Part of parenting is assisting your child to make choices, to include helping your teen determine what they would like to do for work when they grow up. Some teens already have a good idea of what they would want to do, and others have no clue.

The most important part of the process is to understand that you are to assist only, not push, prod, or live your unlived dreams through your child. Forcing a child into a career that you want for them will often bring resentment and a child that is unhappy because they never were given a chance to pursue their true interests or passion; instead, tried to live a life of pleasing mom and dad.

The first step in the process would be to have an assessment done on your child’s strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® [instrument] is one such assessment tool. Many high schools administer these types of personality and career assessment tests to students, so check with your child’s guidance counselor to see if it is available at their school. These tools help to determine what kind of interests, reactions, values, motivations, skills, and careers might be a good fit for your child.

Next, make sure to encourage your teen to explore different careers. Many schools have career days where various members of the community come to speak to the students about their job and answer any questions the students may have. The internet can be another source to get ideas and descriptions of the day to day life in a particular profession.

Once your child has a few ideas, see if there is someone you know or even a friend of a friend who currently works in the same profession. Ask that person if they would be willing to let your child shadow them for a day or two, so they can see and learn what a day in this profession is like as an observer. Then, if your teen is still interested, they may be able to arrange a summer internship with this person or someone else in this same career.

Throughout your child’s career exploration, make sure to encourage, but not stifle. If your child shows a talent for something, give him or her praise, and helpful criticism only if they seek it from you. If you continuously push to improve your child’s talents, they might start to see it as a chore rather than something they enjoy.

Teenagers and young adults may change their career interests several times before they settle on the one that suits them the best. That is ok. It is part of the regular progression of finding a career they love. So, let them go, explore, learn, test out, grow, and build on their interests, skills, passion, and work ethic in the career field they will later enjoy in life.

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Hey! How exactly do you help your teen or teens with their career planning? Kindly tell us in the comment box below. Thank you in advance for sharing!

About the Author: Ty Howard,
Mr. Untie the Knots®,
True Greatness Is — As True Greatness Does!

Ty Howard is America’s Untie the Knots® Consultant, and Capturing Greatness and Passion Expert. Over the past 21 years, he has spoken to nearly 3 million teenagers, education professionals, student leaders, student athletes, parents, fatherhood groups, youth development professionals, and associations across the nation and around the world. For information on his programs and services, visit: http://capturinggreatness.com.