Text: Lungile Khumalo. Article from January 2015 issue of Bona Magazine.
Helping your child choose a career can be a stressful and daunting task. Here’s how you can ease your child’s journey toward a happy and fulfilling career.
Ask any student who’s just finished matric and they would agree that Grade 12 is a stressful year. And who could blame them – keeping up with schoolwork, studying, practising past exam papers, attending after-school activities and the matric dance – it’s enough to make anybody feel overwhelmed. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s also worrying about tertiary education and choosing a career – neither of which is very easy to do.
So how do you, as a parent, guide your teen to choose the right career path?
Be realistic
“Firstly, it is critical that parents are realistic about what their children love and what they are good at and remember that these are choices for the future of the child – not their own,” says Dr Felicity Coughlan, director of the Independent Institute of Education.
Making the right choice
You need to encourage your child to choose subjects that will give them a head start in their chosen career. “Grade 9s must choose their subjects carefully after thoroughly going over the implications of their choices,” says Felicity. “Although it’s a big task for any 15-year-old to make, it should be looked at as an exciting first step into the future. Parents must, together with their teens, do their homework on what is required to get into higher education and remember that public universities are not their only option,” she adds.
Growing up
As parents we want the best for our children, and that includes them having access to the best career opportunities, which in most cases involves studying further. Some degrees are very strict about required subjects and level of performance, so it’s very important to look at different institutions and courses so that your child has a choice after matric. If your child is uncertain about what they want to be, Felicity suggests making choices that will keep a wide range of options open.
Gateway to the future
If your teen is undecided about a career path, bear in mind that certain “gateway” subjects such as maths and science allow you to keep your options open as many areas of further study require them. If your teen struggles with these subjects, it may be worth keeping only one of them so that they can focus all their efforts on one in order to improve their marks. However, changing to maths literacy must be considered carefully, as this will limit your child’s degree choices.
Do something you love
It’s important that your teen follows a career that genuinely interests them. You spend the majority of your life working, so doing something you love makes it worthwhile. Get your child to list the subjects that reflect their interests. By doing this exercise, they’re refining their choices and focusing on their strengths.
Good on paper
Persuade your child to include at least two subjects that they really enjoy and in which they are doing really well. Remember, admission to higher education is largely performance- based, so it makes sense to do very well in some subjects rather than badly in all of them. “For example, if your child is struggling with maths, then rather they do a subject that requires less mathematics, such as hospitality. This will help raise their overall score,” advises Felicity.
Life after matric
If higher education is the route your child is keen on following, then Felicity has this advice: “Apply early and to several institutions. Also apply for more than one programme at each institution. To be able to do this, your child needs to start considering their options in Grade 10 and 11, not in Grade 12 as it will already be too late to make such an important decision. Many institutions make initial decisions based on Grade 11 results, so it is very important that your child’s performance stays constant.”
Encourage your teen to…
- Keep their options open for as long as they can.
- Not choose a career based on the earning potential.
- Not choose a career because everyone in your family does it.
- Explore and get exposed. Arrange work days in careers they’re interested in from as early as the 8th and 9th grade.
- List the pros and cons of their chosen career. If they’re not good at something, this gives them a chance to rethink their choices.
Be clear
Due to an overwhelming demand for undergraduate programmes, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has launched a Be CLEAR about your future campaign to create awareness of what is required of potential students when they apply for. The campaign assists school-leavers to understand the various career options available to them as well as familiarise themselves with the application process.
The campaign is aimed at guiding learners with the message: Be Anything You Want To Be… Choose your subjects wisely in Grade 9. Learn well in Grade 10. Earn the good marks you need in Grade 11. Apply early with those marks in Grade 12. Register for your first year at UJ if you are accepted. The campaign has assisted 76 000 applicants for the 2015 academic year to make informed choices. It starts with Grade 9s by helping them make decisions from a young age. This in turn makes it easier to work towards studying within their desired career fields. In addition, accessibility to UJ’s programmes has increased because of the free online applications. For more information, go to uj.ac.za or call 011 559 4555.
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