Most of us remember those lengthy, impressively pointless “career tests” we had to take in our junior year of high school. They would ask simple questions — like “Do you enjoy laying bricks?” — and then predict a potential career for the respondent if he said “yes.” (My guess: a bricklayer.) Some would even ask more difficult and philosophical questions — like “Do you have a soul?” — and predict a good-fit college for a “yes” answer. (My guess: Wharton.)

But as fun as those tests were, it turns out that many high schoolers more or less ignore them. (And have a whole different understanding of the phrase “to get tested.”) This report, for example, explains that only half of teenage students actually seek out career counseling, and those who do don’t find it particularly effective.

That said, I’m not trying to say that high school guidance counselors — even the worst of ‘em — are totally hopeless. Perhaps Stephen Colbert said it best in I Am American (And So Can You!):

“A guidance counselor [wonders], ‘If I’m so good at finding careers, how did I end up with this one?’”

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