Career Guidance

Career Direct® is a revolutionary assessment system that combines the Biblical principles of stewardship of talents with cutting-edge guidance technology. Designed by Crown Financial Ministries, the Career Direct® assessment evaluates four key areas of a person’s design: Personality, Skills, Interests, and Values. Most similar tests only look at one or two areas. In addition to being one of the most comprehensive guidance systems on the market today, it is one of the few assessment tools that approaches the field of career guidance from a Biblical perspective.

By encouraging your student to invest in the career exploration process, you can help them see past daily distractions and instead, lean into making informed college and career decisions that align with God’s call on their lives. Students who graduate toward a directed college or career goal will often save time and money and are more likely to feel confident in their decisions.

Career Direct is for students and adults, age 16 and above
For students in grades 9+, we offer the curriculum: Career Exploration Workbook

Career Direct Assessment plus Consultation with Kristin Lackie

Kristin Lackie, of Credits Before College, is a trained Career Direct Consultant, homeschool mom, speaker, and author. She enjoys working with high school students and their families as an educational consultant. She specializes in academic planning and affordable college options paired with CLEP and dual enrollment.

STEP 1: Students begin by taking a comprehensive online assessment. The result is a 35-page customized report that reflects their individual 4-part design. Sample Career Direct Report

STEP 2: Review the results with a trained Career Direct specialist. This 2-hour consultation will give you the most value for your time and money.

STEP 3: The Next Steps process outlined in the Career Direct Report provides parents with the resources they need to complete the investigative process. Students report a high level of satisfaction that they know more about themselves and the vocations that are best suited to their design having gone through the Career Direct process.

Request an Appointment

PRICING: Consulting Package – High School Students: $295; College-Adults: $350

Your Consultation Package Includes

Career Direct assessment
35-page personalized report
Two-hour consultation, meeting in Andover, MN or video conference
Next Steps Action Plan

Appointments are scheduled up to 6 weeks in advance

Take Action. My Good, Better, Best approach to Career Exploration for Teens

Choosing a career is a difficult and sometimes overwhelming decision. It is understandable that narrowing the field of thousands of careers scares many students; frankly it scares many adults to think they have to make that one right choice. This decision can influence our income, work hours, travel, job security, colleagues and friends, address, and leisure time. Often, parents aren’t sure how to guide their student, so we leave it to chance or assume our students will just figure it out once they get into college. This is not only an expensive approach (a high percentage of students change majors and therefore take longer to graduate), but statistically, we find that many graduates are not happy with their decision.

There is a better approach, one that will give better results. First, we need to flip the process around and investigate career choices before investing time and money in college. Frankly, college is not where every high school graduate should be. Investigating how one’s personality, skills, and values align with their vocational interests is a better starting point. Before your student graduates high school, take this journey with them to discover the career fields for which they are best suited.

Wrong Question: What do you want to major in? Right Question: What problem do you want to solve?

Wrong Question: What college do you want to go to? Right Question: How do you like to solve problems?

Good: Parents: pay attention. Compliment your teen when you identify a trait, action, or skill for which they excel. When appropriate, tie it to a vocation. For example: “Sally, you are really good at numbers. They seem to come naturally to you.” Students: Take notice of things you like to do or that come natural to you.

Better: Have your teen take a free (informal) online assessment. O*NET Center is king when it comes to career exploration resources. The site also includes free assessment tools. I encourage parents to wear the career coach hat and take the assessment along with their student (as if you were them). Compare results and guide the conversation. I have found these assessments to be best when used as a conversation started, not as a predictor. Parents can guide this process with my new curriculum guide: Career Exploration and Preparation.

Best: Vocational assessments are most valuable when students have a level of self-awareness (they can answer questions about themselves honestly), and a curiosity about how they fit best into the world of work. For ages 16+ I highly recommend students complete the assessment from Career Direct® and follow that with a professional one-on-one consultation from a trained consultant. Career Direct is comprehensive and the results are invaluable. I became a Certified Career Direct Consultant because I really do think it is the best.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Career Direct® unique?

Career Direct® is one of the few assessment tools that approaches the field of career guidance from a biblical perspective.
Most career assessments examine just one or two areas. Career Direct®examines four essential components of career selection: personality, interests, skills, and values. As a result, Career Direct is one of the most comprehensive guidance systems on the market today.
Career Direct was developed over a 10-year period and has been rigorously tested and validated, using standard psychometric principles of testing and measurement.

To learn more about how the Career Direct assessment was developed and the thousands upon thousands of people it has helped please check out the Career Direct website.

How long does it take to complete the Career Direct® assessment?
Clients will complete the online assessment in about 90 minutes. The follow-up consultation takes about 2.5 hours. Clients are advised to then utilize all of the Career Direct Resources in the full Guidance System to get the most out of the process. This often takes several weeks to work through all the steps, which includes informational interviews.

Are there keys points in a person’s life when you would recommend this?
Certainly at the beginning of career selection is a critical time, either in high school beginning at age 16, or early in the college experience, in order to select an appropriate college or technical school major and course of study. Before one enters the workforce, Career Direct® can help narrow the focus of jobs that will best match one’s pattern. Mid-career assessments can help to make critical mid-course corrections to help best use the prime income-earning years. And even at retirement age, it is helpful to know what options for paid or volunteer work would best use the talents and accumulated experience to benefit others and provide enjoyable and satisfying work.

Does my student have to be 16 years old to take the assessment?
The recommended age for taking the assessment is 16 because often that is when students have had a broader academic history (exposure to higher-level math and lab sciences), are more self-aware, and more mature. You may want to ask your consultant for guidance in determining if early assessment is a good fit for your student. My personal experience is that it is important for students to have a broad vocabulary and situational awareness. For those reasons, I encourage waiting until students are 16+ before taking the assessment.

Is the Career Direct assessment/consultation faith-based?
Short answer? Yes! The assessment was designed by Crown Financial Ministries and comes from a Christian perspective. That said, the questions themselves, are not religious in nature. The consultation itself is where the faith elements really come in. This is where you have a chance to talk with a fellow believer about how God has given you these gifts, and how you intend to steward them.

Why is a financial organization like Crown in the career guidance business?
Crown Financial Ministries, founded in 1976 by Larry Burkett, is the world’s largest Christian financial ministry, dedicated to helping people through personal financial, career, and business channels. The proper management and use of one’s talents is a foundation aspect of stewardship. Life and talent management is directly related to stewardship of finances derived from work. Larry Burkett initiated the Career Pathways program as part of Christian Financial Concepts in 1990. The Internet-based Career Direct® Complete Guidance System was released in 2006.

Will Career Direct® tell me what job I should be in?
No, and no assessment can or should do that. Career Direct will help you identify your design and guide you in your research of occupations to narrow your choices to those that best match your design.

Does Career Direct® help people who have disabilities?
Career Direct has not been tested with a disability population and does not take into account any adjustments or allowances needed for particular disabilities. A qualified counselor experienced in the particular disability is the best choice for help in determining career direction.

What are the Biblical principles of career planning?

Each person is a unique creation of God.
God blesses each person with work-related talents.
We are to be excellent in our work and an example to others. Excellence comes from development of our God-given talents.
Our larger calling is to be witnesses for Christ and a light unto the world. This is greatly enhanced when we are experiencing the joy of using our talents at work.

Clients say it best!

“My daughter and I met with Kristin Lackie to discuss the results of a career direct assessment. We walked away from that appointment with so much more than we had anticipated. Kristin offered sound Biblical guidance paired with concrete career test results for my daughter and focused these results towards careers that utilize the skills and personality traits that God has gifted her. Kristin was extremely knowledgeable in deciphering the results of the 30 page career direct assessment report. She made them easy to understand and taught us how to use them as a tool when deciding on a career path. I highly recommend using Kristin as a resource for your student (or yourself!) if you are exploring what career path to pursue or changing careers.”

“Kristin provided me and my high school son great guidance on how to homeschool during the high school years! She gave us guidance on the number of credits needed, how to obtain them, and even advice on CLEP credits. She listened and was very warm and engaging and helpful during our consult! I would highly recommend her.”

“You guys! I just have to share with you what an amazing appointment I just had with Cheri Frame! We decided to do the career direct consulting that she offers through her business, Credits Before College, with our son. I have to say it was definitely one of the most valuable things we have done with him! It was an almost 3 hour appointment, and a 30+ page report and was absolutely worth every penny we spent to have it done! Cheri also does an amazing job with vision and helping your child see the way God has made him and how he can use those skills best out in the world. If you have the opportunity, I would wholeheartedly recommend doing this! I am still amazed!”

“Cheri, thank you so much for meeting with us and guiding Jack through the Career Direct process. He has decided to pursue Fire Science at the Technical College. He is excited about graduating high school because he now has a plan.”

Hi Cheri! It was great to meet with you! We were really impressed with all of the material in the report and how comprehensive the information was. “M” is so excited to do more career research now that she feels like she has a road map and the two of us will be working on it tomorrow morning. Like you mentioned, we foresee lots of family discussions over this!

“Our daughter was so apprehensive about all the options after high school. Just hearing how you navigated the waters with you own kids helped her tremendously. She plans on continuing to review her report this summer and make some decisions.”

“I knew I needed to make some decisions and not just enroll in college without a plan. Thanks for helping me get going. I enjoyed working with you!”

“Thank you again for helping our daughter. She is so excited and looking forward to the paths the good Lord has laid before her. After watching the process I would be very interested in the process also. Do you work with adults?” ~answer: Yes!