When it comes to teenagers and youth, parents know that transition to college is not all fun and games. I mean yes – high school and college days are probably the best days of your life, but they are also potentially the most impactful on your career direction. As a parent, that makes you very nervous, especially when seeing your son or daughter completely clueless about what they want to do, or very laid back about the issue. Teens can be very introverted when it comes to what exactly is going on in their head, and this can make a parent very uneasy. It is important to know that teenage withdrawal and refusal to communicate meaningfully regarding their career interests usually means one or a combination of several things:
- a) Your teen is very confused and has no idea what career direction to pursue. To them, occupations and college majors are so “non-tangible”. They don’t have any tools to draw upon except which subjects they like to study. They are very stressed about the pressure to decide, and they would rather “think about it tomorrow”.
- b) Your teen is has reasonable clarity on what they might want to do, but anticipates a conflict between that and what they perceive will be acceptable to you as a parent – perhaps they feel the pressure of a family tradition of doctors, or engineers, or handling the family business…
- c) Your teen does not yet perceive how high stakes this career direction decision is. A year is perceived as a long time, and they do not feel the urgency. Your anxiety over this issue as a parent may be perceived as exaggerated in their view, even suffocating
- d) You lack a “common language” with which to discuss the career decision-making process with your teen, and most discussions end in conflicts or emotional outbursts
As a parent, you know all too well that TIME FLIES. Life has shown you many examples of the consequences of a wrong career decision, and you have seen it in all shapes and forms whether having been through it yourself, your friends, family members or acquaintances. How many adults graduated from a college major they hated studying for? Equally disheartening, how many of us graduated university often with excellent grades from a college major that has absolutely nothing to do with what we ended up doing afterwards? Such a waste of precious time and effort!!
The root of an unfortunate choice of college major lies in the simple fact that the field of study and its relevant career prospects have nothing to do with who I really am as a person. This is regardless of how I excel academically, because academic excellence is primarily a measure of hard work, self-discipline and commitment – not necessarily passion.
So how can you be a supportive parent? How can you help???
You don’t want your teen to travel that same road and figure it all out after it is too late. There is absolutely no need for vicious circles and confusion. Set them up for success and career fulfilment by equipping them with the proper self-exploration and career decision-making tools NOW, as they begin their bright future as high school seniors or college freshmen.
SpringBoard offers the first of its kind youth career coaching service in Egypt, exclusive to helping high school and college youth begin to explore their true career identity and make the right choice of college major and career direction. Forget standardized lectures, books or web articles. Rasha Reda, Youth Career Expert and seasoned HR professional is now offering your teen an exclusive chance to map out their career identity and arrive at their most suitable career options with the aid of her personalized, carefully designed system of assessments and sessions, featuring the world renowned Strong Interest Inventory®. This exclusive, tailored process is designed to factor in your teen’s interests, personality traits, hobbies, work style, artistic flairs and most of all, their uniqueness… their edge.
No drama, no more sleepless nights of worrying about your teen’s future. Help the apple of your eye begin a fulfilled, happy and productive life. It all begins with pinpointing their passions.
Call SpringBoard Now!