As I sit in a coffee shop in College Station Texas and see the proud parents drop by with their enthusiastic students the excitement is contageous.   Not too many signs of a recsssion here today.

I don’t need to tell you that getting into college is no cakewalk (and I don’t need to tell you that it’s not cheap either)   Although some people may argue against the value of getting a degree, I won’t do that.    It does open doors.  For many decent jobs it’s the bare minimum to get in the door.  However, it doesn’t guarantee success.  It really is the bare minimum to get in the door.

What happens from there?  How long does the excitement continue?  As a parent, how well did you feel that college prepared you for the “real world?”  How many lessons did you have to just learn over time?  How much time did that take?  What is the cost of time spent:

Working at a job after graduation that didn’t require a degree?

Working at a job that required a degree but your kid hates?

Missing important opportunities to fast track because they just didn’t recognize them?

Do all of those lessons have to take place after graduation?  Is simply mentioning them to your kids enough to get them to take your advice seriously?  Are you really the person who is responsible to teach your student these lessons?  Are their professors or the college career center?  Is their employer looking out for your student’s long term best interest?

All of you can contribute advice and guidance, but to become an indepdent adult every college student has to take ownership of these things themselves and make their own decisions.

 What processes or tools are you using to help manage this?  To communicate about this?  You can’t manage what you can’t measure.   The requirements for a successful career are unique to each student, and although they are subjective, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be measured, managed, and used to give your student a competitive advantage that they can use in college and for the rest of their career.

Very minor changes done at the right time are the difference between lasting success and short lived achievements.  This is what Career Foresight is about.  A cost effective way to help your student to get the edge that combined with their degree can benefit them for a lifetime.