Senior year in high school brings a lot of worries for the teenagers as they start thinking about and planning their future. If your teenager is also going into senior year and you are worried about what they will do after high school, you should read on. Here we have mentioned some tips on how to help your teenager choose a career path without annoying them or being too intrusive. After all, your teens’ future depends on their choices in this phase. So, please don’t take it lightly.
- Motivate them to Do a Part-Time Job
You should motivate your teen to do a part-time job. It will teach them important skills like time management, money management, customer service skills, office skills, and computer skills, among many others. They also teach your teen to follow orders and do an excellent job. Such jobs also help your teen realize what they like best. For instance, some teens like talking to customers while others prefer backend jobs.
- Biographies are Great Teachers
If your teen is more of a reader, you can recommend that they read a biography. It will help them learn about a person’s whole journey and not just focus on one reason why a person became famous. It will also make your teen realize that success doesn’t come suddenly. It comes after a lot of challenging work, dedication, and commitment. Survival books can also be a viable choice as they help demonstrate how a person overcame a traumatic event.
- Volunteering is a Good Choice
If possible, motivate your kid to volunteer. It will ensure that they learn the importance of giving and doing something to improve the community or society as a whole. Volunteering can also be good when it comes to hunting for a job as many organizations take the initiatives the teen started during volunteering into consideration when hiring a candidate.
- Extra Classes Can Help
Attending extra classes in new fields can also help teenagers choose their careers. You can motivate your teen to attend the extra class by incentivizing. The extra class can be on anything, be it emerging technologies like AI or something tried and tested like yoga. The classes should teach your teen something new and make them consider unique or emerging career options.
- Complete Personality Tests
It is also wise to make your teen take a few personality tests. Whether you want to go for free versions or paid ones is your choice. Taking multiple tests is vital to ensure that you don’t depend on the results of just one and push your teen in the wrong direction. Personality tests help teens know who they are and what they want. The results might not be perfect, but they might help your teen realize what they are good at. A good place to start is the enneagram personality test or the Myers Briggs Personality Test.
- Keep the Money Factor in Mind
While it seems good to let your teen choose a career they follow, you need to remember the money factor as a parent. If your teen is interested in a new career option, make sure you do some online research to see if the job pays well. Though it is not a clever idea to choose a career purely based on income potential, you must make sure that the career your teen is considering pays well enough to make them financially independent.
- Read About Career Planning
There are lots of amazing career planning books out there. Teens might not be too eager to read one, but you surely can. As a parent, you can read several career planning books, make notes of the wiser suggestions, and then gradually share the information you have learned with your teen to steer them in the right direction. Use real-life examples whenever possible, and don’t make it a long lecture.
- Attend Career Fairs
If you have the time, attend in-person or virtual career fairs with or without your teen. It will help you understand what career options your teen might have and which fields will be in demand in the future. Some of these career fairs also allow you to interact with potential employers to understand what they expect.
- Suggest Job Shadowing
Sometimes teenagers are so fascinated with a career option that they don’t even consider other options. If your teen is doing the same, you should suggest job shadowing. Simply put, it means that your teen will shadow a person doing the job the teen wants and see them do it daily. It will give your teen an idea of what their day would be like in the future if they choose that career option. It will also give them a reality check.
- Find a Mentor
You can also find a mentor for your teen. It would be good if the person works in the same field your teen wants to go for. The mentor could also be a person who no longer works and has taken retirement. They would help your teen learn the ropes and understand how the industry works. A mentor could be anyone, your previous boss, a long-lost cousin, or even a neighbor. Just make sure they are good people who care for your teen’s wellbeing.
Need More Help?
If you need more suggestions on how to help your teenager choose a career path, you might need a professional’s assistance. You can trust me, Michelle Mehta, a certified professional Co-Active coach, an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation, and a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner.
I am passionate about helping teenagers feel authentic, empowered, worthy, loved and helping them create a sense of belonging and believe that the world needs their talents. So, if you feel you’re called to have your teenager work with me, let’s set up a time to talk and connect. I look forward to Empowering Your Teenager to Shine with Confidence. To know more, click here.
