Helping a student explore what they want
This is for the student who sits down and says, "I have no idea what I want to do. Just tell me what to pick." They want a verdict, and everything in you wants to give it.
The pull is to rescue them: name a major, send them off relieved. But a handed answer ends the one thing that gets them unstuck: the deciding itself.
Undecided is the normal middle of a process you coach, not an emergency to solve today.
Here is a spine you can run cold.
- Say the normal part out loud first. "Not knowing yet is normal, and picking fast isn't the goal." That moves them off the verdict they dreaded.
- Put their own results on the table. Open their report to Aligned Work Areas, near the back, and set their primary type from The Five Types of Work beside it. Now you are both looking at the work that fits.
- Give them the reframe: the kind of work comes before the label. Their primary type energizes them in any field, so start there. A major follows the work, not the reverse.
- Explore two or three areas, don't prescribe. Pick the ones that sparked interest and open them with questions, not conclusions. The bank below is built for this.
- Close on one small probe, and let them choose it. Not a major, just one real thing to do this week. A class to sit in on, or someone in that work to message, in their words.
They leave holding two or three areas and one probe. Not knowing yet is a starting line, not a failure.
Coaching questions
Not a script to run top to bottom. Once a student leans toward something, pull what fits. A few that help:
Opening the blank
- Which areas made you lean in, even a little? What caught you?
- Which type sounded most like a good day for you?
- What surprised you about where your energy showed up?
Widening what fits
- What kind of work shows up across these areas, underneath the titles?
- How would you describe the work here to a friend, without naming a job?
- Where have you already done a version of this, in a class, job, or club?
Toward a first probe
- Which area is worth a closer look before you commit?
- Who could you find who does work like this, and what would you ask them?
- What is the smallest thing you could do this week to see more of it?
For more range, the question bank ladders into deeper exploration.
