Things you can do to help your child plan for a career

As a parent, you have the power to positively influence your child’s decisions. You can help them to research different careers or find out the skills and qualifications needed to do certain jobs. Here are some of the things you can do to help your child plan for a career. 
 

Talk about your child’s career plans

Sooner or later, your child will need to make a decision. That is why it is important to ask them from time to time about the careers they might be interested in. Encourage them to talk about the jobs they see other people doing. This could be someone they know or admire. It could be people they see on television or read about in magazines. You could also talk about the different types of jobs that might be relevant to their interests, skills or aspirations.
 

Listen to your child and talk about their options

To help your child with career planning, it is important that you:

• listen, do not judge.
• are open to ideas and encourage them to explore all their options. 
• keep in mind that your child’s choices and decisions are based on their skills and aspirations, not on what you think they should do. 
• remember that not everyone has a clear idea of what they want to do and that is okay, your child’s career ideas may change as they get older.
   

Help your child plan a career

As soon as your child has some ideas on what they would like to pursue, encourage them to do some research. You can help them in learning what is required to work in a particular profession. As well as helping them decide on their next steps, you will also be helping them to develop the decision-making abilities necessary for adult life. They will need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of numerous possibilities, make a decision based on the information at hand, and then put their plan into action.
 

In conclusion

To help your child to think about different choices, you can encourage them to:

• talk about their career ideas and future plans.
• research different careers.
• know about the options available in education, employment and training.
• discuss options with teachers or career advisers at their school.
• find out about training and university requirements as well as what is needed for the jobs they are interested in.
• develop their skills by taking part in clubs and activities, both within and outside of school - this will help them when they are applying for courses or jobs. 
• find out more about the different careers by talking to relatives and friends about the kinds of work they do.
• go to career events.

We hope this article helps you and your child to plan for their future career successfully. If you want to find out more about Mentora Gymnasium, you can make an appointment and visit our school or take part in one of the regular open days we host.