Parent's Guide: Career Discovery for Teens

Career readiness and development are essential to help young people gain awareness of self, the knowledge requirements for work, and the skill set to make career decisions for their future. Although efforts to help teens make career choices are seen at home, at school, and within the community, the 'readiness' factor is still debatable across the globe. For instance, high school students continue to be guided to choose courses that get them into university without quality and credible career guidance from a specialist.

In addition, the growing reliance on chatbots for career advice leads youth and parents to believe that career decisions are simple to make. However, you need to reflect on your life as an adult to understand that career readiness is much deeper than just choosing a job. For example, guidance must consider and pre-empt the complexities of life decisions that students will need to make as they mature and begin their adult lives. Despite the cries for support from parents and the criticisms of education practices from employers, career guidance remains a last thought for many students as they make future career decisions.

How Can You Help Your Teen?

#1

Invest time questioning the assumptions that you're making about your teen's education and future career guidance program. Are you guilty of believing that your teen's school is as invested in your teen's future career as you think they are? The findings from my research indicated that high schools are restricted by time, curriculum and budget constraints, limiting their ability to provide high-quality, credible career guidance. While we can discuss 'your school fees' and your beliefs about what schools 'should' offer, you must stay focused on your teen's career program and the necessities for future career readiness.

#2

Give your teen opportunities to find a job! This experience will help your teen develop resilience, and I'm not talking about the trending concept of resilience! I'm talking about 'real life' toughness. Park your helicopter and stop finding your teen internships. The best thing you can do for your teen is to start giving them opportunities to develop internship-finding strategies; if you have yet to realize it, an internship is NOT about going to university! The journey of finding an internship will help your teen develop the grit they'll need as they sway through the unemployment pool in the future. I don't care what you believe about employers not giving teens work opportunities and that finding an internship is hard. The reality is that internships are classrooms for work readiness, and the journey toward finding one IS the learning experience. Research shows that students must build their career capacity and job search strategies alongside their studies. So, if your school counsellor tells you differently, get a new career counsellor!

#3

Remember, your teen is not choosing a job; they're developing their sense of self, and identity is a HUGE piece of the pie when you consider your career choices. Build open-style question prompts that help you begin to have healthy career discussions with your teenager at home. If you can't open the conversation, find someone you trust to start the conversation with your teen. Ultimately, you want your teen to feel safe sharing their thoughts about the future with you. However, this is not your ticket to direct them to make career choices that you believe they should make. On the contrary, this is your time to listen with curiosity. Ms.V's Top 3 Question Prompts

Finally.....

Career guidance is a heated debate, especially when I'm in the room! However, if you normalize that life is complex and career readiness is not about a degree or just 'ONE JOB,' you'll realise that career guidance must include theory, practice, and mentorship. You want your teen to make confident choices before they graduate, and that means giving them time to invest in self-awareness, life direction, and career alignment.

Hi everyone, I'm Ms.V, and I'm totally invested in your teens' future career readiness! I have dedicated the last sixteen years to preparing young people for future careers. I want you to understand that your role as a parent is priceless, and research shows triple-fold

that parental influence is essential for youth career readiness. Therefore, you must jump into the 'knowledge' seat and support your teens by providing them with informed options so they can feel prepared for the future and supported on the emotional journey ahead for them.

Join me for my upcoming 5 FREE webinar series (with a bonus day!!) designed to give you insights into topics you need to be aware of as you support your teen with career guidance.

Day 1: Drama or Science: Which subject is best to get into university?

Day 2: Professional football or university: What should you tell your teen to do?

Day 3: Can your teen go to medical school without A’s?

Day 4: Your teen wants to take a gap year: What should you do?

Day 5: Your teen wants a part-time job: who’s hiring?

Bonus Day 6: Marry rich or go to uni: How to have this conversation with your teen?

LEARN MORE HERE