Navigating the ever-expanding world of work and careers is becoming increasingly complex for our rangatahi/young people. No longer do we tend to choose one career and stick to it, it is now much more common to have multiple changes in job, as well as career direction. The term ‘Squiggly Career’ (book by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis) is a good way to describe it, as opposed to linear.

Parents and caregivers tend to have the greatest influence on their children’s future career, so how can we positively approach career conversations with our young people these days??

You don’t have to be a career expert to have impactful influence on your children. Focus on helping them develop a sense of who they are, what their strengths are and what opportunities might be out there.

In secondary school, we focus on stages of career development at each level, which can be supported by the conversations you have at home too. These stages and some tips for parents are:

Self-awareness – junior years

• Avoid asking- “what are you going to do when you leave school?” This can cause unnecessary pressure. Instead, encourage chats about their best qualities, strengths and values and what their favourite subjects are and why

• Help your child develop their sense of self and self-esteem. Praise their efforts and achievements both in and out of school and help them see what they’re good at as well as their positive personality traits

• Try doing a fun personality quiz as family activity, chat about it afterwards and whether you agree with the results or not! https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Exploring Opportunities- middle years

• Encourage conversations or links to people you may know who work in different industries and share your career experiences with your child too (as well as what you learned along the way!)

• Help your young person explore what kind of careers are out there, this could be through talking, or looking at online resources such as https://www.careers.govt.nz/jobs-database/

http://www.justthejob.co.nz/

• Encourage our rangatahi to take risks in their future pathways, and to not be afraid of ‘failure’. Changes and recognising mistakes as learning opportunities are helpful steps in the career journey

Deciding/ Acting and Transitioning from School- final years of school

• Putting it all together and starting to make informed choices. There are many useful tools online to help with this. https://www.careers.govt.nz/plan-your-career/make-a-career-decision/

For more tips on having career conversations visit: https://www.careers.govt.nz/articles/talking-careers-with-your-young-person/

Sign up for Career tips to assist your rangatahi with their career choices. https://www.careers.govt.nz/plan-your-career/make-a-career-decision/helping-young-people-make-a-career-decision/sign-up-for-tips-for-young-people/

Mrs Signal-Cambridge and Ms Kershaw are available for any career assistance throughout the year:

lesleys@queens.school.nz

pennyk@queens.school.nz