Helping Your Teen Choose a Career
Tips for Guiding Your Child in the Right Direction
Choosing a career is scary, yet exciting for a teenager ready to graduate from high school. Help make sure your child knows her options to make the best choice.
As your homeschooled teen approaches college, he or she will undoubtedly begin the process of thinking about career choices. Your teen may have a good idea of what she is interested in doing, or she could have no clue at all. In addition, what your teen may want to do one day will change several times as he pursues a college degree. You may worry that your child has no plans or direction. As a parent, you will want to gently guide your child in the right direction.
Looking at Careers
One of the hardest things that a parent will do as their teen approaches adulthood, is watching the teen make choices that may not be right for him or her. Your daughter might have a wonderful talent for writing, but have a yearning to pursue a career in medicine. Your son might have wonderful mathematical and science abilities, but is interested in pursuing a career in music. As a parent, you should allow your teen to make decisions on his own, but you can help guide him in the right direction and help your child identify his skills and abilities.
When your teen starts looking at colleges, the career choices are wide open. However, some colleges are better at some career paths than other. If your child knows that he or she wants to do nothing except teach, then it is time for you to take your child to visit colleges that are strong in this field. What you should remember, however, is that your teen could change career paths several times before ever declaring a major and deciding on one particular field. It is a good idea for your teen to explore several options and take many classes before deciding.
Asking for Help
If your teen comes to you and asks for your help, then you can offer your advice and guidance. Take your teen to visit businesses that will allow her to explore the various career options. See if your child can volunteer at a certain company to get a real feel of what happens in a particular career. If, for example, your teen is interested in law as a career, ask a friend or family member in the field to talk to your child about possibilities in the law field. You can also read books and learn more about certain career choices. Another great idea is to take advantage of local career fairs and college fairs. Career fairs are often held at local high schools or colleges and will feature many people from many different jobs. They can take openly about their own career choice to your child. College fairs are also good ideas. They can show your child the type of classes and course of study for certain careers.
As a parent, you want to do everything you can to make sure your child is a success. You can gently guide your child in the right direction, but you never want to interfere with the choices.
