The Marquette Strengths and Career Index (MSCI), from Marquette Index, LLC, is an online tool to help students discover their unique talents and abilities. High school students and young adults can take the MSCI independently or with assistance to jump start career exploration. The MSCI engages the student, to read items and select their strengths in four areas: hard skill strengths, self-expression strengths, personal preference strengths, and emotional strengths. The MSCI hard strengths section questions the student’s interests with cognitive skills necessary for specific jobs and careers. The MSCI self-expression strengths section questions the student’s interest in music, art, and math that can lead to careers and self-employment options. The MSCI personal preference strengths section questions the student’s motivation, participation, and performance in being able to acquire work or to maintain a job or career. The MSCI emotional strengths section questions the student’s response in settings to learn and work. After the student submits their response, the MSCI offers an immediate personalized printout of the student’s career options that match the student’s strengths. This can be empowering to the student because they see numerous options to choose a career direction. You will need the MSCI printout for the Power Practices workbook.

The Power Practices workbook follows the MarquetteStrengths and Career Index. With 30 years of teaching students with learning disabilities and her personal experience in guiding her autistic son, Jackie Marquette guides students to see and feel the value of their own strength. The workbook is written to assist all students; but especially students and young adults with ADHD, Asperger’s, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and other health impairments. Each activity was written based upon an actual person she assisted through work or as their mentor. The activities are designed to walk the student through participation in career exploration, job tryouts, and job shadowing. The activities increase student’s work readiness, choice, self-advocacy, including emotional adaptation for highest effectiveness on the job. The Power Practices workbook walks the student through career exploration.

Two of my girls have completed the MSCI. My 16-year-old already knew her strengths so this tool only confirmed what she needed to pursue, a career in dance. My 15-year-old had many interests and could not seem to pin point her career path; but after taking the MSCI, she is exploring careers in graphic design and sports. If you have a high school student that needs more guidance in career exploration, I highly recommend the MSCI! The Marquette Strengths and Careers Index with the work through the Power Practices can prepare the student for employment and be valuable to employers hiring the student for the purposes of knowing candidate’s varied strengths.

-Product review by Susan Reed, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May, 2018