Helping Your Teen Decide What to Do After High School

As children grow up parents and children go through the anxiety of choosing the right career path, the right set of decisions for further studies to help children follow their passions etc. Children are at a stage where they are still exploring what they would like to do, while parents aspire to send their children to the best universities for education. There is a complete mismatch here because as a society we equate success to money and look for careers that pay the most.

However, your child may not be inclined to studying science or maths for that matter. Today the world has changed dramatically and there are a whole lot of career avenues not restricted to academics. Children have a wide range of options to choose from. We know with the advent of technology there has been a surge of jobs that never really existed on the other hand there are jobs that do not exist anymore. Today’s children require a very different skill set for the future that awaits them.

So dear parents here is a guide on how you can help your teen decide what to do after high school:

1. Seek advice of a professional career counsellor: It is best for your children to visit a professional career counsellor who will study your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests and guide them. What will come of this is your child will have narrowed down to 2-3 options they can choose from and to top it all these options will be ones they are inclined to pursue or are good at with higher likelihood of success.

2. Be a guide to your child: As parents, you play various roles for your children. Right from taking decisions for them, to being nurturers, guides, etc. However, when children reach their teens it’s time for parents to step back and let children make decisions for themselves. You can guide them and reason with them. However, let them take the final call. Because most of the time children know what they are inclined to pursue as a career.

3. Let them pursue their passion: If your child is passionate about something may it be music, sports, dance, or building computer games. Let them pursue it and let them fine tune their skill and specialize in their field. They will eventually find a way to earn a great deal of respect, fame and money if they love what they do and are really good at it!

4. Let them take a break if they desire to: Very often children would like to take a break of a year before going back to college. This break can do wonders as this gives your children time to figure out what course they would like to take up, further explore what they are truly passionate about or how best they would like to progress with the career path of their choice.

5. Let them work as an Intern: Working as an intern for a short period will give them exposure to the real world. Working in all departments will also give them an idea of what they are good at. For example, your child may be good at marketing and not in finance or for that matter may they are good at training and managing staff.

6. Talk to your children about their goals: Talking to children will help you guide them in the best way possible. Talk to them about what their goals are, what they would like to do, what is that they would like to achieve.

This saying by Khalil Gibran is just apt ‘Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.’ Your teen is a young adult; let them make decisions for them. You can reason with them, discuss with them and let them know the pros and cons of their decision. However let them take the final call, and even if their final decision is not the one you wanted make sure they know they are forever loved.