Choosing a career is not an easy task, even for adults who have a lot of life experience behind them. And for high school students, it is twice as it difficult and therefore the help from parents is simply invaluable. After all, it is parents who know their child better, and they are the ones who have observed their child’s character, habits and interests for many years.

Deciding on the occupation

The most important task at this stage is to help the child understand their professional interests and inclinations as well as strengths and weaknesses of their personality. For example, if you child is into digital marketing, they might find programmatic advertising highly interesting.

When assisting a teenager with choosing a profession, you should avoid typical mistakes as this will spare your child from unnecessary or wrong steps, save time and help them get the most suitable profession.

Typical mistakes when choosing an occupation:

Choosing a prestigious profession

Today, the profession of an economist, an accountant, a lawyer, a programmatic advertiser, an interpreter, etc. is considered to be highly prestigious. Most school graduates have certain interest in them, but not all of them have the necessary skill set to be able to succeed in these occupations (high intelligence, perseverance, communication skills, multitasking and the like).

Association of an academic subject with the profession

For example, a student can write essays well and decides that their vocation is journalism. However, the profession of a journalist involves frequent trips, the ability to delve into different areas and relationships between people, but not just writing articles. Be mindful of that.

Mismatch of health conditions with the profession chosen

It is necessary to know and take into account the peculiarities of the teenager's health condition with the regard to the occupation as otherwise this may lead to a failure or to the fact that their health will worsen. A number of occupations have very high standards of physical health, and for some occupations, there are a number of strict medical criteria that a person has to comply with (for example, good eyesight for a cook, confectioner, driver etc.).

Outdated concepts about the nature of work and career opportunities

The ignorance of the development dynamics of a profession due to the technical progress leads to mistakes. Often, an occupation can involve things that are not associated with its name. A good example would be programmatic advertising. Therefore, you should always strive to learn more about the “character" of a particular profession.

And now, let's talk about what parents can do to help their child choose the right profession.

Here are some tips:

• Assess the skills, abilities, and strengths;
• Set a definite and realistic goal and have a clear idea concerning what kind of job your child would like to work;
• Correlate their capabilities with the demands of the labor market;
• Help them make a proper CV and a cover letter;
• Identify potential companies where they might work in the future
• Do an active job search;

Help prepare for an interview with an employer.