How to help students find out who they want to be

One of the most significant challenges I have faced as a counsellor has been supporting students who have had little to no exposure to work experience, job shadowing or real-world career environments. 

Many are high achievers who perform well across all subjects, while others genuinely struggle to articulate their interests, values or strengths. As a result, they find it difficult to answer the foundational question: “Who am I, and what do I want to become?”

This challenge was particularly evident early in my career, when I worked in contexts where formal work-experience and job-shadowing opportunities for teenagers were not permitted. Traditional exploration methods – such as researching careers online, watching videos or informal exposure through parents – proved insufficient. Students remained uncertain, parents grew anxious and decisions about subject selection and university majors became reactive rather than informed.

Using psychometric tests effectively

The turning point came when I pursued formal training and certification as a career development facilitator. This training shifted my approach from intuition-led guidance to evidence-based practice, and introduced me to the ethical and effective use of psychometric assessments as indicators, not prescriptions.

One of the most impactful tools I adopted was the O*NET Interest Profiler, developed by the US Department of Labor. Unlike many informal online inventories, this is a validated assessment. I completed more than 100 hours of supervised practice with a licensed mentor as my graduation project, which was essential in developing the competence required to interpret and debrief results accurately. Assessments must be contextualised, ethically administered and followed by meaningful reflection.

Over time, I developed what I refer to as a self-assessment portfolio, which has become the starting point of my counselling journey with every student before discussing majors, universities, rankings or study destinations.

What tests can tell you

Interest assessments help students identify patterns in what they enjoy doing and how they naturally engage with tasks, people and ideas. Many students are surprised by dimensions of their profiles that had previously been overlooked.

Values assessments help students understand their core motivations and beliefs. When interests are aligned with values, decision-making becomes clearer and more sustainable. I often summarise this for students and parents using the equation interests + values = job satisfaction.

Skills and strengths inventories allow students to connect preferences with market-relevant competencies and are particularly helpful when supporting personal statements, recommendation letters and career-planning discussions.

In more complex cases, I also use formal aptitude assessments. These provide deeper insight into verbal, numerical, non-verbal and spatial reasoning abilities, enabling a more holistic understanding of the student and supporting more informed guidance.

Not all assessments are created equal

A critical lesson I share with new counsellors is that not all assessments are equal. Many commonly used tools are inventories rather than formal assessments, and even minor wording differences can significantly influence outcomes. Students must be guided to respond authentically, without considering parental expectations, perceived prestige or financial factors.

This structured, portfolio-based approach helps students gain clarity, engage in more meaningful conversations with parents and move from anxiety to agency. For counsellors, it enables guidance that is supportive without being directive.

When working with students who don’t yet know what they want to do, resist the urge to rush to the decision-making stage. Invest in structured self-exploration, continuous professional learning and reflective practice. Our role is to equip students with insight and self-awareness – not to choose on their behalf.