Using the Web for Career and College Choice Guidance
This paper evaluates the usefulness of career and college counseling websites available to students, many of whom are expected to make major academic and professional decisions as early as eighth grade. The author reviews several websites, rating each on a ten-point scale, and distinguishes between government-affiliated or university-based resources that provide substantive guidance and commercial sites that use scare tactics to sell expensive counseling packages. The paper concludes with a proposal for an ideal, comprehensive career counseling website and offers practical advice for students navigating this landscape.
- Introduction: Students and Career Decisions Online: Early career decisions and the web's role
- Commercial Sites: High Cost, Low Value: Fee-based sites offer little real guidance
- Useful Sites: Government and University Resources: University and NCDA sites rated highly
- Evaluating the California Department of Education Website: State education site earns eight out of ten
- A Poor Example: Life Transitions Career Counseling: Life Transitions site uses scare tactics
- What an Ideal Career Website Would Offer: Proposed features for a comprehensive site
- Conclusion: Navigating Career Websites Wisely: Advice for students choosing online resources
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper applies a consistent numerical rating scale (1–10) to each website reviewed, giving the evaluation a clear, comparative structure that is easy for readers to follow.
- Specific details — such as counseling fees ($250–$700), counselor credentials, and the number of links a site provides — ground abstract claims about quality in concrete evidence.
- The author balances criticism of commercial sites with genuine praise for government and university resources, avoiding one-sided rhetoric and strengthening credibility.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates evaluative analysis: the author establishes explicit criteria (presence of links, transparency of agenda, relevance to students, cost, breadth of career information) and applies them consistently across multiple sources. This approach allows the reader to understand not just what each site does, but why it succeeds or fails by a defined standard.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with context about the pressures students face, then moves through a series of individual website reviews arranged from poor commercial examples to stronger government-affiliated resources. It concludes with a constructive proposal for an ideal site and practical advice for students. Each review section functions as a mini case study, making the argument cumulative rather than merely descriptive.
Introduction: Students and Career Decisions Online
Students are increasingly expected to consider their college and career choices at a younger and younger age. By eighth grade, some students have already decided which school they want to attend and what career they will pursue. But how do they arrive at these decisions, and what information can they draw on? In the past, students were largely limited to guidance from family, friends, or a school counselor. Times have changed, however. The World Wide Web is now full of websites that claim to help students make these decisions. Unfortunately, most of these sites offer little or no useful help. Instead, they are designed to make the student feel lost and in need of guidance — guidance that comes at a price.
Commercial Sites: High Cost, Low Value
Many career counseling websites provide no real information and focus instead on convincing students that they cannot manage without purchasing paid services. They do not discuss colleges or universities at all; rather, they offer tests and counseling sessions for career choice — in some cases targeting students as young as eighth grade (Independent College Counselors). Fees range from $250 to $700 for testing and counseling, and these sites typically offer no links to other resources.
Microsoft's career site, for example, appears prominently when one searches for "student career counseling" or "student college counseling," yet the site focuses exclusively on recruiting candidates for positions at Microsoft. No broader career guidance is offered, and no links to other sites are provided.
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