5 Strategies for Student Career Coaching
Forest Of The Rain Productions asked Natascha Saunders, CEO of The Youth Career Coach, Inc. to provide five important tips related to student career coaching.
5 Strategies for Student Career Coaching
1. Use Dreams as a Starting Point: At some point youth have dreamed about their future. As a parent, educator, mentor and adult it’s our role to encourage them to think big and share their ideas. Imagining their future is the first step in making it a reality. Don’t be concerned if their ideas seem impractical or grandiose. Dreams are not the commitment it’s the starting point in talking about what kind of future they hope for.
2. Share Your Story: You may be uncertain if you have a career or if you’ve just held paying jobs. However, a career is bigger than how you earn a living. A career encompasses everything such as: volunteer work, travel, talks you’ve given, articles you’ve published, even if you’re a stay-at home parent - you’ve got a career! Your youth may not know about all the various experiences you’ve held which have shaped and influenced you. Share!
3. Find Interests and Strengths: Youth have many interests in certain classes, sports, hobbies, books, movies, games, talking, art, etc. These can all offer clues into what kind of work they may enjoy. You may think just because a youth likes crime shows it doesn’t mean they should be a forensic scientist, but it can be a good place to pinpoint specific activities, working styles, environments, etc. that peek their interest and spark a conversation.
4. Research Careers: There are sites like www.TheYouthCareerCoach.com, www.careermatch.com, www.careeronestop.com, and www.bls.gov/k12 that have career profile links on what specific jobs entail. Some key points for comparing careers: (a) Work Activities / Day to Day, (b) Training and Qualifications, (c) Salary, and (d) Future Job Outlook. Encourage youth to create a list of top five careers they may want to research and learn about.
5. Connect the dots between education and careers: Once some careers have been identified, the next step is to determine what education he/she will need to pursue such a career. Not all jobs require education after high school, but getting a certificate or degree opens up the door to more career choices, higher paying jobs, and bigger opportunities.
In conclusion, we can all take steps forward in helping to begin this career conversation. Start with the right attitude. Talk with youth about their career dreams. Share information about your career. Help youth pinpoint interests. Ensure youth explore many different career options. Encourage youth to plan for after high school education. Lastly, keep an open dialogue.
By starting the career conversation, we are setting youth up for career success!
These 5 Tips were written by: Natascha Saunders, CEO of The Youth Career Coach Inc. where she helps students’ clarify their purpose, write their vision and take action to achieve their goals.
To build a purposeful, successful career for your student, work with me and listen to my STORY here.
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