guidance in 2014 after helping my son figure out career direction while he was a junior in high school.

As a next-gen career guide, I help teens and young 20s around the world identify a job fit to gain clarity and confidence about career direction so they’ll reach their full potential and avoid the waste of getting it wrong.

As an author and speaker, I encourage and equip young people to think differently about their identity, true success, and figuring out where they can be awesome in the world of work.

As a consultant, I empower youth advocates and organizations to more effectively help the young people they serve in the area of career guidance.

Do you work with teens/young 20s?

You’re my people.

Send a connection request or book a Zoom Chat!

Life After 12th Resources

1. Coaching Programs
2. Talks and Workshops
3. The Parent Career Guide: A community equipping parents to help their kids conquer threats to their full potential and avoid the angst of career confusion.
4. The Four Foundations of Effective Parental Career Guidance: A digital course for parents.
5. Know Before You Go: The Nine Things You Must Know About a Job of Interest to Avoid a Regrettable Choice A not-a-book book for young people that introduces them to the nine things they must discover about a job of interest to avoid a regrettable choice.