The Curse of Choice Overload Bias

Have you been to a high school college and career fair recently? They. Are. A. LOT!

There are dozens of options represented, each of them fronted by a skilled recruiter who has a carefully refined pitch designed to enlist young people who are unsure of what their future should and will hold. It is the definition of choice overload bias.

What is choice overload bias? As technology has evolved and our economic system created more and more products and opportunities, the choices that we have for a wide variety of things has grown exponentially. On the surface, this increased amount of choice feels exciting and empowering; there is something for everyone!

What research has found though, is that this overload can have a paralyzing effect on our decision making, and we are more often less satisfied with the choices we ultimately make. This negative effect is compounded as the amount of choices grow because of the increased expectation for satisfaction that we feel. With all these choices, I must be able to find the perfect fit for me!

Now, imagine you are in high school, and you are faced with all of these amazing sounding choices. You’re focused on your schoolwork, your friends, your extracurriculars, and all the components of a typical teenage life…and you’re being asked to pick the best possible option to pursue for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. A decision that could ultimately cost you and your family hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of your life.

In my years working in education, recruiting, and workforce development I marveled at all the choices today’s students have. But as I watched dazed students shuffle from choice to choice, and as I talked to them about the genuine confusion they felt about what they wanted to do, I started to feel concerned, and a little sad, for these students who were being told that this amount of choice was an amazing benefit.

That’s why I have launched Future Finders. All of these choices should be a great thing for students, and that is where our personalized approach can come in. We work with your family to learn about the hopes and goals you have, and we also realistically assess your current situation to get a clear picture of what an ideal future looks like. Then, we go to work researching various options that fit that future.

Each family we work with gets a detailed plan for the next several years of their life that is a clear roadmap for how to achieve a bright and fulfilling future that will be as economical and efficient as possible. Whether the future holds college, career, or a gap year for the young person in your family, we can help you overcome the choice overload bias that makes a high-stakes stress-fest into a fun and memorable process.