The moment a baby open its eyes after birth, the parents are the only beings who understand and cater to its needs. From that very moment, parents become the ultimate teacher and guide for their child. According to the Hindu scriptures, parents have been accorded a status higher than God, but why? The reason is that, they hold their child’s hand and lead him to the infinite ocean of knowledge. The selfless devotion and care which parents offer their children, creates a bond of trust that has no match to any other earthly bond.
Like every decision a child makes, choice of career is also an important decision where he looks upon his parents for guidance and support. Since children grow up watching their parents, they have a tendency to get influenced by them. Parents feed their principles, attitude and the motivation to succeed in their children’s subconscious mind while they grow up. As per research, the parents who guide their children in their careers tend to be more confident, competent and ambitious. Their decision making have been worked upon since childhood, which helps them while they choose their career as an adult.
How Parents can help children make the best career choice
Choosing a career is a life turning decision that a student makes in his lifetime. His entire future depends upon this decision. If it is made wisely by proper analysis, there are no regrets whatsoever. The analysis part is the most important stage and parents can prove to be very helpful here, after all who knows better about the child than his parents. Following are the important tips for parents, to help their children in picking up the right career.
Knowing your child
The basic and the most important requirement in helping your child to choose the best career, is to know his capabilities and limitations. Assessing his interests and encouraging him to do a self analysis can be good start. By doing so, you would be aware of the strengths of your child and it would become easy for you to search career options fitting his zone of interest. For example, children who are curious and always look for answers tend to do well in the field of research. While students who are creative and have artistic skills can find a career in drama, literature or music. As I said, nobody knows your child better than you. So make use of whatever you know about your child, in making the most suitable option available for him.
Staying updated
This is the age of competition and this generation swears by technology. So being outdated is not an option available for today’s parents. With loads of information available on the internet regarding career options, parents can become aware of career resources and training opportunities. By doing so you would be comfortable while engaging in career related conversations and decisions with your children thereby guiding them well.
Encourage your children to get as much education as possible
It has been rightly quoted, “A man without education is like a building without foundation.” Make it a point to encourage your child to get as much education as possible, not for the sake of degrees but for knowledge. There are several courses which help in enhancing one’s skills. Parents should research on the courses suiting their child’s skill set and interest so that he is ready with a strong CV while making career choices.
Keep communication open
Parents should not impose their goals and ambitions on their children. You should be listeners in the career related conversations so that your child may open up comfortably about his/her interests. In the path of finding a right career, there might be time when he would look up to you for support and motivation to overcome negativity and failure. Thus it is important to keep the communication channels always open from your end.
Let your child make the decision
As parents you can be facilitators to your children and not the decision makers, at least not in the case of their careers. You need to encourage them to follow their heart, so that they take up career of their interest. Research says that majority of the workforce round the globe do not have job satisfaction. This might sound normal, as there are few who think that work can give pleasure. But the reality is, that a person who follows his passion while choosing a career, becomes a happy individual. And all we look for is happiness in the end, isn’t it?
Help your child find the perfect Guru/Mentor
“A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future, and believe it can be obtained.”- Shawn Hitchcock.
The quote says it all! A perfect Mentor would prevent your children from making career blunders and stimulate their personal and professional growth. After you have helped your child chose the best career option, the next step is to avail him with a mentor specialized in that field.
Be positive!
The process of finding a career is a stressful task. It requires patience and hard work. Success in a single attempt can be achieved with consistency and discipline still one should be prepared for failure also. Being positive is the key. It becomes the responsibility of the parents to induce positivity in their children even if they are unable to make it in one attempt.
Wrapping up
The role of a parent as a career guide is quite subtle. It has been rightly said, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Same follows in the case of a parent-child relationship. Parents can only offer their child with opportunities to learn and develop, the success lies in the hard work put in by the child.
