For Parents Only

High school students and graduates consistently rank their parents as the number one influence on their career choices. Parents have a greater impact than high school teachers, counselors, and friends! What support and advice can you provide for your children?

Allow your child to make independent decisions appropriate for his or her age group and maturity level. Help him or her to develop decision-making skills at an early age. Allow him or her to experience both the positive and negative (but not dangerous) outcomes of the decisions he or she makes.

Direct your child to the many different opportunities available to him or her. Career decision making begins with career awareness, then exploration, and finally preparation. Encourage him or her to observe people working, to read about different occupations, and to interview others about their work. Help him or her arrange to job shadow in occupations in which he or she is interested.

Visit your child’s school counselor (with the child) to assist in getting help and answers to your questions. Ask what career development activities, interest inventories, aptitude tests, etc., are utilized at each level. School counselors can provide guidance with educational plans, career plans, and most secondary plans. The Suggested High School Programs of Study on pages 18-19 may assist you in helping your child select relevant high school courses for his or her career interest.

Investigate and visit various postsecondary schools with your child. Completing some of the basic requirements at a lower-cost school may enable you to stretch your educational dollars. Refer to page 45 for Estimated Education Costs.

Choose a variety of options for discussion. Include the areas of major interest, the amount of further education which will be needed, and the different schools one may attend. Pages 23-26 provide information on postsecondary education programs in North Dakota.

Encourage your child to develop alternate plans. Students need to recognize they are capable of doing more than one type of work. Provide living examples by pointing out persons you know who have successfully changed career directions in their lives.

Help your child keep postsecondary and occupational doors open by fostering and modeling positive attitudes towards learning. Support and encourage your child to:
– assess his or her interests and aptitudes (natural talents or abilities);
– explore a variety of activities to develop all types of skills. Do not underestimate your child’s learning potential;
– gain basic transferable skills such as: reading, writing, mathematics, listening, speaking, creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, visualizing, knowing how to learn, reasoning, responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, and self-management; and
– develop people skills by modeling positive ways of dealing with problems or working with people. The ways you manage your work life and relationships will influence how your child responds in similar situations. Encourage participation in student organizations to learn and practice many different relationship skills that will help contribute to success.

Help your child realize there are many routes and crossroads as he or she progresses towards a career goal. The possibilities include any combination of:
– Apprenticeship
– On the job training
– Technical schools
– Area career and technical schools
– Military training
– Two-year colleges
– Four-year colleges and universities
– Graduate and professional schools

For a description of the above possibilities, see the article “Test Drive Career Options.”

For a number of career planning web sites that will be helpful in working with your son or daughter, check out: www.ndcrn.com/students/planning/