A common question that school administrators like Jay Eitner get asked by parents and is, “what career should my child pursue?” This is always a challenging question that has to take into account many different things. Most administrators will pause before answering the question and say that they need to ask additional questions to give a thoughtful answer. Here are the questions that is thoughtful administrator will ask a parent.
What is your child’s passion?
This question is designed to discover what the young person really loves to do. It might be education, sports, debating, researching, playing video games, cooking, or one of several dozen other things that young people love. In the best case scenario you want to tie a young person’s passion to their career. This might be a natural Direction to suggest to a parent.
Sometimes however it’s difficult to tie one’s passion to a career path. And sometimes there’s a good chance that the passion will you to be outgrown or that it will simply fade away. So although and answer to this question can provide some insight as to what an administrator might suggest, this answer alone does not provide enough information for thoughtful answer.
What is your child great at?
This question differs from the first in that sometimes children are great at things that they may not love. They might be a whiz at science or great writer but only focus on it so much because they want to get good grades in school. If you ask them do they see a career in science or as a writer they would likely answer absolutely not however being great at one of these disciplines could mean they’re getting involved in the career where their proficiency in math writing is very beneficial. This may include a private sector or federal government job in New Jersey.
Where does your child want to live?
On the surface this question seems trite. However it is extremely relevant 2 providing a thoughtful answer. Where person might want to live should play a large part end their career choice. For example, if the young person has an idea about being a farmer, a desire to in the big city might inhibit the person’s chances of finding work. Similarly if the person is interested in Ocean Sciences, living far away from an ocean will dramatically decrease the young person’s chances of finding work.
These tips are merely guidelines for parents to begin discussions with their children about their ideas for a career choice. The actual discussion should happen over perhaps a year and include noticing what your child gravitates toward and stays passionate about.
Parents need to also remember that today’s jab market is shifting dramatically and many of the careers that in-demand today will not be around in ten to twenty years. So rad up on where industry is going so you can aim your child in the best direction. In the end, being thoughtful is the best approach.
