All My Children

Children begin thinking about “what I want to be when I grow up” early in life, as they play with their friends and watch their parent(s) go off to work every day. An ideal time to start career preparation is during the preteen years. Take the time to expose your children to a variety of occupations. If your daughter is interested in medicine, for example, let her spend time talking to her physician about the demands and rewards of this profession. The same approach can be taken for virtually any type of career that might interest your child.

Guiding and equipping your adolescent with skills to be gainfully employed is a major responsibility, one that must begin before he leaves home. The following are some ideas that might help in this process.

Equip your adolescent to discover his or her strengths and weaknesses.

Expose him to job opportunities that fit his personality.
Don’t project your expectations on your child. Not all children follow in their parents‘ footsteps. If you’re an accountant but your child has difficulty with math, don’t push her into a career that would make her miserable. If you’re an attorney but your son wants to be an artist, don’t try to make him fit his artistic “square peg” temperament into the “round hole” demands of a legal career.

Help your child discover his natural, God-given talents. During your child’s formative years, he will excel in some areas and fail at others. Help him develop his strengths and identify possible career opportunities that might match them.

Equip your adolescent to think of vocation and career in spiritual terms.

• He is uniquely designed by God (Psalm 139:13-14).
• He has been given specific talents for a purpose (Romans 12:6-8).
• He must develop his God-given talents and strive for excellence (Proverbs 22:29).
• Work is a stage for his higher calling (Matthew 5:16).

Equip your adolescent to obtain guidance in the pursuit of education, try ing, and possible career fields.

You should be able to get some help in this area from the local school’s professional guidance counselor.

• Identify your adolescent’s likes and dislikes and expose her to fields she is interested in.
• Discover natural talents before college or vocational training. Work with your child (for example, by becoming involved with her in science class or in arts and crafts). Before spending thousands of dollars on college or vocational training, help your child find the path on which she is most likely to excel.
• Teach your child to pray for God’s guidance and seek what He would have her do for a career.

Finally, consider seeking career-testing services that may help your older adolescent determine what career options fit his personality. These tests often help young adults hone in on their special talents, if they have not already done so, and they can also confirm whether a certain career choice is a logical path. Adolescents who are somewhat aimless might find that the test results point them in one or more specific directions. Others who are endowed with a number of definite interests might benefit from tests that help them focus on their areas of greatest strength. This might spare at least some from changing majors one or more times during college, which could prove both expensive and time- consuming.

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