An Interactive Career-Guidance Workshop

The turnkey CTE workshop that moves students from surface-level curiosity to well-informed pathway commitment.

The Job of Interest Reality Check™ (JOIRC™) helps students thoroughly investigate the essential facets of a job and evaluate how well the work fits them so they can determine which pathways and courses best support their career direction.

Schedule a Workshop Exploration Call


Job of Interest Reality Check™ Logo

An Interactive Career-Guidance Workshop for College Students


The turnkey campus workshop that replaces surface-level career choices with well-informed pursuits.

The Job of Interest Reality Check™ (JOIRC™) helps students thoroughly explore a job of interest before investing further in the major intended to prepare them for it.

Schedule a Workshop Exploration Call

THE CHALLENGE

Unexamined Job Realities Can Disrupt Student Progress

Students can be genuinely interested in a major while knowing surprisingly little about the work it is intended to prepare them for. When important job realities surface after credits have been earned, students may reconsider their major, extend their preparation, or lose confidence in where their education is leading.

The Go Before You Know Cycle

When students discover career concerns after investing in a major, the impact reaches beyond a scheduling change. Late redirection can create excess credits, increase advising demands, extend time to degree, and weaken momentum toward completion.

THE PROBLEM

The Institutional Cost of

Going Before Knowing

DISRUPTED

PERSISTENCE

Students who lose confidence in where their education is leading may disengage, stop out, transfer, or abandon their original goals.

EXTENDED TIME TO DEGREE

When a change in direction makes completed courses inapplicable, students may need additional credits and semesters to complete a credential.

WEAKENED POST-GRAD ALIGNMENT

Students may complete a credential without a clear connection between what they studied and the work they ultimately want to pursue.

Students need a structured way to investigate career realities before investing further in a major or preparation path.

From Career Interest to an Informed Academic Direction

Students move through four guided steps to investigate a job, consider what their findings mean personally, and make a better-informed academic and career decision.

DETERMINE

Choose a specific job connected to a current major or career interest.

DISCOVER

Investigate nine essential job facets to understand what the work actually requires and provides.

DISCERN

Evaluate each facet, consider its personal implications, and identify concerns or unanswered questions.

DECIDE

Assess the overall findings and make an informed for-now decision about continued exploration and preparation.

INSIDE STEP 2: DISCOVER

Thorough Job Exploration is powered by the Job Research Blueprint®

Students investigate nine essential facets of a specific job to understand the realities of the work before making additional academic and career-preparation decisions.

EXPLORE THE NINE JOB FACETS

Using the job they researched, students consider how their major, coursework, experiential learning, and remaining preparation could support that career direction.

WHEN THE JOB REMAINS PROMISING

Revealed Academic Purpose

Students see more clearly how their studies connect to the job and identify the experiences or preparation they may still need.

WHEN CONCERNS SURFACE

Earlier, Better-Informed Redirection

Students identify specific concerns to investigate and bring concrete evidence into advising conversations before changing academic direction.

Whether students continue exploring the researched job or set it aside, they leave with a repeatable career-investigation process and clearer evidence to bring into future academic and career conversations.

Schedule a Workshop Exploration Call

MEET YOUR WORKSHOP FACILITATOR

Career-Guidance Expertise Brought

Directly to Your Students

Jay DuSold is a youth career-guidance specialist and the founder of Life After 12th. For more than 30 years, he has worked with young people and parents through coaching, courses, and workshops, helping thousands of students approach education and career decisions with greater clarity.

Over the last twelve years as a youth career guide, Jay has developed the Job of Interest Reality Check™ and the Job Research Blueprint®. He uses these tools to help college students investigate jobs of interest, evaluate fit, and identify a more informed educational direction.

What Students Say After the Workshop

For a long time, I dreaded researching jobs because I always seemed to get vague information. Now I can gather all the exact information I’m looking for quickly and easily... and I’ve used it for many careers.


Student workshop participant

The biggest takeaway was gaining the ability to gather good, relevant information on a potential career path quickly using AI. 





Student workshop participant

It strengthened my interest in some aspects, but also brought up a couple of problems I might have if I pursue this career.


Student workshop participant

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




Student workshop participant

MEET YOUR WORKSHOP FACILITATOR

Career-Guidance Expertise Brought

Directly to Your Students

Jay DuSold is a youth career-guidance specialist and the founder of Life After 12th. For more than 30 years, he has worked with young people and parents through coaching, courses, and workshops, helping thousands of students approach education and career decisions with greater clarity.

Over the last twelve years as a youth career guidance, Jay has developed the Job of Interest Reality Check™ and the Job Research Blueprint®. He uses these creations to help students investigate jobs of interest, evaluate fit, and identify a more informed educational direction.

What Students Say After the Workshop

For a long time, I dreaded researching jobs/careers/majors for college because I always seemed to get vague information. Now I can gather all the exact information I’m looking for quickly and easily... and I’ve used it for many careers.


Student workshop participant

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


Student workshop participant

It strengthened my interest in some aspects, but also brought up a couple of problems I might have if I pursue this career.


Student workshop participant

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


Student workshop participant

THE WORKSHOP

A Fully Facilitated Student Workshop Configured for Your Campus

CONFIGURED FOR

YOUR CAMPUS

The student audience, timing, format, and emphasis are aligned with your institutional goals and existing career-development efforts.

Facilitated from start

to finish

Students are guided through Determine, Discover, Discern, and Decide during an interactive workshop experience.

Supported by

structured resources

Each student uses guided research materials and a Job Profile to document findings, reflections, questions, and a for-now decision.

Career curiosity becomes a documented decision that academic and career advisors can see, discuss, and support.

Schedule a Workshop Exploration Call

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a career assessment?

No. The Job of Interest Reality Check™ does not assess a student’s personality, interests, strengths, or innate design. It can work alongside existing assessments by teaching students how to investigate one specific job, understand its realities, and reflect on what they discover.

Does it determine whether a job matches a student?

No. JOIRC™ does not produce a match score, recommend a career, or determine whether a student is suited for a job. It helps students gather essential job intelligence, consider what that information means personally, and make their own informed next decision.

Students may recognize possible alignment or concerns through the process, but JOIRC™ is fundamentally a job-investigation and reflection experience.

Does it replace existing career services?

No. JOIRC™ complements the work of career centers, academic advisors, student-success teams, faculty, and other campus professionals. It gives students a structured investigation process, documented work, and a shared vocabulary that can strengthen subsequent conversations.

What do students leave with?

Students leave with a Job Profile covering nine essential facets of a specific job, reflections on what they discovered, a documented for-now decision, unanswered questions to investigate next, and strategies for conducting deeper research.

They also gain a repeatable process they can use whenever they consider another career possibility.

What are the format options?

JOIRC™ can be delivered as an in-person focused workshop, a live virtual workshop, or a multi-session cohort experience. The most appropriate format depends on the student audience, available schedule, desired depth, and institutional objectives.

How long is the workshop?

The workshop length depends on the selected format and desired depth. The recommended schedule will be discussed during the Campus Consultation.

What technology is required?

Students need an internet-connected device and access to institution-approved research tools. Each participant also receives structured materials for documenting findings, reflections, and decisions.

For an in-person workshop, Jay will need access to the room’s presentation system.

What does the workshop cost?

Pricing depends on the delivery format, number of students, schedule, and level of customization. During the Workshop Exploration Call, Jay will learn about the institution’s needs and recommend an appropriate workshop option.

Bring JOIRC™ to Your CAMPUS

Three straightforward steps move your campus from initial exploration to a fully facilitated student experience.

01

Schedule a Consultation

Discuss your student population, current career-development efforts, institutional goals, and what you want the workshop to accomplish.

02

Confirm the Details

Establish the student audience, format, timing, logistics, technology, materials, and connections to existing advising or career services.

03

Secure the Date

Choose a date for your workshop, sign the agreement, and submit the required deposit.

Schedule Your Workshop Exploration Call Here

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