Our Mommyhood

As they approach their junior and senior years in high school, many teens begin to consider what types of careers would be good fit. Many of these young people are intimidated with the enormity of this choice, as it has a long-lasting impact on the future. Choosing the wrong major in college can mean not only wasted time, but also wasted money. Choosing the wrong career after college can mean years of frustration, as a young person faces daily work for which he is a poor fit.

How Do You Start?

Parents generally hope to guide their children through these crucial years of decision-making. After all, many parents plan to contribute to the cost of a child’s higher education, and they want their children to end up in a career that will make their children happy and fulfilled. However, many parents are unaware of the best methods of choosing a suitable career path. Parents should look at a student’s high school career for indications that show where a teen’s talents and skills may lie.

If kids are very academically oriented in high school, they may have the privilege of accessing dual-enrollment college courses. These courses not only count as credit toward high school graduation, but they also count as credit toward a child’s college degree. These classes are many times available as online classes, keeping the child from expensive and inconvenient commutes to the college campus. By taking dual-enrollment classes, teens can get a feel for the workload required in college classes. If a teen is unsure about whether or not to attend college, it is a good plan for him to take a few online classes in high school to see whether or not he is ready for college.

What Are Their Strengths?

When parents are advising teens on the choice of a career, they should consider the child’s strengths and weaknesses. A teen that struggles in mathematical subjects is probably not a good candidate to become an engineer or accountant. Parents should not only consider academic strengths, they should think about personality traits too. An outgoing, friendly extrovert will be better suited to a career working with people, like nursing or social work, than a more introverted and shy person will.

Parents may want to ask their friends for a little help in assisting their children in making a career decision. A student might enjoy accompanying an employee for a whole day or a week to really get a feel for the daily life in a particular occupation. If a student is considering criminal justice as a career, he may like to join a police officer for a day’s work. If a young lady is considering a career in real estate, she may enjoy spending the day with a real estate agent. By “job shadowing,” teens can learn about the good and the bad things that happen on a daily basis in a specific career.

Process of Elimination

Just as important as knowing what one wants to do, is to know what one does not want to do. For this reason, a teen that is wavering between two or more career paths might find internships very helpful. Interning in a possible career field will not only help a student to be more certain of the direction he wants to go in college, but it also looks good on a résumé. Students may also gain valuable work experience by participating in a part-time or full-time internship for several weeks or even an entire summer.

Parents can guide a teen into the appropriate career path by asking the teen several questions. Instead of pushing a teen into the family business or a prestigious career, wise parents encourage a teen toward introspection, asking questions such as, “What type of people do you think you would like to work around?” Parents may also want to ask a teen, “Would you rather work with your mind or your hands?” Another helpful question may be, “What skills do you have that you would enjoy using on a daily basis?”

Young people need not waste valuable time and money by switching majors and jobs before finding a path that is a good fit. By studying a teen’s interests, pointing out valuable skills and encouraging internships, parents can guide their teens into enjoyable and fulfilling careers.

Patricia O’Malley is a careers counselor and suggests if you have a love for solving problems and organization, you may want to check out Criminal Justice degree programs online. Some of the top criminal justice programs offer careers ranging from forensic toxicology to how to become a judge.

Related Posts via Categories

• 6 Ways to Involve the Family in Helping Your Community
• Learning to Parent From Our Wounds
• Private School vs. Public: Is It Worth The Money?

Related Posts: