THE CAREER GUIDANCE ADD-ON












The Perfect Addition

Many young people enter a gap year program uncertain about their career direction. While they may have a meaningful experience, it doesn't always result in clarity regarding what to do next. Gap Year Maxed™ is the perfect addition to any program with its exclusive focus on career guidance.


For over a decade, the content of Gap Year Maxed™ has successfully helped emerging young adults around the world make informed career choices and identify jobs that prove to be successful, motivating, and fulfilling. Our holistic approach gives students the necessary thoughts, tools, and tactics for finding their place in the world of work.

THOUGHTS

We empower students with the mindset they need to overcome threats to a flourishing future and reaching their full potential.

TOOLS

We equip students with user-friendly tools that help easily implement these strategies and facilitate their success.

TACTICS

We enable students with proven strategies so they can apply what they learn and get the results they're looking for.

Your Students Can Avoid "Guess and Go"

A lot of young people waste time money, and effort pursuing a job without knowing all of the critical details or if it matches how they are wired for work. Imagine your program including proven solutions for avoiding the costly fallout of "guess and go"!

Guess and Go


PICK

Young people pick a career based on subjective feelings, romanticized projections, and incomplete information.




PREPARE

They begin the journey of preparation and earning the required certifications or degrees.





PROBLEM

As they become more familiar with the position they realize things about the job that are significant turn-offs and make them to change their path.



PIVOT

They take another guess and change their pursuit.

 



 

PREPARE / PROBLEM / PIVOT

Young people get stuck in this terrible cycle. Because their new pursuit is just as uninformed as the first, it's only a matter of time before they run into problems that make them pivot again.

For a long time, I have dreaded researching jobs/careers/majors for college because I always seemed to get vague information or it wouldn’t be relevant to my question, and because it took so long, I would avoid it as much as possible until it was absolutely necessary. However, now, with this new skill, I can gather all the exact information I’m looking for quickly and easily. It makes the whole process enjoyable now, and I’ve used it for many careers now.

Gap Year Participant

Excellent communicator, very knowledgeable about the subject, understanding, and very effective in diving deeper with conversations.

Gap Year Staff

The biggest takeaway was gaining the ability to gather good, relevant information on a potential career path quickly using ChatGPT. Also, the importance of informational interviews and where to find them.

Gap Year Participant

Jay was outstanding, he made the material easy to understand and had resources to make the learning process seamless. When we had a question that was off our discussion base, he did an amazing job at answering the question without disrupting the overall agenda we had for the session.

Gap Year Participant

The way he helped us learn how to research careers was game-changing for me.

Gap Year Participant

I loved ‘anatomy of a career’ because it helped me feel more at peace about the job process and the next right step.

Gap Year Participant

I am the Executive Director of a gap year program located in rural Colorado. We focus on developing life skills and purpose and provide opportunities for those who attend our program the time and space to discover, in a strategic way, what their “next right step” in life could be. Jay Dusold, from Life After 12th, joined us virtually and in person for part of our programming, facilitating discussions that helped our participants discover career opportunities that aligned with their passions AND unique talents. And beyond that, Jay coached each participant on actionable steps to take to pursue those careers of interest. 

Gap Year Founder/Director

A super encouraging and kind gentleman.  Some of the best curriculum. It felt particularly potent because of its relevance to our lives in trying to find our next path forward.

Gap Year Participant

Proven Resources to Maximize A Gap Year Experience

What would it mean for you and the parents you serve if students in your program left with evidence-based confidence in their career paths? 

Level 1: WORKSHOP


A Framework for Evaluating Jobs of Interest


The first level of Gap Year Maxed™ gives students a simple framework they can use to discover all of the essential facts about a job of interest to gain a comprehensive understanding of the position. This will help them avoid making a career choice based on subjective feelings, romanticized projections, or incomplete information.


The Maxed Factor

The Job of Interest Reality Check™ workshop helps students maximize their gap year program by enabling them to ....

  1. 1
    Quickly learn the essential relevant facts about new prospective careers they become aware of during your program.
  2. 2
    Easily determine if they should discard the job, consider it a potential and shelve it, or let it shape aspects of their gap year experience.
  3. 3
    Discover ways they can use their gap year experience to explore a newly discovered job of interest and develop themselves strategically.
  4. 4
    Leave your program with a powerful tool they'll be able to use for additional career options they may wind up considering.

Job of Interest

Reality Check™

Workshop

  • Participants learn the three threats to their career future and how to overcome each one.
  • Participants are introduced to the concept of a True Job Match and the Job Match Formula.
  • Participants learn five strategies for generating a job of interest and use them to identify a position they'll use for the workshop.
  • Participants learn the Job Research Blueprint™ that reveals the nine things they must discover about a job of interest so they have a comprehensive understanding of the position.
  • Participants create a Job Profile using the Job Research Blueprint™ and ChatGPT prompts.
  • Participants are guided through a process of reflecting on their findings to determine how they feel about each area and if the position is worth further exploration.
  • Participants learn practial ways they can use their gap year experience to further explore the option and have their gap year contribute to learning pertinent information, developing relevant skills, and facilitating connections for progressing on that career path.

Level 2: COACHING


A Process for Identifying a True Job Match


The second level of Gap Year Maxed enables students to start with the end in mind. Through a narrative-based assessment that analyzes objective behavior, students discover their unique 'workshape' and identify a True Job Match.


The Maxed Factor

When students start a gap year with a True Job Match identified, it's like knowing the recipe before going food shopping. In the aisles of options, they can identify what's best for them and leave with what they need to achieve their larger objective. 


Identifying a True Job Match through the MapInMe Journey will help students maximize your gap year program by enabling them to ....

  1. 1
    Experience high levels of engagement and enthusiasm, free from the constant anxiety about the career uncertainty awaiting them after their gap year ends.
  2. 2
    Identify the skills and knowledge required for the identified fit that they can obtain through gap-year opportunities. 
  3. 3
    Engage in strategic networking to build intentional connections with professionals who can play a significant long-term role in placement, development, and advancement.
  4. 4
    Experience high levels of motivation, resulting in initiative, effort, and resilience, knowing that much of what they encounter can be leveraged post-gap to advance their career goals.

The MapInMe Journey

Coaching

  • Participants discover how they are wired for work utilizing a story-based assessment tool that analyzes their patterned behavior instead of relying on their subjective opinions.Participantslearn how use their assessment results to identify jobs that align with their design and match how they are wired for work.
  • Participants learn how to identify and contact professionals for informational interviews and conduce at least one.
  • Participants create a timeline for all of the steps required to get into the job as well as a self-development plan for readiness and standout.
  • Participants learn how to identify and overcome limiting beliefs and nagging negativity that would cause them to self-sabotage and never move forward into their fit. 
  • Participants receive all of the content covered in the Know Before You Go workshop.
  • Participants learn practial ways they can use their gap year experience to further explore the option and have their gap year contribute to learning pertinent information, developing relevant skills, and facilitating connections for progressing on that career path.

Let's Chat!

I'd love to share more details about the offerings of Gap Year Maxed.™ If you're interested in learning more, please accept my invitation to schedule a quick fifteen-minute phone chat to get things started. 

THE GAP YEAR MAXED™ EXPLORATION PHONE CALL

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