It’s the graduation season! Do you know anyone who is graduating this year?
Graduation marks a huge milestone not only for the students, but also for their proud parents and loved ones. For students, it’s the time to reflect and celebrate their hard work, growth, and future independence; for families, it’s the celebration of their child’s and their own accomplishments. Graduation not only is a mark of such achievement, it is also a crucial stage of life where your child transitions into the real world, becomes independent, and embarks on an exciting new chapter in life.
How to prepare your student child for career success
Many people see graduation as the end of an academic life and what is to come is the new beginning of a professional life, and there’s a clear division in between. I see life as a journey and graduation is simply one of many highlights and milestones along the way. Because of this “journey of life” perspective, I believe students can benefit greatly from receiving support to start preparing for their future career as early as they can, even when they are still in high school. Below are some areas of consideration if you are serious about preparing your child for his and her future success.
Academic
While academic excellence is important, it’s also critical for you as a parent to engage, encourage, and help your child to select and engage with different courses, subjects, and activities, especially in high school and the first year in college. Even if they don’t enjoy or think they aren’t learning much, the process itself will help stretch and expand your child’s abilities, force them to be analytical, start imagine all the “what ifs” while having different possibilities for their future in mind. It is okay for your child to be uncertain along the way, but remember, the only way your child will become certain is by trying and engaging. So, start early, expose your child to a variety of options all the way until the early sophomore year in college.
Exploration
Help your child explore different professions and learn about different industries, as well as your child’s passions and interests. By doing so, you will clearly see your child’s leaning toward something and away from others while gaining interesting and useful knowledge and skills ahead of their peers. Aligning passion with future career options will always build confidence in your child and create motivation from within and ultimately leading to the complete ownership of their own future.
Work experience
Whether it’s internships, part-time jobs, or volunteers, having these experiences will allow your child to apply what they learn in the real world. In such work setting, your child will learn to communicate, work with others, solve issues, and gain many other essential skills for the future. Not only will your child mature through real life job experiences, but they will also become more responsible and excited for their own future.
Graduating from college isn’t enough of a goal anymore. Having a robust and good-looking resume plus real experiences from real workplaces will for sure set your child apart from those who have only a diploma in hand.
Responsibilities and ownership
I’ve met parents who want their child to focus 100% on just the academics; therefore, they take on most of the tasks on behalf of their child. Parents must find a balance between their child “owning” their tasks while achieving academic excellence, because to be successful in life has more to do than just getting good scores on tests.
Start with something small, allow your child the learning curve, gradually add more tasks and responsibilities, and don’t forget to attach deadline to each task. Don’t be afraid to see them fail sometimes but build their resilience and grit by challenging them to grow. Oftentimes, you end up surprised at how quickly and easily your child can step up to the challenge.
Networking
Networking is another key factor for career success. As a parent, encourage or even join your child to attend events, join professional associations, and start building a network of contacts including their friends, teachers, alumni, and professionals. Encourage your child to ask questions and find mentors who are willing to offer advice and guidance for their studies and career path.
Networking helps and prepares your child to build connections and relationships, and it can possibly lead them to internships or work opportunities for their career development.
Development of essential skills
Whether through book reading or attending programs or courses, below is a good checklist of essential skills as you develop your child.
- Listening and communication, both verbal and written
- Time management
- Goal setting
- Problem solving
- Critical thinking
- Leadership
- Teamwork
- Adaptability
- Emotional intelligence
- Accountability
- Negotiation
- Resilience and diligence
Independence
By helping your child to develop essential skills, you are giving them the proper toolsets to become independent, so that they can navigate through the complexities of the workplace and become a self-motivated learner and responsible employee, or even entrepreneur in the future.
Don’t forget to teach your child the concept of budgeting, managing, and investing money, too. After all, financial independence is part of career success your child can benefit and enjoy in life.
Resume
Help your child to start creating a professional online profile, a master resume, and cover letter highlighting their skills, values, qualifications, experiences, and achievements. This is not only an exercise to apply for different jobs, it is also a valuable exercise for them to internally reflect on everything about their past, now and the future.
Continued learning
Encourage a growth mindset and emphasize the importance of continued learning on their interested subjects, industries, trends, and practice. Continued learning enhances your child’s knowledge and skills, helps them stay relevant, equips them with marketability and adaptability, and ultimately positions them for long-term growth and career success.
It’s never too early to prepare your child for their future career success. Contact me today, if the above outline is making you overwhelmed. I’ve helped numerous parents to make changes and witnessed the transitions of their student child from being an un-motivated video gamer/TikToker to a thriving and motivated young adult with focus and passion. I’d love the pleasure to help you do the same.
Photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash
About Faye Weng
Your Online Life and Career Coach
Faye Weng is an expert life and career coach who works with clients to take back control of their lives by rediscovering their passions, living/working with a clear purpose, and becoming people who can positively impact the communities around them. As your life and career coach, Faye will help you minimize noises and distractions, focus your effort and attention on the right things, execute a clear plan of action, and celebrate alongside of you when each milestone is reached. Click here to book a complimentary session.
