Top Tips For Giving Your Child Career Advice*

 

*This is a collaborative post*

It can be hard to strike a balance between wanting to give your child career advice but not wanting to be too intrusive or seen as nagging them. Of course, you want what’s best for them, but you probably also want to give them space to figure things out independently without being too overbearing. The most important thing is to give them your full support with whatever they want to do, while helping them in a non-judgemental way where you can. Read on for some top tips from a senior school in East Yorkshire on giving your child career advice. 

 

Encourage them to grasp opportunities

 

When new opportunities present themselves, encourage your child to keep an open mind and give things a go. Don’t force them, but rather highlight all the benefits they might get from pursuing a particular opportunity which they might not have thought of, like gaining a deeper insight into a possible career by volunteering or shadowing someone at work. You can help them by pointing out the pros and cons of trying certain things, and then leaving it to them to make the final decision. 

 

Point them to reliable resources

 

There will be lots of information online about possible career choices, which might be a bit overwhelming for your child, so you can help them by pointing them to trustworthy and reliable sources of objective information, like the National Careers Service website. This will help them understand what certain careers might entail and what skills they need to develop or training they need to do. They might also find it helpful to complete a personality test or careers quiz to get some ideas of careers they might be suited to, so take some time to research these with your child. 

 

Let them follow their passions

 

Although you might prefer for your child to go down a more traditional academic career path, like becoming a doctor, solicitor or teacher, you should make the effort to support them whatever career they decide to pursue. It’s important to encourage your child’s individuality and give them the space and freedom to figure out who they are and what they want to do in life. Also, remember that there are so many different career options nowadays and new possibilities emerging all the time, so keep an open mind yourself. 

 

Letting your child make their own choices, while providing your unwavering support, is the best thing you can do as a parent to ensure they develop independence and confidence in their own decisions. 

 

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