Did you know parents are often called as the First Counsellor that a child ever meets? Yes, it is an absolute fact that parents play a more vital role in their child's life other than just feeding or dressing them. This responsibility expands into career selection, educational paths, and even what kind of jobs they might end up in in the future. And it goes without saying that not all parents realize this, and eventually end up relying on relatives or somebody else. That’s why we made this article to highlight parental support in career planning and how to take complete advantage of that.
Let’s be honest, it’s not that surprising that parents play a massive role in their children’s lives. Most of the time, the usual ways will barely cause any hardship, but that also means it will barely do any good either. That’s why it is important to know how much influence you have as a parent and exactly how to take full advantage of that in guiding your child's career path.
Top Three Types of Parent Involvement in career counseling
Career counselling is a multi-step process, and it always requires input from parents for full transparency. The reason for that is pretty simple, and it’s their support. Most students always rely on their parents for the final say, even if the saying may go against their dreams. No child will ever think of upsetting their mother or father, because from an early age, they feel the responsibility of following in their footsteps and, of course, making them proud.
Especially in India, where the sons of a family stay in their family’s house forever, instead of embarking on a journey and making a life out of it like in the foreign nations. Which again, makes it as clear as day how much influence their parents will have in the end. So here's a list of three ways their parents, or you, can take absolute advantage of that power in guiding your child's career path in the right direction.
Encourage Them to Face the Unknown
The fear of the unknown is an old one, and most parents do not want their children to pursue a career that they aren’t assured of. But that very same mindset limits their creativity and how far they can go. After all, no one can predict the future, and who knows, maybe a wildlife biologist may not be that bad at all? So always make sure to take part in supporting student career choices without limiting their creativity and what they want to become.
Listen to Everything
Listening to your child’s every query is the second step in helping them to tame the unknown. Because they always look for someone with whom they can share their pain, their sorrow, their happiness, and their future. In most cases, they will pick their best friends over their parents. But they always wish that his father or mother could be the one listening. Well, now you know, so make sure that you are there to provide some parental support in career planning, education, matters of the heart, and more.
Provide Unconditional Support
This is also crucial: your support does not include any personal agendas. Because it is your child who we are talking about, he is a human being, a unique human being who will always have different opinions, different dreams, and sometimes those dreams may not align with yours. In cases like those, never try to impose or dictate your ways over them. It breaks them from the inside, and the result is often devastating for them. So, always provide support without anything in return; that’s what families do after all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is the parental role in education?
Ans. Parents are the first adult beings that your child ever comes across. This also means they will start learning from your actions and hope to be like you until they come of age. So, a parent should always try to play the role of a hero, and guide his offspring towards a good social, academic, and a life filled with emotion.
Q2. What kind of career guidance can I provide to my child?
Ans. As a parent, you should always try to understand the other side, and in this case, it is your child. Talk with him, have deep Parent-student career discussions to further know what his dreams are, and make decisions accordingly.
Q3. Can parents really play a role in helping children choose careers?
Ans. They absolutely do. All parents directly affect their child in their career-making decisions. Some say it out loud, like my kid will become a doctor or software engineer in front of other relatives or friends. Some say it quietly and encourage them to pick a particular career so they can have a stable job opportunity in the future. In short, all parents already play the role of a counsellor from an early age, and it is just a matter of time before they realize it.
Q4. How can Infigon help in guiding your child's career path?
Ans. Infigon is well known for being among the best career counseling platforms out there. They use advanced tools like AI to make the counselling process smoother than before. Plus, their parent-counsellor interaction allows the guardians to have a say at any stage of their counselling. And let’s not forget all the benefits your child will get, like the dedicated marketplace, eLearning materials, 28-page counselling report, and so on.
Q5. Does Infigon provide career planning resources for parents?
Ans. Yes, the resources are provided under a single account. So both the student and their parents can look at the career planning resources and decide which career route feels right to them. Although we will recommend letting your child decide his path. Because that’s the whole aim of this counselling, to begin with.
