Planning a Career with your child

How often have we as adults lamented that the present career we are into is not where our real passion lies. These tips will help you plan your child's carrer. Supporting your child and helping them choose from the many options available for their future is a vital role you play as a parent. The following information will help you support your child through this process:

What is a career?

A career includes all the roles you undertake throughout your life, including: education, training, paid and unpaid work, family, volunteer work, leisure activities and more.

'Career' was traditionally associated with paid employment and generally referred to a single occupation. The concept of a job for life is no longer a reality. Young people now are likely to experience five to eight major career changes and a variety of industry sectors in their lifetime. They will also be experiencing more fluid forms of working with increasing casual, contract and part-time work options.

Some activities that contribute towards a career can include:

• different life roles
• volunteer work
• community activities
• leisure activities
• education and training, either undertaken in recognised educational institutions, or ‘on the job’
• work experience / employment.

Today, individuals need to be adaptable, innovative, flexible, resilient and collaborative to thrive in all aspects of their life.

It is critical to have the skills to manage your life, learning, and work, to successfully navigate around a dynamic and complex economic landscape.

Making good career choices

For everyone, making the best career choices involves:

• knowing what you like (your interests)
• knowing what you are good at (your skills and abilities)
• knowing what is important to you (your values)
• understanding the world of work and knowing about your available options and what jobs are out there
• learning how to make informed decisions about your possible options
• deciding and setting about achieving your objectives.

How parents can help

You play a key role in assisting your child to explore and investigate the full range of options available to them when they are trying to decide what they want to do once they leave school.

One of the most important things you can do is help your child to understand the link between what they are doing at school and their career opportunities in the future.

Career conversations

Take every opportunity to talk to your child about their future. Help them to identify their interests (likes and dislikes), abilities (strengths and weaknesses), skills and their values (what is important to them).Talk about the world of work as you have experienced it. Share some of your work and life experiences with them and get other family members and friends to do the same.

Ask your child about what they’d like to do once they leave school, and what they’d like their life to be like when they’re older – would they like to own a house, would they like to travel, etc.

Their answers may not be what you want for them, and may not include going to university or undertaking further study, but it is important to listen to what they want and why they want it. Be open about your child’s possible future. They need to work out how realistic their choices are and what kind of life they might like to have.

Talk to them about what they think will help them achieve their ambitions and discuss options and ways of making this happen.

Ask questions like:

• What are you and your friends thinking of doing after leaving school?
• Would you like to study or work?
• Have you thought about doing a traineeship or apprenticeship?
• Would you like to go to TAFE or university?
• What sort of life would you like in the future?
• What help do you think you’ll need to achieve your goals?
• What things can you do now to help you get to where you want to go?
• Where can you go to get careers advice?