Help your child on to an apt career path

“The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.”

------ Denis Waitley

This piece is for parents of budding school students.

The process of career planning has several components – making a career choice is one of them. A career plan made early in life to facilitate going on the best career path is a significant facet of one’s life and parents can make useful contributions by way of guidance. Be it helping your child to select subjects in college or deciding on a college to get admitted to, parents can help their child to achieve whatever he actually seeks. It is indeed a privilege to be able to facilitate your child to excel in whichever sphere of activity he yearns to join.

There is no denying the fact that it is a long way to go from teenage the career choice phase. However, teenage is perhaps the most appropriate stage to commence formulation of a career plan. In this context, self-evaluation and comprehension of who an individual is, are fundamentally very important, because it is here that personality traits are discerned. The facilities for such tests are available at various career counseling centres; they can even be taken online. .

Having determined personality traits, the next step is to match them with objectives and aspirations. This will help determine various career paths obtainable. Once career paths are identified, they need to be critically examined for future prospects – remuneration factors, promotion avenues, job content and risks involved to name a few. In addition, the place of work and stipulations on personal and community life are also important and warrant active contemplation.

Your child will exercise his choice for a career perhaps a couple of years later in life, but having advance information on alternatives existing will definitely help in opting for superior preferences. It is therefore, pertinent that parents arm themselves with maximum knowledge so that their child can look much ahead of conventional and mundane careers or professions. Quite a number of young men and women land up in jobs that are not their cup of tea – all because that they were ignorant of alternative available to the.

So, whenever you broach the subject to your child, it is imperative that you stick to some “Dos & Don’ts”. Inter alia, these are:

·   Make the most of your network to help your child be face to face with specialists in spheres that he considers stimulating. Even if it amounts to spending an odd day at a workplace, the effort is worth it because the child having seen things will exercise a more clued-up option subsequently.

·   You should be well-aware of the person with whom your child is in contact with; a wrong person will not be able to put things in the correct perspective. In the process, your child will end up making a wrong career choice.

·   Desisting from imposing your own schemes and designs on the child.

·   Refrain from indulging in discouraging or downbeat remarks that may impede a child’s preference.

As a parent, you need to adopt a three-pronged approach and help your child in the following:

·   Conduct self-assessment:   You can assist your child do this by a horde of actions, some vital ones being:

ü  Having a heart to heart talk about what he wants to do in life and his aspirations.

ü  Helping him identifying aspects that interest him and he loves to pursue in his leisure or those he despises.

ü  Assisting him in categorizing aspects that he is proficient in and derives pleasure from indulging in them.

ü  Helping him undergo a couple of self-assessment tests, be they online or in career counseling centres.  

ü  Helping your child record and reduce to writing various things that others opine that he excels in.

ü  Interacting with his teachers for an independent evaluation of his inclinations and propensities.

ü  Having a frank discussion with him on his priorities. Eg, remuneration, status, work timings, work environment and type of schedule, etc. these will help identify what he rates high and seeks to accomplish in his life.

·   Survey alternatives:  With the objective of rendering access to various career alternatives, this will help your child understand them without much trouble. His expansive field of curiosity can be catalogued based on his attributes, inclinations and desires. From this catalogued information, you can help your child narrow down to select few options. Needless to say, this will entail extensive liaison and use of internet; for each option so narrowed down, the following will also have to be categorized:

ü  Basic qualitative requirements and distinctive expertise.

ü  Charter of duties, work schedule, touring requirements, places of posting and promotional or diversification avenues.

ü  Expenses involved, if any.

ü  Inherent risk and job security considerations to include rivalries and struggle involved.

ü  Considered opinions of others.

ü  Principles and standards required to be adhered to including participation by family.

ü  Characteristic personality traits identified.

·   Hands-on experience: It is essential that your child acquires information pertaining to at least six appropriate career spheres. He should be fairly conversant with what they entail, particularly the demands that they impose. You can be of immense help to him if you are able to afford him opportunities to gain personal, realistic and actual familiarity about them. This can be made possible if you are able to do the following:

ü  Motivate your child to pursue hobbies and pursuits outside his academic schedule.

ü  Take him on a trip to a concerned facility like a factory or any other establishment.

ü  Make available photographs and video clippings about relevant career fields.

ü  Arrange for job silhouetting for your child by letting him go through the routine of a person in a particular career arena.

ü  Help him take up a vacation job, even if it entails no remuneration.

It is possible thus for your child to get a good and practical exposure to the nuances of various career options, even while he is at school. Should he come to a conclusion to discard any of them based on the familiarity gained by him, remember that this is also a career option exercised and that you need to go along with it. The intended objective of your efforts is to afford to your child to all possible career options so that he determines what is apt and what is not for him.

As a parent, it is essential that you edify your child on the importance of networking and drafting his curriculum vitae. You must emphasize the need to maintain a diary of people your child meets along with his impressions about them. You also need to guide him to prepare his resume; an outline can be provided to him, which, he can complete and progressively refine. These will help him find a good placement in his later years.