TruSpark Helps You Learn Your Teen's Motivations to Aid in Career Exploration

  I was compensated for my time and provided with a copy of this curriculum for review purposes, but all opinions expressed are my own.

"What are you interested in learning?" I ask again. 

"I don't know." Her typical response. 

"Well, what do you want to do?" I prod. 

"I don't know." How, I wonder can a teenager have no idea what they may want to learn? How will we ever plan for high school let alone college when we have no starting point. 

Needless to say, this indifference about her future is a huge frustration for me as her parent and homeschool teacher. I have thrown so many things at her just trying to find a spark of interest.

What I felt but didn't really acknowledge was how little self awareness she really had. TruSpark's motivational assessment made that very obvious.

How to Determine Motivations with TruSpark 

The TruSpark assessment is a core motivation test to help early to mid age teens learn about what draws them to various activities and what fulfills them in these activities.

The TruSpark career exploration curriculum uses these core motivations to direct kids to careers that will also fulfill their core motivations.

Both are simple to use. As the administrator, you enter the students name and email address and assign the assessment. They receive an email with a link to the curriculum and a link to the assessment. You can also purchase the assessment and curriculum separately to meet your needs however it is best to use them in conjunction.

It is recommended they complete the first lesson of the curriculum prior to the assessment as it introduces the idea of core motivations. 

The core motivation test itself takes about 20 minutes and provides the student with their top 3 core motivations as well an explanation of each and some careers that utilize that skill. 

The rest of the curriculum delves into career exploration. 

Curriculum, to me, makes it sound intense, but in reality it only takes about 4 hours to complete the whole thing depending on how much career exploration your child wants to do. It can also be completed independently, but if you have a teen like mine that really doesn't know where to start, discussion will be helpful!

How TruSpark Helps with Career Exploration

Since TruSpark looks at motivations it is not a personality test like the Myer-Briggs or Enneagram. Here the motivations are not tied to any particular personality traits. 

Now, I have nothing against personality tests; I enjoy them and even find some rather enlightening. But the TruSpark test looks at what traits motivate you. These are the traits that give you satisfaction when you use them. So, finding a career that emphasizes these motivations is key to career satisfaction. 

I mentioned above that the quiz provides careers that use each core motivation. These careers are extremely varied since people with those motivations are also varied. So, this cannot be used as an interest inventory either. Instead they can explore careers with their core motivations first and then narrow it based on what they find interesting. I know my daughter got a lot of counseling options suggested, and she was quick to veto them all. Luckily the curriculum allows for exploration of 900 different career options. 

With that many options, your student is sure to find something to explore further which is the first step to a decision. 

Plus, knowing your core motivations can help you recognize aspects of yourself you weren't aware of. This was true of my daughter. When I looked at her results, it all seemed correct, but she was a little surprised. 

Knowing the motivations of your child can also help give you insight into some of their actions allowing you to make better decisions when it comes to parenting and homeschooling.

Is TruSpark Accurate as a Motivation Assessment?

The TruSpark assessment is based on 60 years of scientific study and use of a similar adult assessment in professional settings. This knowledge was used to create a version suitable for the early to mid teen age group. 

From personal experience with my own children, it seems very accurate. I tested both of my teens, and their results matched up with what we know to be true about them, and many of the career options listed were ones we thought they would succeed in should they have the interest to pursue them. 

When asked for their opinions my daughters said the motivation assessment and curriculum gave them more career options to consider. Neither would readily admit they learned anything about themselves although it was hard for my oldest to hide her surprise at the results. 

I'm glad they have this information about themselves as they start looking at career options, and perhaps an interest inventory would help us narrow things a little more even before we get deep into high school planning.

If you have a middle school age kid, I would definitely recommend learning what motivates them through the TruSpark Assessment and Curriculum.