Disclosure: This post about children’s ideal career is a collaborative post
If you educate your kids at home and you are thinking about the bigger picture, naturally your thoughts will turn to the type of ideal career your children will perform in their lives. We want the best for our children. This means that arguably, their choice of career will fulfil a lot of essential criteria. After all, it is one-third of their lives! But how can we help our children choose the right career path?
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Observing Their Strengths from Afar
It is very important when we are considering a career path for children, that we don’t force anything upon them. We may think that it’s best for children to get a certain type of job. Perhaps because of the potential to earn a lot of money, but it’s important to recognise the big picture. You only have to look at the practice tests for potential medics to see that it’s not just having knowledge of the human body. There are also a few subtle blends of psychological observations needed as well.
And if your child is not naturally inclined towards these traits or characteristics, it’s like putting a square peg into a round hole. Pay close attention to your child’s strengths, interests and abilities. This will help you to recognise the types of careers they are naturally going to gravitate towards. You can look at if they enjoy doing particular activities. Do they have certain leadership skills? Or also, do they prefer to work with people of different ages to their own? When we start to observe these different traits, we can then work towards possible career options.
Discussing Potential Ideal Career Paths
Based on your observations of your child, you have to start thinking about the appropriate career paths. Sometimes, your child will bring up career options themselves but this is where you have to be age-appropriate. Your child may already have a specific career path set in stone from the age of 5, and it may be something that they take with them through to adulthood. For example, many actors and performers found their passion was embedded in early childhood.
But if they are expressing interest in a certain career, it’s important to give them the knowledge of what it takes to achieve that goal. For example, if they want to be a musician, they have to recognise the fundamental aspects of finding the right instrument for their dexterity, as well as sight-reading music, and the importance of practice. Practice is something that doesn’t come naturally to children because they would rather be out playing. And this is why it’s important to instil a sense of discipline so they are able to progress towards their chosen career.
Immersing Them in Their Career Choice
This is where it becomes tricky for parents. It’s important to immerse themselves in subject matters relating to their career. And you can do this in a couple of ways:
- You can expose them to courses or subjects that are not part of their school curriculum.
- Educate them through materials that give them an insight into the role. For example, if they want to work as a doctor, you can show them films or resources that provide real-life insight into the process. It’s important at this point to not give them materials that are not unrealistic. This is where proper research comes into play.
At this point, you have to be careful not to overdo it. You need to start adding things into the mix slightly. The goal is to see if they will keep their interest. If they lose interest in studying this subject, you will know that it’s not the right choice. But this is where you can go back to brainstorming different career options. However, if they are still interested in the subject matter, you can add more things into the mix. You may find that they lose interest further down the line, which means that it hasn’t been in vain. You can be confident that they have learnt a significant lesson.
Planning the Next Stages
If you decide that a certain career path is a viable option, you’ve now got to put in place the steps on how to get towards it. If your child is still in school, it is important to focus on getting the right grades to progress to the next level. Going back to the example of being a doctor, your child will have to maintain consistently high grades so they can progress to a bachelor’s degree, and further onto a medical degree.
Naturally, at this stage, you’ve got to put certain things in place as a parent, especially with regards to your finances. There will be tuition fees, and while there’s an abundance of student loans available, it is so important to understand if you are potentially bankrupting yourself in the future for the sake of your child’s career. This is where things can become difficult. If you do not have the finances, but your children are determined to get started on a career that is, on the surface, expensive, preparing applications for scholarships may be one of the best approaches.
At this point, it’s important to realise that your struggles shouldn’t impact your child’s dreams. After all, how would you feel if your parents shot down your dreams? We have to be proactive at this planning stage.
There is a lot to consider, especially when it comes to a career path that you may not be aware of. It’s about making sure that it is a good fit for them personally, but it’s also something they have the aptitude for. We all want our children to choose careers that are lucrative, but in spite of everything, you must remember that the overriding goal is that your child should be happy. And this means that if they are harbouring dreams to do something that you cannot comprehend, who are you to stand in their way of their ideal career?
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