Career coaching · teens and high school students · Ontario
Stop asking kids what they want to be. Help them find out.
Most career services end with a report saying your teenager seems suited to engineering, healthcare or the trades. That is where this starts. Launch League gets them in front of people doing the work, gives them something real to try, and helps them collect evidence about themselves — including the careers they find out they don't want.
- 6 private sessions
- Career Discovery Brief
- 2 real career conversations
- Real-world exposure where practical
- 30/60/90-day plan
- Parent wrap-up
- 90-day check-in
The Future Ready Sprint — Ontario · 6 weeks
From “I dunno” to a plan they chose, in six weeks.
Six weeks of small, real-world experiments — people interviewed, a workplace seen where that is practical, something tried — and a written record of what each one taught them. One package, priced once, with everything in it written down.
What's in it
- 1A parent conversation and a private setupTwenty minutes with you first. Then the Career Discovery Profile: you read what is collected, your teenager answers in their own words, and you answer separately.
- 2A written brief before the first sessionWhere you and your teenager agree, where you see them differently, and which career families are worth exploring — with the answers that put them there.
- 36 weekly one-to-one sessionsCareers that fit what we heard, the honest route into each, and homework that involves the real world.
- 4At least two conversations with people who do the workFound through Launch League's Ontario network, wherever your teenager lives. We teach the asking, make the introduction, and confirm each one with you before anything identifying is shared.
- 5Real-world exposure where it is practicalA workplace visit, a job shadow or another way of getting close to the work. Named as confirmed only when it is, and we tell you what is realistic for their interests before you commit.
- 6A written 30/60/90-day plan, in their wordsWhat they're testing and how they'll know. Short enough to use.
- 7A family report and a 90-day check-inA written summary for you at the end, and we check back at the 90-day mark to adjust the plan rather than file it.
- 8The free program, either wayBusiness 101, the one-page plan and the provincial competition are free for every young person in Ontario. Coaching changes nothing about that and gives no advantage in it.
Ontario rate
$1,295 + HST
Anywhere in Ontario, over video
One price for the six weeks, wherever in Ontario you are — no per-session billing and nothing added later. The introductions come from Launch League's Ontario network, so a teenager in Ottawa talks to someone in Ottawa.
Paid at enrolment
The parent call is free and decides whether this is a fit. If it is, you enrol and pay in full, and the work starts the same week. Nothing is invoiced later and there is no hourly rate to watch.
Completion guarantee
Finish the six weeks and, if you don't think it was worth it, we refund the fee. In writing, before you pay.
Book the free parent callTwenty minutes, no charge, nothing booked until you decide. Guaranteed admission or a job is not on offer, from us or from anyone honest.
What you end up holding
Four things, in writing
Not a slide deck at the end. Documents you keep, that say where the conclusions came from.
Before session one
The Career Discovery Brief
Built from both questionnaires: where you and your teenager already agree, where you see them differently, and which career families are worth a look — each one shown with the answers that put it there.
- What seems to energize you
- Strengths we saw
- Environments you may enjoy
- Careers worth exploring
- Areas of alignment
- Areas worth exploring
Every week
A short parent update
What we covered, what they took away to do, and whether the last one happened. Two minutes to read; no jargon and no scores.
Week 6
A 30/60/90-day plan, in their words
What they are testing next and how they will know, short enough to actually use. Written by your teenager rather than handed to them, which is the difference between a plan that survives and a document that gets filed.
- People to talk to
- Experiences to try
- Your next 90 days
Week 6, then again at 90 days
The family wrap-up
A written summary for you at the end of the six weeks, and a check-in at the 90-day mark to see what actually happened and adjust — because plans go stale and nobody reads the ones nobody revisits.
The headings above are the real ones the brief and the plan are built from. What goes under them is your teenager's, so there is no sample family to show you — the first one we write is theirs.
After week six
They stay on the list
Finishing the Sprint does not end it. Your teenager keeps getting invited to whatever we run next, with the same people the introductions come from.
Somewhere to put a question to a trusted industry professional, rather than to the internet — group sessions run by Launch League, never private contact between an adult and a young person.
Honestly, where this is today: the network behind it is being recruited now and nothing is scheduled yet, so we are not naming a date we do not have. Families we have worked with hear first, invitations are optional, and for anyone under 18 they go to the parent.
Meet a realtor day
An afternoon with someone who actually does it — how the money works, what the week looks like, how they got in.
Trades bootcamps
Short, hands-on sessions with tradespeople: what an apprenticeship really asks of you, and a go at the work.
A Zoom call with an accountant
Half an hour, small group, questions from teenagers rather than a presentation at them.
Career days, webinars and short classes
Run with the same people the introductions come from — nurses, engineers, machinists, marketers, owners.
Where most of it stops
A report is not an answer.
An assessment can tell you which kinds of work a teenager is drawn to. It cannot tell you whether they will like the job on a wet Tuesday, whether the route in suits them, or whether the thing they have been imagining bears any resemblance to the real one. Only contact with the work does that.
So the questionnaire is the first hour, not the product. What follows is a series of small, real-world experiments, and a record of what each one taught them.
Experiments, not verdicts
A career worth considering becomes something to go and test: interview someone who does it, spend a morning at the shop, run the numbers on one job, build the thing and try to sell it. Each has a date and a debrief.
Introductions to actual people
Not a link to an occupational profile. A named employer or tradesperson, proposed by the coach, confirmed by you before anything identifying is shared, and only counted once the introduction has actually been made.
“I found out I hate it” counts
The questionnaire asks what they already know they don’t want, and every experiment can end that way. A teenager who spends a day in a clinic and rules out medicine has learned something a report could never tell them.
Homework, then a check-in
Every session ends with something to do outside the session, and the next one starts with what happened. A plan nobody follows up on is a document, not a plan.
What a career coach does for a teenager
Less advice. More contact with the real world.
Works out what they're actually good at
Not a personality quiz that hands back three job titles. Conversations about what they lose track of time doing, what people ask them for, and what they've already done that they underrate.Shows them jobs that aren't on their radar
Most teenagers can name a dozen jobs. There are thousands, and a lot of the good ones are invisible from a classroom.Gets them talking to people who do the work
A career is easier to judge after twenty minutes with someone doing it than after an afternoon of reading. The coach teaches the asking and makes the introductions.Explains the route in, honestly
College, university, apprenticeship, direct entry, military, starting something. What each costs, how long it takes, what it demands in Grade 11 and 12.Gets one real step taken
A shift, a shadow day, a volunteer role, an application, a first résumé. Something that happened, not something that was decided.Leaves them with a plan they chose
A written 30/60/90-day plan in their words — what they're testing and how they'll know — with a check-in after.
Coach, counsellor, guidance, planning
Four words that get used as one
They aren't. Knowing which one your teenager needs saves money and, sometimes, gets them to the right professional.
Ask anyone which one they are.
- Career coach for teensPractical, one-to-one exploration and planning. Not regulated. Should get your teenager in front of real work, not just reports. This is what Launch League does.
- Career counsellorIn the clinical sense, a regulated professional — registered counsellor, psychologist or psychotherapist — who may administer formal assessments. Needed by some teenagers; not most. Anyone selling coaching should say they aren't this. We aren't.
- School guidanceFree, at every Ontario secondary school, and the right first call for anything with a deadline: course selection, co-op, OYAP, applications. Stretched thin, so ask specific questions.
- Career and pathway planningOntario's own phrase for the whole thing: working out which of the four pathways — apprenticeship, college, university, work — a student is heading for, and keeping the doors open in the meantime. Coaching is one way to do it well.
By grade
Years of runway, not a rescue in Grade 12
Most paid help for teenagers arrives when the applications are already due. This starts at twelve, when there is still time to find out what they think by trying things.
Grades 7–9
Discover. Seeing that far more jobs exist than the dozen they can name; choosing Grade 9 and 10 courses that keep doors open; the first conversation with someone who does interesting work.
Grades 10–11
Experiment. Interests and strengths on paper, a shortlist of career families, co-op planned with intent, OYAP if a trade is on the list, a shadow day or a summer job near the work.
Grade 12
Build the pathway. Deciding without pretending to be sure. Applications in and held, the route into each option understood, one real step taken, and a 30/60/90-day plan for the year after.
No default ending
University is one path. It is not the ending.
Apprenticeship, college, university, straight to work, the military, starting something, or a combination — Ontario plans around four destinations and so do we. A coach whose answers all end at a university application is not exploring; they are steering.
Where a trade is on the table, that means the real route: OYAP, hours and sponsors, not a brochure.
The experiment nobody else can offer
“You think you'd like running something. Let's find out.”
If a teenager wonders about business, most services hand them a description of an entrepreneur. Launch League hands them the course, a plan, and thirty to sixty days to a first paying customer — free, and open to every young person in Ontario whether or not a family ever pays us a cent.
Two ways to do it
Ontario-wide over video. Hybrid in Chatham-Kent.
Same six weeks, same price, same everything in writing. The difference is the experience, not the depth: a family in Chatham-Kent can have sessions in person and more hands-on local legwork on workplace visits.
A teenager in Ottawa curious about accounting does not need someone sitting beside them. They need someone who understands them, narrows the paths honestly, introduces them to an accountant in Ottawa, teaches them what to ask, and turns that into a plan. That is what the network is for.
In Chatham-Kent? The hybrid Sprint is the same thing with in-person sessions, and the founding rate still applies to the first ten families.
Free for every family in Ontario
- Future Finder — the free 10-minute career quiz for teens. No account, nothing stored.
- How to help your teenager choose a career — the coaching method, written down.
- My teen doesn't know what to do after high school
- University vs college vs apprenticeship
- All the careers guides
Start here
Let's talk about your teenager.
Twenty minutes, no charge, and nothing is booked until you decide. Tell us roughly where in Ontario you are and what you're seeing at home.
Questions parents ask
Straight answers
- What does a youth career coach actually do?
- Helps a teenager work out what they're good at and drawn to, widens the list of careers they know exist, gets them talking to people who do the work, explains the real route into each option, and leaves them with a plan they chose and one real step taken. The good ones spend more time arranging conversations and shadow days than delivering advice.
- Is career coaching the same as career counselling?
- No. Career counselling in the clinical sense is regulated work by registered professionals and may include formal assessment. Coaching is practical guidance and is not regulated. Launch League's service is coaching, and we say so; if your teenager needs a registered professional, we'll tell you.
- What age is career coaching for?
- Launch League coaches Grades 7 to 12, ages 12 to 17. Grade 7 to 9 is about widening — seeing what exists, choosing courses that keep doors open. Grades 10 to 12 get concrete: co-op, OYAP, summer work, applications, apprenticeship routes.
- How much does career coaching for a teenager cost?
- The six-week Future Ready Sprint is $1,295 plus HST anywhere in Ontario, delivered over video. The twenty-minute parent call is free and decides whether it's a fit; if it is, you enrol and pay in full and the work starts that week. Chatham-Kent families can take the hybrid version with in-person sessions, and the first ten of them pay the same $1,295 founding rate.
- Do you offer career coaching outside Chatham-Kent?
- Yes — anywhere in Ontario. The six weeks runs over video, and the introductions come from Launch League's Ontario network, so a teenager in Ottawa curious about accounting talks to an accountant in Ottawa rather than one four hours away. What Chatham-Kent families get on top is in-person sessions and more hands-on local coordination of workplace visits.
- Does anything continue after the six weeks?
- Yes. When a family finishes a Sprint they stay on the invitation list, and the young person is welcome at whatever we run next — career days, webinars, short classes, a trades bootcamp, a Meet a Realtor afternoon, a small-group Zoom with an accountant — plus somewhere to put a question to a trusted industry professional instead of to the internet. Being honest about where this is today: the network behind it is being recruited now and nothing is scheduled yet, so we are not going to name a date we do not have. As sessions are booked, the families we have worked with hear about them first, invitations are always optional, and for anyone under 18 they go to the parent.
- Will my teenager actually get inside a workplace?
- Every Sprint includes at least two conversations with people actually working in the fields your teenager is considering. Where it is practical and appropriate, we also work toward a workplace visit, a job shadow or other hands-on exposure — and we say what is confirmed rather than what we hope for.
- Will you tell my teenager what career to pick?
- No, and be wary of anyone who will. The point is that they can choose well — with a wider list, real contact with the work, and an honest map of the routes. A plan a teenager chose survives first year. One an adult chose for them usually doesn't.
Launch League is not a registered counselling, psychology or psychotherapy practice. Coaching is practical career exploration and planning; where a teenager needs a registered professional, we say so.