When deciding on a career, people receive all sort of advice, most of which are terrible. Such advice includes, “select the high-status career,” “choose the career that you will earn more money,” “go for a safe career,” or “all jobs are equal as it is not meant to fulfill you.” We spend numerous hours weekly and decades working; thus, engaging in work that you love will be fulfilling. It is prudent for parents to do an excellent job of steering and encouraging children towards finding and doing work that they enjoy.
The National Center for Education Statistics states that college students on average change their majors three times before graduating. Their lack of life experience and knowledge on the career path that best suit them makes college a stressful time for them. Fortunately, these tips can guide you as a parent in helping high school students choose a career.
UNDERSTAND YOUR CHILD IS NOT LIKE YOU
First, it is vital you resist the urge to treat your children as if they are like you. Despite being your offspring, your children are distinctive individuals. Their interests may not align with yours, and the things that you hate about a particular job might be the things that make it attractive to them.
For instance, writing may be a career that you detest as it demands a lot of attention. However, your child may consider writing as an exciting venture where they can utilize their creativity to produce articles, novels or blogs. Avoid pushing your child away from such jobs among others because it does not interest you and in this case, teach children to write.
DISCOVER THEIR POTENTIAL
Discovering a child’s potential helps a child identify their strength and career path of their interest. Teaching kids about careers involve encouraging them to seek guidance from a career counselor to assess their aptitude abilities and design their career paths. Tests such as the Myers-Briggs test, Strong Inventory and Holland Code test will help your child find their career path. However, you should not rely only on the tests but also consider the child’s interests.
If a child’s strength based on the tests do not align with the career of their choice, come up with ways to bring their strengths towards their field of interest. Also, understand their strengths by observing the things that come easy to them that other people find difficult and encourage them to move towards them.
FIND AN INSPIRING MENTOR
A positive and encouraging mentor is essential to your child. They can help fuel a child’s interest and career prospects by giving them all the information they need and guiding them on how to go about it. Identify the field that interests your child, and use this information to secure an inspiring mentor in that field.
TRY DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES
In most cases, people reach a decision on the line of work they want to pursue by exploring their interests in an in-depth manner. Career paths for kids require them to discover numerous opportunities that help them try out new activities. Such activities may include nature, arts, science, museums, nature, traveling and diverse people. Observe the activities that make them curious and encourage them to learn more about them. For example, you can teach kids essay writing skills to be a writer if that is what interests them.
CHILD’S TRIBE
As the saying goes, “You are the average of the five people that are always around you.” As a parent, you have to consider whether you have the right tribe of people around you and whether you have taught your kid to find their tribe. The peers your kid surrounds themselves with, play a significant impact on how big your child dreams, their view of the world and opportunities they seek.
Encourage them to get out of their comfort zone and participate in sports, business clubs, and non-profit organizations or spend time with age mates that inspire them. Once your child surrounds themselves with a fantastic tribe, it helps them explore their potential and make the right decisions.
SHOW EXAMPLES
Children learn most of the things they know from observing the people around them. As a parent, your child watches your every move; thus, strive to be a good example by working in a job that you love. When you build the career of your dreams, your child understands that they can secure and work they enjoy. It is never too late to pursue your passion, what lights up your world and eliminate stressful jobs.
DO NOT BE IN A HURRY
Always remind your child that the process of doing the work they love is long and demands self-discovery and experimenting. As they discover their career path, they can take different directions as many times as possible. Encourage them that it is okay, exercise patience as they make these decisions and encourage them to explore themselves so they can mature into the exact person they are destined to be.
Most children have no idea what they want to do when they grow up. Thus, most of them end in careers they do not like or waste years in college getting degrees they will never use. As a parent, you can change this by shaping your child from a young age on how to choose the right career for them. The above steps will help you approach this problem and succeed in helping your child choose the right job for them.
