Post Graduate Center

Search for Self

Fairview offers many opportunities for students to explore their interests, gain insight into their personal styles, and consider the connections between their interests and potential college majors prior to engaging in an intense college or career search. By the end of a student's sophomore year, every student should plan to complete a college majors survey, an interest survey, and a personality test.  This can help students develop a sense of what makes them unique as well as a vision of what direction they want to go upon graduation from high school. See the document "Search for Self" for more detail on these topics.

1.  Opportunities in Fairview classes

• During the freshman year at Fairview, a project is built into the student's Geography class, in which the student is introduced to the Post-Grad center and the many reference materials related to college and career planning. 
• During the sophomore year at Fairview, interest and personality surveys are built into the student's Language Arts class. The confidential results are shared only with the students, their parents, their counselor, and the Post-Grad center. 

2. Books to browse in the Post-Grad center

• Do What You Are helps students discover career possibilities through the lens of personality types.
• Book of Majors, 2nd edition by the College Board lists major areas of study, what careers are associated with the major, what kinds of courses are required, and which colleges have those majors.
• Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance, 12th edition describes careers in terms of the work involved as well as training required.
• Great Jobs series of books for history, english, communications, engineering and other majors, offers self-assessment inventories, descriptions of career possibilities and more.

 3.  Online personality, interest, and career inventories 

• Two main websites are available to students where a personal account can be set up, personality, interest, and career inventories taken and saved for future reference and for discussion with Fairview counselors.
• College in Colorado - Explore Interests, Majors, and Occupations
• At this site, click on "create an account" being sure to create a "choices portfolio" at the bottom of the account creation page.  Record your portolio name and password for future access.  If you have previously created a portfolio, for example when you completed the Language Arts class project, logon with your portfolio name and password.
• Choose the "plan" tab.  Choose "explore career options." 
• There are three branches for assessment tools: Choices Explorer, Choices Planner, and Career Self-Assesments. 
• Choices Explorer offers a first pass at exploring college majors and careers based on short quizzes and connections between school subjects, college majors, and careers. This branch is usually explored during the Geography college project during freshman year.  Explore career clusters under both "Work" and "Learn."  Try the "Career Finder" under "Work" based on a Holland personality assessment.  Avoid the "Major Finder" under "Learn." 
• Choices Planner offers a detailed "interest profiler" designed to help identify occupations that match your interests.  Other assessments on this branch include a tool to identify occupations that match your work values and various personal attributes. 
• Career Self-Assessment offers a Holland personality assessment, "career key," and other tools to help you determine your interests and work values. 
• Fairview Family Connection by Naviance - Explore Personality and Learning Style
• Click on the Fairview Family Connection link for login instructions.  Students will use: bvsd email as userid; password obtained from counseling; "Sign in for returning users" box.
• Once logged in, there are two links on the left side of the screen: "my personality type" and "my learning style."
• The personality test, based on the work of Jung, Myers and Briggs, profiles human traits.  Is the student introverted or extroverted, thinking or feeling, intuitive or sensing, judging or perceiving?  The test categorizes people into one of 16 combinations of the four variables and provides the student with insight into his or her natural behavior and aptitudes.  A list of potential careers corresponding to the personality type is also provided.
• The learning style survey asks many questions about a student's preferred learning environment and produces a report for the student.
• You can read more about assessment tests at the following two sites: Your Career Choices and Riley Guide.  These sites list fee as well as free assessment tests.  See the document "Search for Self" for more detail and an extensive list of website resources for personality tests and interest inventories.