Parents can have a lot of influence on their children. They are the ones who teach them, feed them, and support them. Sometimes they also choose their children’s career path for them. In some cases this could be a good idea… but what if it isn’t? What if your child has other plans in mind? This blog post will discuss why parents should not choose their child’s career, or why they should!
I am a father of four children and the ranges of ages are between 3 and 18. Therefore with a high school graduate at home future career choice is a major topic in my house. I have three daughters and one son. You would think that growing up in one house all of the kids would be similar. This couldn’t be further from the truth. My daughters are all over the place from being a doctor to one of them telling me she would just get a husband to take care of her. Before I get into my two step plan to help your kids find their career I will go over a few commonly asked questions.
Why Parents shouldn’t choose their child’s career?
It’s important to understand why parents should not choose their child’s career. The reason why is because it can lead to a lack of motivation or drive which will affect the child in the long-term as they grow older. There are many reasons why this may happen, but one that stands out more than others would be if a parent doesn’t know what their kid really is interested in or limits their kids based on their own views of a good career.
Why parents should choose their child’s career?
You have seen your child grow and know what makes them happy. On the other hand you also have a greater understanding of the world and the different careers they can choose. Once you know what they think they want to do, its time to start influencing them to the best career base on what will make them truly happy.
How Parents decisions affect their children’s life?
A parent’s decisions can affect their children in a number of ways. If you choose the job you have because you needed the money to raise your family and there is really no love in your work…… well you may have a bad perception of what’s important for a career. Recognize your own faults and try to not let them guide your children down a path that has them in a job for the rest of their life that they never truly enjoy. There is more out there than that.
My Sons Story with the Three Important steps to help your child pick a career
My son who is about to start school for his future career is the only one who is 100% sure of the path he is taking. I would like to say that he came up with it all on his own and that I just sat back and said that sounds like a great idea. The truth is I learned a long time ago you need to do two very important things with your kids to ensure that they will make a good career choice when they are older.
The first thing you need to do is get to know your children. I know this sounds very easy but in truth, it is the most missed step by parents. When my son was smaller he told me he wanted to be a dentist because they make a lot of money. I knew from the reason that he gave me this would not be his career. So I sat back and I watched him grow to see what he was really interested in.
What I learned is that he loved a few things in life and he hated some others. First I will go over what he hated. Computers and technology were not part of his future. When he would go outside to play with his friends, as soon as they wanted to play a video game he would go on to his next friend to play. On the other hand when he found someone who wanted to play outside and get their hands dirty, well they would play all day. In the end from watching I know, he likes to hunt and to work on this with his hands like engines and electrical connections.
Once you know your kid and what they will love to do you need to get them on board. I didn’t say tell them what they should do or tell them what they will be when they grow up. What I said was to get them on board with the idea. The best way I found to do this is to ask questions and give tasks. I don’t mean to ask them what they want to be when they grow up I mean ask things like what do you like better working inside or outside? Then give them a job and see how they do. Oh, you like to work outside well let’s start cutting grass and I will pay you $20 per yard. Oh, you like to work on electrical stuff, well let’s go install this light switch. In the end, you will see what they really enjoy and they will learn hands on what they actually enjoy.
The third thing is to open their eyes to options. They may limit themselves to something like I want to help kids in bad situations so they want to be a social worker. (This is a real conversation with my daughter) When I asked a few questions on what she wanted to do for the kids we both realized that she was more interested in being a Child Psychologist than a Social Worker. In her mind, she knew what her goal of a job was but she was limited on her own knowledge about what options she had. This is a great way for parents to help, open their eyes to the possibilities they have and make sure they don’t limit themselves to what they know.
Conclusion
As parents, it’s important to understand how your decisions affect not only you and your child but also the rest of society. Research has shown that when children are given a choice in their career path at an early age, they have higher levels of self-esteem, better social skills and less anxiety than those who were told what to do as kids. But this doesn’t mean that all children should be allowed to choose any profession without guidance from adults! The key is for parents to discuss with their children about different professions while providing them opportunities so they can explore which one best suits their interests.
