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How to work with your child to get their dream job
How is your child starting the year? With a goal to search out their career options, apply themselves and really focus on what they want? Jumping out of bed with a spring in their step ready to start searching for universities, interviews or experience?
Probably not, especially with the combination of teenagers and the post-Christmas and Back to School/College/University blues!
Even if life is not that easy, the New Year is a great time for focusing your child on what they want to achieve. The economy is starting to recover, and there is still a lot of competition for many roles, so how do they start to choose their future career, and beat other potential applicants – especially if they don’t even know what they want to do in the first place?
Choosing their ideal career
A lot of people, whether they are about to choose A Levels or start their first job after graduation, struggle with choosing a career for life. Where do you even begin? As an independent Careers Advice service that have helped tens of thousands of people get their dream jobs, we believe that it is happiness that counts.
By concentrating on the four happiness factors that can guide you into a career – interest, personality, aptitudes and values – and gaining an objective viewpoint, we can really help your child determine the best route forward. It’s not about how intelligent they are, but their strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes.
Why use an independent careers advice service?
Using an independent careers advice service, like Careers Analysts, can really help your teenager pinpoint these factors. We measure each of the elements individually using psychometric questionnaires and one-on-one consultations with skilled carers advisors, culminating in a series of suggestions that can be eliminated until a few practical and suitable career options remain.
Our programmes are designed to help your child to not only come to a decision about their future career but also give them a strong understanding of themselves – which is invaluable at this hormone laden, emotional time in their lives! Understanding our motivations is a key step to finding true happiness, in our careers and beyond.
Get some expert advice
Our career advisors have spent years working with companies and candidates and know the best ways to highlight skills on CVs, and how to approach companies for dream roles.
We have dedicated programmes for teenagers and young people, working with both them in confidential sessions, and their parents, to choose A Levels, University courses, careers and more.
To find out more, whether you are a parent, teenager or graduate, visit www.careeranalysts.co.uk or call 020 7935 5452
Is your child starting University? How to keep them focused
It’s always a difficult time when your chil
d starts university – things are changing quickly and you have to give them the independence they crave. But how can you be sure they’ll be thinking about coursework, grades and their future career, at least for a percentage of those dizzy first few freshers weeks?
Perhaps this is the impossible task – as all parents know, the more you force an issue, the harder it is to communicate with them about it. However, we at Career Analysts have a programme that might just be the solution – and will definitely mean peace of mind for you!
Our Careers Advice programme is tailored for young people of college and university age, from age 18 to recent graduates. Although your children have matured into young adults it can still be very difficult to see a realistic career path and with the pressures of a student loan to pay back, limited vacancies and a tought economy, it is harder than ever before for young people to live up to what is expected of them.
Our programme helps them map out initial career choices that will bring success and personal satisfaction. The aim of the Career Guidance programme is to identify their real potential, unearth vital extra skills they didn’t know they had, sieve through the options leaving only those that are suitable and realistic, and help them make a decision about where to aim for. We provide a completely objective, professional careers counselling service utilising careful assessment followed by objective, professional careers advice which they can trust as unbiased.
It can give a real boost to self-confidence reassuring them in their ability to achieve their career goals, now aligned with their interests, personality and abilities. It is also a personal journey for them, without your input, they will give them the impetus to ‘own’ their career and really feel motivated to work hard for the future,
This is also a good programme to consider if your child is having doubts about their course, or their exam results. If they don’t think they are studying the right subjects or if they are not totally happy with their course, our experts will help them take a look at their motivations, choices and dreams to ensure that they are completely happy with their chosen career path. They can also advise on beneficial voluntary work or gap year activities, and the right way for your child to study.
Our programme will provide advice and support based on their unique personality, interests and drivers. This will give them the motivation to focus on their coursework and future career path… and give you the chance to enjoy their university years almost as much as they will!
Find out more about our Career Advice for Teenagers and Young People Programme
How can I help my child prepare for a career?
Choosing a career while you’re still a teenager and have a lifetime ahead of you, as well as countless distractions, is never easy. But what steps can you take as a parent to help your child evaluate their career options and start along the path to their dream job?
Talk about their ambitions, dreams and goals.
Discussing their ultimate hopes enables them to think big and explore every option. It doesn’t matter what these dreams are, but thinking about achieving the very best sets their sights high, and also motivates them to work harder right now. This motivational tactic will keep the conversation open between you and your child during what can be a very fraught time in your lives, and helps you both focus on the big picture.
What do they like to do?
As we’ve said before, a big part of our assessment when talking about career options, for every one we help, is talking about a person’s interests and what motivates them. It’s one of the key elements of an enjoyable career. So take the time to sit with your teenager and assess what they like to do and what they are good at. You could then match those traits to possible careers and give them something to aim for.
Get involved.
You could then start to get them involved in one or two of their highlighted ‘dream jobs’ work experience, internet research, going to relevant exhibitions or events and talking to various friends and family in their preferred field (if you can). This will help them align their dreams in more practical settings, and help you both assess the careers in terms of salary, working conditions, and much more.
Get ready.
Don’t forget the practical things – what sort of career path is your child likely to take? University, college or apprenticeship – all these routes require certain skills or exam results. Making sure they take the right GCSEs and A Levels will really help them realize their dreams, and making sure the subjects interest them, and they know why they are taking them, will help motivate your teenager through the grueling revision, coursework and exams.
We hope this helps you and your child prepare for the world of work, and what hopefully be their dream career. Remember though, to keep this flexible – things change, especially at this age, and you can bring undue stress on you and your child by staying fixated on a particular path. Good luck!
If you feel you need professional help to assess your child’s personality, motivations and career options, have a look at our website for some more information on how Career Analysts work. Or please contact us!
How can you help your child choose an ideal career?
What makes you happy? As your children grow up and begin to make big decisions about the rest of their lives, how can you support them? What is the right advice to give for their future career?
We think there are four very important factors in what makes you happy in a career –
- Interest! If you can find something for which you have a real interest or a passion you are much more likely to enjoy it and succeed.
- Personality! What is the right kind of role for you given your personality? What is the right kind of environment for you to be working in
- Aptitudes! What are you actually good at? Are you playing to your strengths?
- Values. Some people have strongly held beliefs which would prevent them working in certain areas. For other people it is a motivating factor towards working in certain areas
Since our company was established in 1965, we have helped tens of thousands of young people from all walks of life and backgrounds find their ideal career path and achieve real personal fulfilment. Using independent career advisors enables you and your child to gain an objective view of their personality, skills and interests that will give them a strong understanding of themselves and their abilities when it comes to choosing A Levels, Degree courses, university courses and much more.
What do we do?
At Career Analysts we measure each of the above factors individually using psychometric questionnaires. The first set (interests, personality and values) are completed by the candidate at home, in addition to a ‘Personal History Form’ which allows them to tell us some more personal information about their background and education.
The second set of tests takes place in our offices, including aptitude testing which looks at various types of reasoning – Logic, Verbal, Numerical and Perceptual reasoning, Spatial Visualisation, Mechanical understanding and Attention to Detail.
We are not looking for how bright your child is overall, but the pattern – which are their strengths and which are they not so strong at?
It is only when you put all of these factors together that we can start to see what would be a suitable career path, by looking at what makes them happy and which careers will achieve this. There is then a one-on-one with a series of suggestions for suitable career paths that we have identified from the psychometrics. Once we’ve eliminated those that do not appeal until we are left with a very small number of suitable and practical career options that your child can investigate further and make a decision.
If you are worried about helping your child choose the right A Levels, Degree course, or career, we can help. Our programme is designed to help your child come to a decision about future careers, and give them a strong understanding of themselves.
To find out more, why not visit our website or contact us?
How can I help my child make the right further education choices?
If your child is taking that step into further education, taking GCSEs and thinking about A Level choices, they (and you!) are set to begin a thought provoking, scary and stressful process. Crucial decisions have to be made – are they going to go to University? College? Apprenticeships? What is their dream job? How are they going to get there? And what can they do if they don’t know where to begin?
If your child is one of the lucky few that have a clear idea of their future career, it can be more straightforward but as the teenage years are, of course, a difficult time without the added pressure of deciding what to do with the rest of your life, how can you best help your children to a worthwhile and fulfilling career?
Talk to your child – this is a fraught time so do your best to keep the channels of communication open. You want to be able to advise and guide them, but you can’t make the final decision yourself.
What are universities looking for? If that’s where your child is heading, make sure that their choices are not limiting from the offset – some of the more established universities look down on certain subjects as A-Levels. However, if your child is set on one particular subject that matches their interests more than their future career choice, make sure that their other choices are more traditional, core elements – maths, the sciences, English and so on.
You should also ensure that their choices do not overlap significantly – a varied range of subjects is best for university entries.
Try not to limit the options at A Level – do your research and guide them away from subjects that may narrow their choices in later years.
If they are not sure about their career and are finding making their choices just too hard, there are several things you can do.
- Advise a mixture of interests and core subjects
- Consult their form tutors, heads of years and other for advice
- Talk to Career Analysts for an objective view of your child’s personality, interests and skills to get an overall picture of possible future careers and education options that will suit your child.
To find out more about choices in A Levels and beyond, talk to Career Analysts for objective, considered and professional guidance.
Tips for Graduates
So, your son or daughter has graduated. What’s the next steps to get their career off the ground? Do they have an idea of what they would like to do, but lack the motivation to take the next steps? Here are some tips that may help you guide them along the path to career success.
Use social media: They use Twitter, Instagram and Facebook all the time to find friends – but how about using them to find opportunities for jobs and to make contact with the right people. Companies often announce vacancies through social media, including Linkedin so make sure that their profiles are up to date, promoting skills and following the sort of employers they want to work for.
Look for internships: Working for free doesn’t sound like fun but will help them get the foot in the door. Remind them to make themselves essential while they are there – suggest ideas, take on responsibility and make contacts.
Think when applying for jobs: Don’t just randomly email CVs to everyone. Find the right contact, pick up the phone and ask questions. Explain how they’d love to work there and enquire if there are any opportunities.
Highlight their skills: Work with your son or daughter to ensure that their CV really does capture your best qualities. It may not be skills they’ve picked up in the working world, but applying yourself through study, customer service and anything else relevant should be picked up.
Understand the market: If they are lacking in experience, their first job might not be their dream role, but they need to stay realistic about their career options while retaining their ambition.
Network: It might not bring immediate results, but exchanging contact details and keeping up levels of conversation with relevant people in their industry that they (or you!) meet may pay huge dividends in the future.
Have you got any top tips for helping graduates get that job? We’d love to hear them!
Up to a fifth of new graduates without jobs
Thousands of graduates face claiming unemployment benefits after completing degree courses because of a squeeze on well-paid positions during the economic downturn, it emerged. Figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows the pressure mounting in the graduate job market.
Across Britain, some one-in-10 university leavers were without a job or postgraduate course. Figures differ according to university and region. At London South Bank University, 22% of students were without a job or place on another course after six months, figures show.
The unemployment rate stood at around 21% at both Bolton and East London universities, while almost 19% of ex-students failed to secure work or further study at University College Birmingham and Westminster University, it was revealed.
Students at these universities were around twice as likely to be out of work as the national average.
Oxbridge graduates fared better, suiting the reputation of the oldest universities in the UK. 9.6% Oxford graduates were left jobless after six months, while at Cambridge the unemployment rate stood at 8.4%.
A separate study published suggested that some companies were even considering screening out any student who fails to score a first-class degree because the surge in applications.
Dr Phil Cardew, pro vice-chancellor at London South Bank University, said the data had been “adversely affected by the economic climate of our local communities”, adding: “We are very much a community-based university. Of course, our employment indicators for part-time, and sub-degree courses are far higher.”
Graduates can enhance their opportunities to find a job by taking on internships, taking advice on their CV and job applications and applying directly to companies. Find out about career planning and advice on our dedicated Career Choice pages.
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