Parents as Partners in Career Planning

Transcription

1 Parents as Partners in Career Planning Parents Orientation June 3 rd, 2006 University of Manitoba David V. Ness Counsellor & Associate Professor Student Counselling and Career Centre 474 University Centre Building David_Ness@UManitoba.ca

2 Partnering in Career Planning: Hopes & Dreams What are parents hopes for their sons and daughters? Their future success and happiness! How do we define success and is this definition ours, our sons and daughters or both? Two questions for your consideration: What do people who enjoy their work say when asked, Why do you like your work? What do people who don t enjoy their work say when asked, Why do you stay in your job?

3 Partnering in Career Planning: $=? Do we need just money from our work to be happy in life? No we need other things as well Rest of Life 56 hrs 56 hrs 56 hrs Work Hrs of Work (35-40 hrs?) Travel to Work (5 hrs?) Lunch (2.5 hrs?) Overtime (3-7 hrs?) Thinking about work (?) Sleep

4 Partnering in Career Planning: Myth or Fact? Faculty of Arts graduates are highly employable University is best ~ Money and job stability are the two most important factors in career choice X Students who take a year off rarely return to education The best people to talk to about a specific job is someone working in that job Industrial designers design factories Don t quit on a course. You can gain character by sticking it through the tough times It s important to be balanced and develop the total person, It is fine to be career undecided as you start university studies X ~ X ~ ~

5 Partnering in Career Planning: Decision-making Steps Who Are You? What are your interests, values, Knowing personality Yourself preferences, abilities, lifestyle goals, etc. Identifying Career Options Use knowledge of self to Options generate list of possible careers Identifying Picking a Destination: Committing to a Career Path Exploration Career Exploring Career Options Develop a good picture of what it would be like to work Options in a given career field.

6 Partnering in Career Planning: Suggestions for Parents Listen to ideas, plans and decisions. Acknowledge his/her ideas, interests, values, etc Provide support and encouragement Point out consequences of plans and decisions, but be careful to challenge the plan, not the person Provide information Talk about your career and how you decided and share what you would do differently Provide books, magazines and other literature and encourage use of the internet Provide people contacts Encourage use of University information resources

7 Partnering in Career Planning: Suggestions for Parents Control your ambition Leave the decision to your son/daughter Use your ambitions for your son/daughter to help suggest points of discussion. Resist the urge to impress your ambitions upon your son/daughter Honour your son/daughter s analytical process Remember that mistakes are attempts that need improvement Build self-confidence Criticize sparingly make more positive comments than negative Acknowledge your son/daughter s identity Leave the decision to your son/daughter

8 Partnering in Career Planning: Suggestions for Parents Encourage the total university experience It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change Charles Darwin Support volunteer experiences Question: When you are hiring, what qualities are you looking for? Possible Answer: The three A s Affability, Availability and Ability How can university students build these qualities?

9 Partnering in Career Planning: Things to Remember The transition to university studies is challenging for most students, including the highest achievers in High School Incoming university students feel great pressure to be career decided and to succeed There is great competition to gain entry into many programs at the University level of study (e.g., Clinical Psychology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Physiotherapy) The reality of university study has changed greatly during the past twenty years things are not as they were when you may have attended. It is common for university students to change their career plans during their university education.

10 Partnering in Career Planning: Things to Remember Peer pressure still exists Check your facts when asserting information as fact Your expectations do carry weight most university students care about what their parents think

11 Partnering in Career Planning: Where to Refer The Student Counselling and Career Centre 474 University Centre Counselling: Career Inventories: Career Workshops: Career Resource Centre Career Mentor Program Academic Personal Career Interests Personality Getting on Track Career Planning Workshop Careers in Science Careers in Psychology