What is career development? Do all kids and teens need career counselling? And, where can you find the right career advisor for your kid?
If you have a teen or kid at home you are probably asking yourself all these questions and more. As a parent, it is more than natural to worry about your kid's future and how you and the environment they grow up in are contributing to their correct development.
We are here to tell you: you are not alone. Career counselling is a tool created to help parents and young people who are trying to find their path in the academic and professional world. Read on to learn more about career counselling, what you should expect and everything you need to find a career advisor with Superprof.
What Is Career Development and Career Counselling?
Teenage life can be hard as it is. Hormones and the ever-changing world around us contribute to young people feeling overwhelmed and out of place.
When it comes to academic and professional achievement, they find themselves in a high-stress situation, struggling to make the best out of their academic years while also figuring out what they want to do once they graduate from university.
As you can see, this overwhelming process can be quite tough for anyone (you probably went through it as well!) so, how can you as a parent help a teenager deal with this pressure and make the most out of their professional futures and career goals? The answer is career counselling.
Career development is a lifelong process that actually starts the moment you are born. Many factors affect a teen's career development such as interests, abilities, values, personality, background, and circumstances. This is why career counselling is an amazing tool from a young age: it will help you to know and understand yourself and the world of work in order to make career, educational, and life decisions.
But be certain: career development is more than just deciding the job your kid or teen wants to have when they grow up. It is a process of adapting to life situations and making career and life decisions. The goal of career counselling is to not only help young people make decisions in the present, but to give them the tools, knowledge and skills they need to make future career and life decisions.
A career counsellor or career advisor could be a therapist, life coach, or a volunteer from the business world who will have the adequate training to provide career information resources, discuss career development, and administer and interpret aptitude and ability assessments.
Before signing your kid up for career counselling make sure you understand where they are standing in terms of academic and professional projection. These are some key points to keep in mind while talking to your teen about career development:
- Communicate: it is important that you open up a space for them to let you know their thoughts and feelings on the matter. Make sure that this is a safe space with no judgement or expectations from your side. Some parents tend to be overbearing or imposing with their own thoughts and ideologies. While you can advise and give pointers about certain situations, it is important that the communication channel is open both ways and that they have ample time and space to communicate their thoughts.
- Encourage them: young people need to feel valued when they are doing a good job. If your kid or teen is struggling with something or even just achieving great results at something else, make sure to let them know that their effort is valued and admired. This will give them a boost of confidence to keep going.
- Avoid blame: it is not your kid's fault if they are not super clear about what they want to do with their lives. Remember that blaming them for their lack of clarity will only bring frustration. Instead, try to offer them solutions and resources so they can feel like they have somewhere to turn to when confusion is present.
- Support them: teenagers need to feel support and guidance. You can talk about your own experience with career development, show them resources and even let them know that they can reach out to a psychologist or career advisor to help them move forward.
As you’ll have understood, a parent plays an essential role in helping their child with educational and professional guidance. Now that you know what your role entails, here are some mistakes you should avoid when trying to help your child.
Find out more about helping your teen with career choices.
What Can my Child Learn with A Career Advisor?
A career advisor will be of great help to you and your kid. There are many ways in which they can set the tone for a successful academic and professional future:
- They can help them figure out who they are and what they want out of their education, career, and life.
- They will be someone that they can talk to about thoughts, ideas, feelings, and concerns about their career and educational choices
- They can help your kid sort out, organise, and make sense of their thoughts and feelings.
- They can help them identify the factors influencing their career development.
- They can help assess their interests, abilities, and values.
- They can help locate resources and sources of career information.
- They can help determine the next steps and develop a plan to achieve their goals.
Some things career advisors ask young people about themselves and their future can be:
- What do you enjoy doing?
- What kinds of activities are fun and fulfilling for you?
- What are you good at?
- What do you consider to be your skillset?
- What jobs are available in the place(s) you would like to live in?
- Do you want to travel?
- What are your values?
- Is it important to you to be of service to others?
Who Needs Career Counselling?
Everyone and anyone can need career counselling at any point in their lives. That said, when it comes to teens and young kids, there are some signs that point that they might be in need of career counselling.
- They have no idea what they want: determining your life goal in your early stage is very important for every kid. Because of low confidence and so many career options, many kids fail to set their career goals and end up following others’ career paths. A career advisor will help you to find your career interest through a personality test and will guide you to reach your career goal.
- They have unfocused talents: there are kids who got talent but can’t concentrate on one thing for a long time. It is one of the most common problems in kids which can kill the creativity of a child.
- They are worried about life after graduation: after graduation also there are young people who are confused about what to do next and which career to choose.
- They regret a career decision they made: if you see them lack enthusiasm and that they are underperforming it may be because of the stream or job they have chosen.
- They know what they want to do but don’t know how to start: some kids know their interest but don’t know what to do to turn that interest into a career. Due to the lack of knowledge about the courses and various job opportunities in the industry students fails to take the right decision.
As you can see, these cases can be very diverse so it is important that your kid feel supported in order to see the value of career counselling before finding themselves in an overwhelming position.
Where Can I Find A Career Advisor?
Finding a career advisor is easier than you think. A lot of schools have a career advisor as part of their academic resources for students so asking the schools admin for some information about their approach to career development is the first step to finding career counselling for your kid.
If the school's career advisor is not what you expect and you want to look for support elsewhere, Superprof is here to lend you and your kid a hand.
Our network of private tutors and teachers in Australia is easy to use and you can find the right career advisor for you with only a brief search.
With over a hundred career coaches in the different cities of Australia, your job will be to check their profiles, experience and overall method to make sure that you find the right career advisor for your needs.
The average cost per hour of career counselling in Australia is $46 dollars but this may vary depending on the tutor's experience and qualifications.
Find out more about the cost of educational guidance.
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