Between the ages of 16-20, most youths begin giving serious thought to what they want to do when they “grow up.” In other words, they start thinking about choosing a career. As a dad, this is a great opportunity for you to come alongside them and share some fatherly guidance. The question is, how do you help your child choose a career path that’s right for them?
5 Tips for Helping Your Child Choose a Career
Choosing a career is hard. And while you’re not technically committing yourself to a life in one career, it certainly makes things a lot easier (financially and logistically) if you can pick the right career path from the start. Your child only gets one chance to be 18 or 20 years old. And since time is one of the most important ingredients in career success, it’s helpful if they get it right the first time.
Here are several ways you, as a parent, can help your child pick the correct path:
1. Your child is not an extension of you.
We all have this parental nature where we view our children as little extensions of ourselves. And while this is true in some sense, you can’t let this idea control the way you view their future lives and careers. Your child might share some physical traits – and even some of the same skills and personality traits – but their career shouldn’t necessarily be an extension of your career. They deserve the opportunity to go in a new direction.
2. What worked 25 years ago might not work today.
A lot has changed over the past 20 to 30 years. The career field and job marketplace look a lot different. While it might have been common practice for you to find a stable job with a strong pension plan and climb the corporate ladder, that’s no longer the path for 99 percent of people. Work-life balance, side hustles, and online gigs are in. Many people switch employers every couple of years. Remote work and digital nomadism are popular. In other words, it’s an entirely new marketplace.
Be humble enough to admit that your experiences from decades ago might not be very applicable today. This isn’t to say you don’t have any value to add! It just means you have to keep an open mind.
3. Encourage alternatives to college.
As the cost of a college education continues to rise, encourage your child to at least consider alternatives to college. There are plenty of high-paying careers that do not require an expensive four-year degree.
For example, your child could take a real estate license online course and become a licensed agent in a matter of a few weeks (incurring no debt in the process). While they’ll have to work hard to build a client base, it’s not unreasonable that they can begin earning a six-figure annual income within several years.
4. Identify their careers, not their strengths.
Your job as a parent is to help your child see and understand their strengths. It’s not your job to identify their career. Frequently remind them of the skills and positive traits you see in them. Help them organize their thoughts and create a realistic picture of who they are. By instilling them with confidence and self-awareness, you give them the ability to identify a career that’s a good fit.
5. Turn your child loose to research.
Encourage your child to go online and research different careers. Have them browse Reddit, blogs, and social media groups, rather than reading books and other generic boilerplate content on university websites. They’ll get a much better feel for what a career is like when they learn from people who are actually in the field.
Strike the Right Balance
You want to support, not hover. As Washington Post columnist Elisabeth Leamy writes, “Think of yourself as a foundation, lifting your children and supporting them as they find their way to the ideal career. You boost them up, but they are the ones reaching for different possibilities.”
As a parent, you have to tread very carefully here. You want to be a guide – not a dictator or director. Your goal isn’t to tell your child what career they’re going to pursue. Your objective is to guide them through the search process so that they can make smart decisions with conviction.
Strike the right balance and you’ll empower your child, rather than pressuring them into making a poor choice (or making them feel guilty for not choosing the career path that you want for them). It’s all in your approach!
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This content is brought to you by Larry Alton.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
