Career Counseling- Top Tips for Parents

As a parent, you obviously want the best for your kids and when they are halfway through their secondary education, this is the ideal time to start discussing careers. The teenage years are critical in many respects, with hormone imbalances that cause serious mood swings, yet this is also a time to contemplate what type of career to embark upon, and with that in mind, here are a few tips from seasoned parents on how to help a young person choose the right career path.

• Support new experiences – How does a teenager find their passion in life? By trying lots of different things and as a parent, you should be supportive of anything that seems to hold their interest. Don’t be surprised if your child follows trends, as this is perfectly natural; of course, there are no guarantees that your son or daughter is going to find something they are passionate about, but you should invest time and money into the search.
• Selecting a secondary school – One great educational institution is Brighton College, Bangkok, with a great career counseling program that starts in Year 9, when students should be choosing special subjects. Time and money can be wasted with incorrect subject selection, so it is important that a student has access to qualified career counseling staff from the age of 14 and up.
• This is not about you – Perhaps the most important piece of advice one can give the parent of a teenager; their choice of career should be something they have an inherent interest in and NOT a career that you think offers the most potential. It is perfectly natural for you to want the best for your offspring, but you can take that too far and convincing your son that law is a good sector to move into, when they have zero interest, is never going to work. Sure, you want your child to have opportunities that passed you by, but without a level of interest, it will be an uphill battle when the subject becomes tough. Click here for how to future-proof your child.
• No pressure – As difficult as it might be, try not to put too much pressure on your son/daughter when it comes to career planning. You might be lucky and your child already has a plan, but some teenagers take longer than others to find their way in the world. What to do when your child wants to move into a field that you think is unsuitable? The best advice we can give is to let them explore the potential and come to their own conclusion. Some of the top athletes and musicians made it despite resistance from their parents, so do try to be supportive and provide constructive advice.

This can be a very frustrating time for both parent and child; patience is a virtue and certainly should be applied in this scenario. Career advice can be found from many sources and if you act as a facilitator, rather than a parent, this might be more productive.