3 Ways to Help Students Plan Their Career
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question students are often asked, especially in their teens. While most schools have career education programs, there are still students who find themselves a little overwhelmed and unprepared to make such a major decision regarding their future.
For most students, making this important life decision can be both challenging and daunting mainly because they don’t know what the future holds or what is in a day-to-day job. This is why having the support of both educators and parents is vital in helping students discover their strengths and interests, define their career paths, and prepare for the future.
Before making plans for the future, students first need to know what they are planning for. Here are the three ways teachers and parents can guide students in defining their career paths:
Encourage exploration
“What am I passionate about?”, “What am I good at?”, and “What is important to me throughout my career?” are great questions to think about when planning out career goals. When students understand how their beliefs influence their skills, interests, and abilities, choosing a career becomes a little less complicated.
Teachers can guide students by linking favourite subjects to careers. For example, understanding molecular structures is basic knowledge in chemistry, and it is also important as a perfumer. Helping students connect the dots and merge subject knowledge to real life experiences can enable them to see the bigger picture. This method not only encourages students to sharpen skill sets but also helps students develop an interest in subjects outside of the school curriculum.
The best way that parents can help at this stage is to provide resources for their children to explore. For instance, a parent can share a career test to help children uncover their interests. There are many free resources online and having a conversation about it can broaden their horizons too.
Assess and celebrate progress
Helping students become aware of their own skills and knowledge allows them to focus on the types of careers that match their abilities. If they have the interest to pursue a career that they may not be prepared for, they can identify skills or knowledge gaps and work towards building the right foundation for college.
Teachers or parents can help identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses, and then create a learning environment that helps the student master weak spots and strive for consistency. For example, if some students aspire to be engineers, organising certain classroom projects helps reinforce textbook knowledge and apply problem-solving skills for the future.
Make it a habit to show students how they’ve progressed. Doing this allows them to see their efforts bear fruit. Their ability to assess what went well and what didn’t can also help them make productive decisions and develop good career-planning habits.
Build experiences
Choosing a career can be exciting. With the internet at our fingertips, researching different careers across industries is more accessible than ever before. This access creates real world learning opportunities for students.
Career fairs, extracurricular activities and internships can help students understand the vast number of career options out there and gain new experiences. Since industries have been transformed by technology and the internet, children will be working at jobs that don’t exist yet. Therefore, whatever new skills, connections or experiences can be valuable in helping them build a successful career.
Help students discover their unique strengths, personalities and career advantages through WITGRITFIT Workshop. Get in touch with us to find out more or access our free tools here.
