Helping Your Child to Choose a Career
When your child is born you have many aspirations for them, but it is important to not push your unfulfilled ambitions. Just like you, your child too envisions a future version of themselves. Empathetic listening is key when it comes to career planning for kids. If your child is confused about making a decision, opt for aptitude tests – it will help in highlighting their strengths and weaknesses[1].
Here are some of the common aptitude tests[1]:
- Logical Aptitude
- Spatial Aptitude
- Organisational Aptitude
- Physical Aptitude
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
- Linguistic Aptitude
- Mechanical Aptitude
These tests can be taken online.
But when attempting career planning for kids, as important it is to understand what should be done, it is also essential to understand what you shouldn’t do. Here are five things that you should not be doing as a parent.
1. Pressurising Your Child:
Choosing a career in itself is a difficult process for a child. If you pressurize them into making a decision it could lead to them resenting their choices in the future[2].
2. Ignoring the Evolving Technology:
We are living in the world of Artificial Intelligence. Children have many options to choose from. If your child is interested in learning new technology you can steer them towards UI UX, cyber security, machine learning, data science and many more[2].
3. Imposing Your Career Choices:
You need to be empathetic and understand that like you, your child too has unique interests and ambitions. While you might want to live vicariously through your child do not impose your career choices on them[2].
4. Failing To Show Empathy:
Offer your support and encouragement throughout the career decision-making process. While your child is looming under the pressure of choosing a career path, you must hear them out and make the process easy for them[2].
5. Child’s Future v/s Society:
To many parents it matters what the society thinks. If you push your child towards a particular career field, it will stand as an obstruction towards their success.
Conclusion
Career planning for kids can be stressful. But try to research and let your child explore multiple career choices. To help your children understand themselves better, opt for aptitude tests. In times of stress don’t forget to lend a listening ear to your child.
FAQs
1. What’s the best age to select a career?
Experts believe that 13-17 is the best age to choose a career. This is the time when you should offer your child career counselling or aptitude tests[3].
2. Disadvantages of parents choosing their child’s career
If your child ends up choosing a career as per your preference, chances are they will feel a lot of stress. It can also cause children to resent their parents for the lack of liberty.
3. How to help your child choose a career?
Be open to listening, after they express their interests offer them options that they could explore. Nudge your child towards researching more about their career choices.
4. What are some unique career options?
Due to evolving technology and changing demands there are many career options to choose from. Some of them are: Ethical Hacker, Fashion Designer, Event Planner, Data Science, Video Editing and much more.
5. How to find my aptitude?
Some popular aptitude tests you can take are: Personality, Skills, Values, STEM and more.
6. What is a career success test?
Career success test helps you identify which career path will be best suited to your interests. It measures your aptitude to reach a conclusion.
7. Which is the best investment for child education?
In India there are several investment options that you can choose from. For instance: Life Insurance, child plans, among others.
8. How do I know if I chose the right career?
Consider your interests and passion. Build your skills and strengths in that direction. But before finalising a career path ensure that you have researched enough and know that it will allow you to be financially stable.
