Recently, the kids and I were given the chance to review
CashCrunch Careers from
CashCrunch Games. The main goal of this career test is to help us see who we are and what type of job we may be great at. For many of us, this has been done in the opposite manner. Study, get the qualifications we need, and then head out to find a job. Never really knowing whether we like that particular job or not. Crazy, huh!
CashCrunch Games was founded by Paul Vasey. Being a former business teacher, Paul Vasey quickly realized that many students associate money with math and quickly become intimidated. Their fear of math made the idea of dealing with money terrifying. He wanted to change that. With just the basics, he wanted to make the concept of money easier to understand and easier to use. He created fun games to help students master the concept of money.
CashCrunch Junior~ A
physical board game for elementary and middle school aged students
CashCrunch Senior~ A physical board game for high school and college aged students
CashCrunch 101~ An
online game for high school and college aged students
For this review, we received three codes in order to take the online test at CashCrunch Careers. CashCrunch Careers uses research from the U.S. Department of Labor and recruitment tools from the corporate world to create a wide database of information for all the questions students and parents have about careers and futures.
The questionnaire contains 75 questions and takes about 15 minutes to complete. Our choices will reflect our personality traits, preferences, and abilities. I instructed both Michael and Therese to answer the questions as truthfully as possible. I did like how they could hover over a word to see the definition. This was exceptionally helpful fro Therese. Based on the answer we gave, CashCrunch Careers compiles a list of careers that match our own personalities and our work style and ethics. We each received a report that was broken down into sections.
Career Work Style
Motivators & De-Motivators
Career Attributes
Career Match
The report list 20 careers that would be a good fit. They are ranked in order of suitability for the survey taker. From there, we had the opportunity to explore the careers further. When we clicked on the Explore Careers button, we were taken to another page. Here we could learn more about each career. We could read various job descriptions detailing the different tasks that would be performed at that job. It also went on to tell us what attributes, work values, and skills we needed for that particular career. They even included a tab with a list of colleges in the United States that currently offered that degree. Finally, there was another tab with a video that explained more about that career and the skills we needed to perform that job.
CashCrunch Careers is part of CashCrunch Games. For $99, we will have access to our reports anytime. It seems costly, but they do provide tone of information for us. Now that we've completed the survey and read about our results, all we have to do know is log in and head to the "My Locker" section. Here is where we will find all our information stored. I'm hoping this will come in handy as the kids get older and start to look at colleges and possible careers for there futures.
What Did We Think of Cash Crunch Careers?
First off, I have to say, I was shocked to see all three of us receive basically the same list of jobs. I can understand Therese and I getting similar results since we are alike, but Michael's results shocked me a little. All his top jobs were management. This is not him. If he was stuck in a office/managerial type job, he would suffocate and dread work every day. He loves animals and the great outdoors. Find a mountain top and you'll most likely find him there. I found the test lacked results for nature loving and artistic students. I felt the survey didn't take into consideration the students talents and interests. The test seems more focused on students looking for careers more in the business world.
Michael"s Thoughts~ 'I wouldn't do any of those jobs!" The only job he saw himself maybe doing was being a farmer or rancher. This was because it involved animals and the outdoors, but he doesn't really want to do either one. He did feel that his list of Career Attributes was accurate...attention to detail, independence, dependably, etc. I will agree it did correctly figure out what his motivators and de-motivators are.
Therese's Thoughts~ "Nope, no way!" She felt the list was all wrong. She was shocked by the amount of jobs that would require math skills. She doesn't hate math, but she definitely doesn't want a job focused on it. The only job she thought even remotely would be a fit for her was retail sales manager and that's because she loves fashion. I have to say her report was probably the most inaccurate. Her motivators and de-motivators were off a little as were her career attributes. This may be in art that she is young and still figuring out who she is. It wold be interesting to see how she tests again in a few years.
My Thoughts~ My was pretty accurate. I've managed various retail stores and homeschool co-ops over the years. My top careers listing were management and education. I manage my home and teach my kids. I enjoy working with others and being in charge. I can handle stress well and love all the little details. I will say I was shocked about the farmer and rancher on my list, but hey I do have chickens...so maybe I'm a little farmer. I took the test to see what I may like to do once the kiddos head off to college. I know I don't want to head back into the retail world...been there, done that. After seeing my results, I still don't have a clue but I do have 6 more years to go.
Be sure to read what the rest of the crew had to say. Just click the picture below and off you go!
Till Next Time,
Monique