TruSpark Career Exploration for Teens
Are you homeschooling teens who need some direction and focus in the areas of motivation and career exploration? TruSpark is an option you’ll want to consider to help them gain clarity through a curriculum and assessment quiz.
Do you remember what it was like as a tween and teen constantly hearing the question: “So what do you want to do when you grow up?”
I can remember feeling awkward and unsure of my answer. At times I was positive I wanted to be a teacher. Then I was sure I would be miserable unless I became a writer or journalist. After that I was absolutely convinced I had to become a psychologist. These all seemed like such diverse careers that I couldn’t imagine how to put it all together in a way that made sense.
We’ve probably all gone through those growing pains. Maybe your tween or teen is dealing with that right now.
Do you know what makes them tick? Do they know themselves? Are you looking for a way to gently guide them through this rite of passage while helping them find what truly lights them up?
Encouraging my daughters’ interests and aptitudes has always been at the center of our homeschool experience. Now that they’re moving into the teen years, it’s even more important to emphasize the value of their talents and how that can figure into their future plans.
As homeschool parents, we have the opportunity to give individualized attention to these types of things. Part of the problem is knowing how and where to start as we help our teens discover their gifts.
TruSpark is a motivations assessment and curriculum (think strengths and interests test, but much more in-depth) designed to help teens with career exploration.
TruSpark is designed to help them better understand:
- who they are and what motivates them
- career exploration based on those interests and motivators
TruSpark Curriculum and Motivations Assessment
TruSpark is uniquely designed as two components: curriculum and assessment. Although the assessment may be used separately, the results are most effective when combined with the curriculum. These are the tools that can help guide your teen on their own individual path to career exploration.
TruSpark is research-based on 60 years of study into the psychology of work and what motivates people. It has taken all of this and created a tool specially for tweens and teens.
It’s more than just a personality test — it actually identifies the core motivations — the why of what drives us to make the choices we make. As a delight-directed homeschooling family, why is at the heart of all we do and the way we learn. That’s why I was so excited to try TruSpark and see how it could help guide my daughters.
TruSpark walks tweens and teens through the process with a story-based method. They each get to write their own short narrative answers to the questions, then rank them in order of importance. Through that analysis, TruSpark determines the core motivations and which careers would best apply.
What are Core Motivators?
There are 19 core motivators included in this test:
- Achiever
- Arranger
- Builder
- Expert
- Explorer
- Finisher
- Fixer
- Helper
- Impactor
- Improver
- Influencer
- Learner
- Maximizer
- Organizer
- Overcomer
- Standout
- Teacher
- Team Player
- Visionary
If you’ve taken other tests such as the Myers-Briggs personality test, you may be familiar with some of these concepts. I’ve taken many different types of these tests through the years, but I can say from experience that TruSpark is unique in the method of testing, the companion curriculum, and the practical application with career exploration.
Our TruSpark Experience
My 12 year old daughter has many ideas of what she might like to do when she grows up, in particular being an ornithologist. On the other hand, my 14 year old daughter is very unsure of what she would like to do. I decided that it would be good for both of them to go through the curriculum and assessment.
My youngest daughter went through the curriculum and took the test first. There is part of the curriculum that is done before the test and the rest follows up afterward.
TruSpark gives three results in the core motivations categories, along with the suggested careers to consider. She received The Finisher, The Maximizer, and The Impactor, in that order. After reading the descriptions, she felt that the results were fairly accurate for her.
Her reaction: I wasn’t sure what to write about at first, but after I thought about it, I came up with some examples that fit the questions. I was really surprised that they could take that information and give me suggestions based on my answers. I never took a test like that before. I think it’s cool that they can help me decide on possible careers. I don’t think I’m ready to decide yet, but when I am this will be useful.
I’ll be setting up the assessment for my 14 year old daughter as well.
The Benefits of TruSpark
Having this kind of knowledge improves decision-making skills and self-confidence, which are important concepts to teach our children. This is exactly the type of individualized education that will serve them well their entire lives!
Not only is it practical information that they can apply directly to their plans, it also helps us as homeschool parents to understand our children on a deeper level. Building that kind of relationship is one of the cornerstones of successful homeschooling.
TruSpark curriculum and assessment is a practical way to help our children find their motivations and interests and actually pursue them!
I encourage you to learn more about TruSpark today and see how it can help your tweens and teens.
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