College and Career Advice That Works
Want to become one of those people who actually loves what they do for a living? Test Drive Your Future gives you the advice and solutions you need to become both successful and happy on your college and career path.
We think everyone deserves the chance to do something with their lives that interests, inspires, and fuels them. And yet recent studies show that over half of all U.S. workers aren’t happy with their careers.
That’s really sad, especially considering how much of our lives most of us spend working.
The average American works 72,000 hours between the ages of 22 and 62.
That’s a lot of time! Especially if you are doing something you don’t enjoy.
We think that you can do it differently. That you can actually find something that you will enjoy doing with your life. That you can find a career that fuels you, meaning that it will support you both emotionally and financially.
That you can choose to make your 72,000 hours count.
Test Drive Your Future Is Changing The Game
Test Drive Your Future is all about helping students choose a college and career path that meets the following criteria:
- It is in alignment with their unique skills and talents
- It will not place them in crippling student loan debt
- It will interest, inspire and fuel them for years to come (emotionally and financially)
And doing so in a way that makes them feel both confident and clear about their decision.
We call this “Being In The Driver’s Seat Of Your Life”
Aloha, we are Jim & Beth Hood.
Founders of Test Drive Your Future
We struggled greatly with our college and career decisions, and as a result, we are passionate about helping students and their parents make better decisions—about college, career, AND money. So passionate that we wrote three books on college and career choices for students, and founded Test Drive Your Future.
We are equally excited about entrepreneurship and have built four successful businesses together. We’ve designed careers that allow us a great amount of freedom and flexibility to raise our family in beautiful Hawaii and are proud to be among the 30% who can truly say, “I love my work.”
Our vision is to inspire a community of young people to find careers they love and push the national average well beyond 30%!
What professionals, parents, and students are saying about Test Drive Your Future
I was immediately drawn in by the metaphor and challenge that you would never buy a car without test driving, why would you do that with something as important — and costly! — as your college major and eventual career? Test Drive Your Future makes it fun, easy and compelling for students (or career changers) to connect with their values, goals and skills and learn a process for evaluating potential career choices to see if they match up….The suggestions on how to really get to know a career are terrific real world suggestions that many high school students would never realize are possibilities….
Danielle
ParentI am so impressed! This is a GREAT gift to young people, and their families. NO ONE talks to students this way! You hit them with all their senses flaring . . . it’s great. You take them seriously. But you don’t expect them to know more than they do. Beautiful!
Joyce Reed
Founder and Director of College Goals, Former Associate Dean of the College at Brown UniversityJim and Beth Hood have once again created a clear and practical guide for introspection and planned action in Test Drive Your Future. I would recommend it to all of my gap year students and think it should be included in every high school’s guidance office. Although geared toward students, anyone can utilize the helpful outline to clarify interests and goals. The process of finding a passion can be life-long and Test Drive
Your Future is a good reminder not to settle for less than true satisfaction in one’s work in the world.
Holly Bull
President of Center for Interim ProgramsThe exciting and interactive format and engaging questions set me on a path of clarifying my life goals. After working through it, I developed a clear focus and direction as to my next steps in life.
Esther
High School GradAfter years of listening to the adults in my life express their frustration, boredom, and anxiety about their jobs, I made the decision that I would spend my own adult life doing something that was genuinely worth my time and energy, something that I would walk away from as the end of the day feeling inspired and fulfilled by. Test Drive Your Future has increased my confidence in my ability to achieve this. I commend the Hoods for creating a straightforward and engaging tool to help my generation enter the ‘real world’ in a way that is satisfying and meaningful.
Shivani
High School GraduateWhen I heard Jim and Beth speak, I was impressed and delighted by their spunk, their authenticity and their skill in connecting with a young adult crowd. They are both brilliant speakers with a clear dedication to helping young people make fulfilling life choices. They’re the kind of people you want to influence your kids!
Joyce Marvel-Benoist
Self Empowerment CounselingBravissimo! Do you realize what you created? “Test Drive” is not just for students—I know CEO’s who need this! This is a stupendous gift to the world. Magnanimous, monumental…
John Goddard
World Famous AdventurerBeth and Jim have done it again! Test Drive Your Future is Witty, Wise and Wonderful! It is a magnificent guide for young adults in navigating their way to a joyful and life-enhancing career. I have been recommending Test Drive Your Future with great confidence and enthusiasm.
