As children grow, parents are afflicted with the worry that comes with their teenage. At this stage, parents are expected to help children choose the right path for their careers. Parents often do not realise the fact that they shape the most powerful learning about careers in children.
Their influence can boost the confidence of their children to make the right decisions for their careers. When it comes to helping your child choose the right career path, you do not have to wait for them to enter adulthood. They should be started to be given guidance and counselling from their childhood. Here is how parents can help their children choose the right career path:
Share your career story
Sharing your own career story with your children will help them understand the cycle of events that led you to where you are today. Your journey will share the ups and downs in your career life, giving your children an opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Your career journey should talk about:
- The role of people who influenced to shape your career
- Your achievements, for example, how winning a competition, scholarship etc helped you grow in your career
- A job that fascinated you or something that you wanted to achieve but you could not
- Bad decisions related to your career that you regret
- The biggest career change
- How you got a part-time job
- How did you land a full-time job
- Struggle you had while looking for a job
It is vital for your child to understand how unexpected events can influence their career. They should have alternatives in case they do not ace out in their dream field. Of course, your children will choose the career path according to their skills, but sharing your dreams and experience will help them understand that it is not a piece of cake. Careful planning is a must.
Develop career awareness through movies
Parents and teenagers should spend time together as much as possible. Weekends are when you can get a chance to go on a ride with them or a beach or watch a movie with them. Instead of letting your children engage with social media platforms, you should think of activities you can do together. Movies can enable your child to be inspired by certain lifestyle choices. Watch movies with your children and discuss the story, characters, etc, over a meal. You can discuss the ideas:
- If the movie changed the ideas about careers
- Was there anything that made your child think, “I want to do that?”
- Was there any occupation in a negative light?
- Was there something that highlights the dark side of an occupation? Discuss what people can do to prevent themselves from being bad in that field.
- Ask your child what they feel connected with and what they distanced from.
- Ask your child about the attributes of characters that they liked so much. Based on that, you can help them choose the right career path.
Social media also, to some extent, helps children learn and make better career choices. LinkedIn is the platform where many professionals and companies have maintained their presence. By establishing a network with people, your child will better know about the types of jobs available on the market. Sometimes, children have restricted career options, and therefore, they struggle with making a good choice. When they know about all career options, they can choose the right one based on their skills.
Decision-making
Helping your child when they need you is a good idea, but you do not have to give your suggestions all the time because otherwise, their decision-making power will be weak. You should help your child make their decisions without anybody’s help. If they come to you to seek any suggestion or advice, you should first ask them why they think this should be done or not in the first place. Knowing their ideas will help you understand how your child thinks of pros and cons while evaluating a situation.
You can help them develop their decision-making power by involving them in planning large events. For instance, involve them when you are planning a vacation on a tight budget. You want to take out a mortgage, but it is yet to be decided whether to do it now or a few months later after saving more money for the deposit. Likewise, when you need a loan, and your credit score is not so good, should you wait or should you apply for joint loan applications?
At the time of planning an event, you should always encourage your children to think of advantages and drawbacks. When they share their opinions without being influenced by yours, you will better understand their decision-making skills. Letting your children help you with such decisions will boost confidence in them. It will help them a lot when they will have to make a decision for their career.
Talk about likes and dislikes
The likes and dislikes of your child also play a crucial role in determining their career path. For instance, writing is a career field. You can become a marketing content writer, an author, or a novelist. It opens doors to several opportunities. But it is likely that your child does not like writing at all.
Of course, this will not be a suitable career path for them, so there is no point in honing their writing skills. Instead, you should try to identify what they like to do and whether they have the skills to do it. For instance, to become a sales executive, you need to have the gift of the gap. Your child might have the ability to bring people around. Sales might be a good career line for them.
You should play a game with your child in which you both tell each other their likes and dislikes. They can turn their hobbies into a fully-fledged career. Try to identify their interests and hobbies. This might open doors to their career.
Other tips for fathers to help children choose their career paths
- Enrol your child in a technical course. Make sure they brush up on coding, digital marketing, etc. In case of a lack of money, use payday loans for the unemployed from direct lenders.
- Enrol in courses that encourage learning by doing.
- Encourage them to participate in competitions and enhance their skills.
- Cultivate a growth mindset in your child. Encourage them to embrace challenges.
- Provide them with ways to achieve practical knowledge.
- As a parent, you can be limited with the knowledge of career options your child has despite keeping yourself up-to-date. You should try to consult a counsellor for your child. Their valuable pieces of advice and suggestions can help your child choose the right career path.
The bottom line
Parents have a great influence on their children. Their guidance and mentoring can shape the careers of their children. You do not have to wait for them to reach adulthood to start their career counselling. Of course, you will be limited by their knowledge, and therefore, consulting a career counsellor is paramount.
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