You may have already started thinking about your teenager’s future career. On average, adults working full time spend around 36.6 hours a week at work, so finding an environment and role that your teen is going to enjoy is important.
So, how do you start the conversation and give career advice at home? We’ve pulled together some top tips from career coaches Mark Anderson and Shoshanna Davis from the Bitesize Careers Podcast on how you can talk to your teenager about finding a job that brings the best out in them.
1. Help them recognise their strengths and skills
We all have different skills and strengths. Sometimes they may feel as though they come naturally to us and sometimes they are things that can be learnt. Either way, they can be developed.
Helping your teenager identify their own skillset can help them make informed choices when it comes to searching for a career. They can look for jobs that prioritise their skillset and enables them to build on their strengths.
One way to help your teen understand the strengths and skills they already have is to reflect on the things they do naturally. They may be showcasing skills like leadership and teamwork in their hobbies, without even knowing it. A good place to start is to identify the skills they’ve acquired at school – like problem solving or critical thinking in Maths, or creative writing in English.
Talk about your own skills and how you use them at work to help them come up with ideas.
2. Talk about their aspirations
Don’t worry if your teenager hasn’t decided on their next step after leaving secondary school. There are a variety of ways you can help them find inspiration and direction. Start by asking them to list three things they have achieved and are proud of, and why. This could be at school, through their hobbies or in their personal life. Get creative together by coming up with ideas for jobs that could give them a similar feeling of enjoyment.
Try discussing different job motivations. These can vary a lot but are simply the things that would drive you to one kind of work over another, such as wanting to work in a team. Ask different questions to help them explore this:
- What kind of impact would you like to make in the world?
- Do you want to work as part of a team?
- Would you like to work outside, at home or in an office?
To help your teen visualise this, together make a list lots of motivations and see which ones are a ‘must have’ when it comes to their future role.
3. Explore the routes they can take
There are different pathways your teenager can chose at various stages of their journey. Helping them research the routes and talking through the options available to them, can provide them with guidance and support.
If they learn best by studying, further or higher education may interest them. If they prefer to “learn by doing” they could consider an apprenticeship. There are range of apprenticeship opportunities available that offer qualifications up to degree level. Researching the options available with them can lead to a more informed choice.
4. Encourage them to build their network
Networking is a term for connecting with trusted people who may be able to help and support your teen with their future career, so encourage them to think about their own network. This will include friends, family members and teachers and it’s useful to highlight to them that their friends and family will have their own networks that they might also be able to connect with.
Accompany your teenager to events in their chosen field or encourage them to contact companies they’d like to work for to build on that network. To ensure your teen stays safe whilst networking, you can work through these ‘Safer networking’ tips together.
5. Help them find work experience
Work experience is a great way for your teen to gain new skills that will be key, whichever path they choose to go down. It will also give them a taste of what it’s like to have a job.
Look online together for companies related to the industries they are interested in as many now offer their own work experience programmes. Some organisations may even offer virtual or remote work experience. Attend local career events together where you can meet local companies and recruiters to ask about work experience opportunities.
If your teen is interested in applying for work experience, they may be asked for a CV and cover letter. This is their opportunity to speak directly to the employer and explain why they want work experience at that particular company.
